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Honda Accord 1997. 126,725 miles

coius

coius

68030
snapshot of craigslist ad for my new car :D

Was in an accident a bit back, but the owner I got it from bought it and fixed it (that's what he does for a living). It's decent condition, we payed $2900

It's got a 5-speed Manual tranny. 4-Cyl. Engine, 135HP Engine. New spark plugs, new CV Joints. New Timing Belt.

Needs some work, but we will get on that :)

 
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Nice! Hondas will run forever if you treat them right. You should also get pretty good mileage from the manual transmission and 4-cyl in there.

 
yeah. it's pretty nice I guess... I mean, it's not the best, and I don't have the money to get anything better, but I guess it will do.

I picked a honda because we had a 1996 Honda Accord LX that runs great after 240k miles. Original engine and it purrs like a kitten and stuff. This car has had some work to it, but I am not thrilled about the fact that there is a blue plate around the gauges (Speed/Fuel/TAC) and it looks weird.

The internal air filter has been replaced with a high-performance, and the wheels on it ain't the greatest for treads (not exactly winter tires, but they should do) and there's no radio. But I got an iPod I can use.

The wiring is a bit rough for the radio. Instead of getting an adapter for the radio they had in it, they cut the wires and re-wired them. We will need to make a new wiring harness. Which will be fine, but tedious.

The steering is tight, which is good for driving. The steering pump makes a whine, but so does my brothers car since my dad first bought it new.

Also, the engine has a little clattering. it's the valves being loose, but nothing deadly to the engine. One thing I am concerned about is that "Check Engine" but my friend said that when he worked on them, the O2 sensors died quite a bit on the models in the 90's

There is a rattling, but my brother's car has that also. What the rattling is, is that the metal shield over the catalytic convertor is broken and rattling against the metal. It's not too bad I guess.

The part my mom is not thrilled about is the SRS Airbag system. They said they replaced the airbag, but we aren't sure if they didn't just throw the covers on. At least what they said is that they couldn't figure out how to turn off the SRS light. We can always go down to the local parts store and get something to reset it. I found out, it's only got driver-side air bag. What happened is with this model of car, they offered driver-side standard, and they had the passenger "Optional" which they threw in once you bought it. There's a cover over the passenger side which fits over the hole. If it was put in, it had a more standard lid that went in recessed into the dash and installed. It's fine, The dash is so far away from the passenger, the seatbelt will hold them in place :)

 
Given the age I'd say the O2 sensor is likely either bad or is giving a false reading. My 1996 Volvo had a check engine light come on this past spring. Turns out the O2 sensor was causing the reading yet there was nothing actually wrong with it--it was just a false alarm likely caused by gunk that had accumulated over time.

Word to the wise: Make sure you give your car a freeway run or two every month to make sure it opens all the way. My mechanic told me to do this (I typically drive short distances) and I have made it a priority to drive at least 10 miles on a freeway (on one drive) per month since. If you don't do this, you will supposedly get false O2 sensor readings now and then.

Try disconnecting your battery and then have your OBD-II read again (an auto parts store can usually do this free of charge for you if you don't have a tester) if it comes on again.

 
Still got it. Long story short, my dad needs it after he had an accident with his van that involves with the engine hood flipping up and smashing the windshield while he was in the interstate. Also, the beetle will be put away for the winter to protect it from rust and in a sheltered garage. I need a new car for the winter for traction, better handling, more HP during the snow storms, better tires, weight and in general, better winter car.

My mom is looking at a used Honda CRV, and my dad is chomping at the bit to get my mom's old MiniVan (Nissan Quest) and run it into the ground like he did that last one :p

So I will be up and moving around with the car at the end of the week. need insurance, need the title (Comes tomorrow night) and license plates need to be gotten for the Honda.

 
coius

take that car to your local parts store, most will put the diagnostic machine (ODB-II scanner) on your car for free since its newer then a 96 (they will read some 95 year cars as well). but you can find out what is causing the Check engine light to come on. when they do run the diag on your car make sure to write down all of the error codes and every thing else it says. and have them clear the error codes.

this is one reason i like newer cars cause the computer when hooked to a ODB-II scanner will basicly tell you just about everything wrong with it (engine wise), but i sometimes dont like the price that comes allong in fixing some of them.

one thing you can do to quiet the valves is to do a oil change and subsitute one quart of regular oil with a bottle of lucal oil stabilizer (make sure you do not mix the synthetic with regular oil treatment, cause bad things can happen if you do). then take a small bottle of lucas injector cleaner and put it in a full tank of gas. that should help it a bit.

i had a noisy tick and doing that took care of the problem and made the engine run allot quieter. i would look over the heat sheilds to see if any are loose and see if any can be tightened or put something on them (like exsaust reapair putty) its a temp fix but it does work if done right and will stop that noisy rattle from the heat shield.

what i did was take some of that putty and made a little ball of it (big enough to hardly fit between the heat shield and the exsaust) and let it set out untill it got thick but not dried to allow you to put between the heat shield and the exsaust.

was the stock air intake replaced with a cold air intake, if it was that can cause some issues making the engine light come on. some times to much of a airflow intake will cause some sensors to freak out.

but anyway nice score. BTW what did you do with the bug, i do know those things are a PITA in the winter.

