Accord now BACK IN ACTION

[imgoingforit]

I rotated the oddly worn tires to the back, the car is totally neutral now. I've been driving the wheels off this thing since my last post here. No issues to report. I add a little oil every time I get gas and wish I had a radio antenna.

[imgoingforit]

Status report:

I'm still driving the hell out of this old thing. I plan to start looking for delivery jobs next week. Last week I decided it was probably time to finish the world's longest brake job, so I changed the left rear brake shoes. The left proved much easier than the right, despite poking a hole in my hand with a flat blade screwdriver.

Also I've noticed what I thought was my power steering pump starting to whine and was looking forward to the prospect of depowering my rack and pinion, until I realized that the noise only happened with the a/c compressor running.

Also, the radio quit working again.

[imgoingforit]

Since the last update:

I swapped the pioneer head unit from my crx into the accord. It feels like a miracle to have iPod compatibility again. I also replaced my a/c compressor and drier, though it doesn't blow that cold. I found a nail in one of my super-bald dry-rotted rear tires and have two new tires on order. This morning I cleaned the IACV because the car could barely idle with the a/c on and sometimes would die.

Additionally, I landed a second job delivering for dominoes. I start tomorrow night.

[ollie]

hehe this is almost like reading a long term report from car and driver... thanks for the updates going....

[imgoingforit]

Forgot to mention I replaced the brake master cyl. last week. More updates for sure as she's gonna need some mainenance to keep up with the rigors of delivery.

[zrickety]

Can't be worse than what he did to that mustang in '30 min or less'

[imgoingforit]

Can't be worse than what he did to that mustang in '30 min or less'

Never seen it, I'll have to check it out.

Since I've had my car, every now and then the power door locks would stop working; more often than not as of late. I knew there was a door lock control module behind the drivers door panel that sometimes fails. So tonight, on a whim, I decided to pull the door panel and see what was up. Upon removing the door panel, I noticed one of the previous owners installed Infinity speakers in the doors. no wonder they sound so good. after removing the door panel and locating the the control module I removed it.



This is the module removed.


Pry the black cover loose, and the circuit board will slide out.



Didn't take long to spot a cracked solder joint under the relay.



Reflowed the solder and voila! Good as new.


I was supposed to start delivering tonight but couldn't because they didn't have uniform for me. Something about one of their stores catching fire last night...

-Chris

[ollie]

....Its always good to hear somebody learning and repairing their own cars...thumbs up sir..

[neo27ny]

Are the auto transmissions in the accords reliable?

[imgoingforit]

Are the auto transmissions in the accords reliable?

I don't know. I plan to steer clear of them.

Been a while since I updated this A few months back I accidentally smacked the muffle on a manhole cover and kinked the pipe so I grabbed a replacement Bosal from from the junk yard.



I grabbed a set of General Altimax RT tires to aid in not dieing in a fiery crash.

MMMMmmmmm treadsss.

Next the car began to make me some money:


I noticed one of my HIDs was out one night and found the cause:


I needed lights, so I improvised making an h3 halogen bulb mate up to my 9006 wring temporarily:



Good enough.

I got my replacement HID capsules from TRS and changed the oil last week. All was well and good until the car started running rough on the way to work. I found that cyl. 2 wasn't firing and was able to eliminate the plug and the wire as the cause. Yesterday I didn't a compression test with less than stellar results:


I plan to pull the head next week to see if there is any saving this motor.

-Chris

[Tian90crx]

that sucks... did you put some oil in the cylinder to check to see if its the rings?
Also is this thing a v6 or 4 cylinder?

[imgoingforit]

that sucks... did you put some oil in the cylinder to check to see if its the rings?
Also is this thing a v6 or 4 cylinder?

She is a 4 cyl. This the first I've heard of checking the rings like that. The more I think about it the more I become convinced it is something along the lines of a chipped valve. If it were rings I would see some smoke out the back, right? I haven't seen the slightest puff!

[daveb91]

If you put oil in the cylinder and the compression test improves on your bad cylinder then it's probably the rings.

[ollie]

With a reading of dead zero I'd say he has a possible damaged/missing valve or a hole in a piston..

[imgoingforit]

Survey says:

[Tian90crx]

can't tell from the pic if its oil or if its chipped... clean it? also how's the piston?

[jfrolang]

A chipped valve is at least a relatively simple fix. Plan to rebuild the head or just make the minimum repair?

[imgoingforit]

I was planning to throw a new valve in and go. The guy at the machine shop convinced me to have the head worked. From what I've read, valves burn because the seats get dirty and cannot transfer heat efficiently and thus I should clean up the entire head to prevent further problems.

[Tian90crx]

Get it re-surfaced, valve guides checked, new valve seals, lap the valves.. All of that minus the valve should come to around ~$100

Sent from i.d.s

[dandenham]

I've got a '95 Accord EX with 170k miles. It's my all around commuter. Since I've sold my CRX HF, this is my only vehicle (except for my wife's 4Runner which she lets me drive once in a while).

You've inspired me to take care of it and start going through it for possible suspension repairs. It doesn't burn or leak oil but does have a little piston slap. I think that is what I'm hearing anyway. The heater/AC is funky, I have to lift the hood and adjust the coolant flow valve to the heater core by hand. (Try doing that while driving!) Otherwise it's a good car.

I use it to pull my Prindle 15 Cat to a local lake 1/2 hour away. The cat and trailer weigh in at about 550 lbs.

I plan to add white sticky plastic lettering on the tail lights: "Dads CRX" or maybe "CRX Si".

[imgoingforit]

Alright I had a few weeks off from my delivery gig so I tore into the accord. Getting the head off was dirty work, and looking down at this was a little intimidating.


I sent the head to the machine shop and waited for my parts to arrive from Honda. I distracted myself over the weekend with some of this:

And a little of this:


Then back to the grind, reassembling the head:

Got the head all bolted down and looking like a diamond in a hogs ass:

I must've damaged this removing the intake manifold. Glad I found it before reinstallation.

Do it up like rywire:

Moment of truth and she fired right up, baring a few small kinks. I forgot to replace the gasket for the downpipe and had to pull the manifold to get to this little guy:


Got her all buttoned up around 4AM Thursday before I had to deliver pizzas again Friday evening. I've been back to driving the accord for a week or so now with now issues.

-Chris

[jfrolang]

looking like a diamond in a hogs ass

You know you're from Kentucky when...

[ollie]

...and thats the funniest thing I have ever heard Jeff say..

[imgoingforit]

lol

[zrickety]

Pretty awesome repair