 
the beetle is fine. my dad is driving it till he gets a new car. The beetle will be put away for the winter in a dry garage to prevent rust. We will set a crap load of d-con traps for mice :)

The little green treats will keep them away from the wiring in the car :D

We will check on the car and run the engine 4x a month (once a week) to make sure it still gets the oil running smoothly to lubricate the inside. We are buying a carb engine for it this winter and going to preserve the fuel injected. We will get extra HP from the carb. the carb is also bigger (1750cc vs. 1600cc)

 
It's got a 5-speed Manual tranny. 4-Cyl. Engine, 135HP Engine. New spark plugs, new CV Joints. New Timing Belt.
Needs some work, but we will get on that :)
Click to expand...
I suggest you go to Japan, Honda then Mugen. Get the racing filter, stage 3 NA tuning, port polish, engine balancing and racing chip. Then follow with the stage 3 weight reduction.

 
Funny! I play that on my Pismo with Virtual Game Station!

I suggest you go to Japan, Honda then Mugen. Get the racing filter, stage 3 NA tuning, port polish, engine balancing and racing chip. Then follow with the stage 3 weight reduction.
Click to expand...
 
We will get that later done. Right now we have a problem. Nebraska requires license plates on both the front and the back of the vehicle. The issue we have is the bracket that goes from the front bumper, and mounts the license plate on it is missing. Looking around, the only local place we can get it, is from Honda dealers. They want 60 freaking bucks for it, and then $50 to mount it. No way!

My dad and I are looking for alternatives to mounting it with a bracket. These include tie-wraps or making an "L" Bracket with holes in it that we will mount in a |__| shape to the bumper bolt areas.

The issue with having to use a mount, is that the front bumper has mounting holes only for the converter between the bumper mounting points, and the license plate.

It's just a simple piece of metal, but they want $60 for the setup, and then don't want us to put it on (That's why we need to find an alternate way)

We will get it done one way. The license plate is in the front windshield aimed so people can still see it. If the cops pull us over, I will tell them that we are looking for a front bracket, and it's not a permanent solution. Besides, We just bought the car 3 days ago.

I got to drive it, it's got quite a kick in it for a 4-banger 135HP Engine. Then again, my friend said the over-sized air filter will not only bring up the power of the engine by 10-15%, but it will help with fuel economy. Which will be nice :)

I got 2 more keys (for 3 total) for spares that we can use in case I break this one. We were NOT given the valet key, but that's fine. I am not going to be lending the car to anyone, and I don't go to fancy places.

I am thinking I will pay off the car and keep it after the winter is over. Then my dad and I will share the beetle between us as a recreational vehicle to drive whenever.

The car is starting to grow on me when I drive it. However, I was told small problems in a car don't become noticable till after a month. If something major pops up, it will go back on craigslist. Instead of fixing something major, I will just take the few hundred dollar hit and find something nicer.

 
Funny! I play that on my Pismo with Virtual Game Station!
I suggest you go to Japan, Honda then Mugen. Get the racing filter, stage 3 NA tuning, port polish, engine balancing and racing chip. Then follow with the stage 3 weight reduction.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Haha, That was porter that said that :p I it didn't dawn on me what he meant when he said that until you guys replied. I may have play Grand Tourismo for only 15 hours total, so I don't understand much of that. I mean, it didn't come to me until someone suggested it.

Yeah, I shall get right on that porter...

 
We will get that later done. Right now we have a problem. Nebraska requires license plates on both the front and the back of the vehicle. The issue we have is the bracket that goes from the front bumper, and mounts the license plate on it is missing. Looking around, the only local place we can get it, is from Honda dealers. They want 60 freaking bucks for it, and then $50 to mount it. No way!
My dad and I are looking for alternatives to mounting it with a bracket. These include tie-wraps or making an "L" Bracket with holes in it that we will mount in a |__| shape to the bumper bolt areas.

The issue with having to use a mount, is that the front bumper has mounting holes only for the converter between the bumper mounting points, and the license plate.

It's just a simple piece of metal, but they want $60 for the setup, and then don't want us to put it on (That's why we need to find an alternate way)

We will get it done one way. The license plate is in the front windshield aimed so people can still see it. If the cops pull us over, I will tell them that we are looking for a front bracket, and it's not a permanent solution. Besides, We just bought the car 3 days ago.

I got to drive it, it's got quite a kick in it for a 4-banger 135HP Engine. Then again, my friend said the over-sized air filter will not only bring up the power of the engine by 10-15%, but it will help with fuel economy. Which will be nice :)

I got 2 more keys (for 3 total) for spares that we can use in case I break this one. We were NOT given the valet key, but that's fine. I am not going to be lending the car to anyone, and I don't go to fancy places.

I am thinking I will pay off the car and keep it after the winter is over. Then my dad and I will share the beetle between us as a recreational vehicle to drive whenever.

The car is starting to grow on me when I drive it. However, I was told small problems in a car don't become noticable till after a month. If something major pops up, it will go back on craigslist. Instead of fixing something major, I will just take the few hundred dollar hit and find something nicer.
Click to expand...
If there is a a couple holes in the front bumper for screw holes, just get some zip ties.

 
Actually, I just did that. I took two Freaking HUGE Tie-Straps and mounted it on the front. It should hold with how big those are. Anyways, it holds it so close and tight to the bumper, you can barely move the license plate, It's not going anywhere.

 
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