Update time. Both cars went away for a couple of weeks and I had to re-read my whole thread to sort through what I had done, and what I had written about.
The green car went back home with WK1 for now, and it was due for its annual inspection, which it passed with flying colors.
That car will be back here in about two weeks, at which point I'll check it over once more and then probably put it up for sale.
After putting new pads and rotors on all four corners of the gray car, I still had a really spongy pedal to deal with.
I have a Motive Power bleeder, but they don't sell an adapter for Hondas. There's another company that sells a cap that can be made to work, but they were out of stock for a few weeks.
I needed a quick solution. I looked at Mighty Vacs, but they were crazy expensive and would take about a week to ship. For about $60 on Amazon, I found a Four Uncles brand vacuum bleeder and decided it was worth a shot.
TLDR: It worked great. Big shout out to all four uncles.
This self regulating fill bottle was especially helpful.
GRM friend DJ very generously loaned me his code scanner (more on that later) and I was able to use that to bleed the ABS pump. No more squishy pedal.
Thank you!
Going back in time a few weeks with the gray car...
The car had seen very minimal use over the past year. It was delivered to me from DC on a Saturday without incident. The following day it was dropped off at a very good local shop for a new timing belt. I picked it up on Monday evening and for the next few days it didn't see any road time, but the engine was treated to a bunch of short starts and stops as I moved it in and out of the garage for brake work and other small jobs. By the end of the week, I was getting a CEL for cylinder 4,5,6 misfires.
I changed the plugs and the one sketchy aftermarket coil (#6) and cleared the codes, but the problem kept coming back. I was getting pretty tired and frustrated that the car was mocking my meager diagnostic skills.
I was afraid that the timing belt might have been off by a tooth on one cam, and before I dug any deeper, I sent it back to the shop to confirm that everything was where it should be. A very trusted shop owner confirmed that it was right where it should be, so I asked him to dig a little deeper and find the problem.
He checked the valve adjustment, and almost all of them were within spec. He adjusted as necessary. He did a smoke check to test for vacuum leaks (none), pressure tested the exhaust to rule out a clogged cat (nope), and replaced the coils (didn't solve the problem, but he put the old ones back in and didn't charge me for the new ones). He cleaned the fuel injectors, but one wouldn't come back within spec, so that one was replaced. He also replaced the upstream O2 sensor on the 4,5,6 bank.
He only charged me for new parts that actually made a difference, and half-time for his labor. He is a very good guy.
The problem seems to have been solved. We think it was a combination of the one really bad injector, made worse by the other marginal injectors and the bad air fuel ratio sensor, probably the result of sitting for most of a year with E36 M3ty modern fuel in the system. Lesson learned.
The plan now is for this car to become my daily driver for two weeks. I want to put as many miles on it as I can, and run as much fuel through it as possible, to make sure it's ready to be sent off with the kid in the very near future.
I've owned seven Acccord. Five of seven were bought new, and the other two were both purchased from family members.
There was only one car that ever had a transmission issue and that was a blue 2014 EX-L V6. I really loved that car, but for some reason it seemed to degrade its transmission fluid fairly rapidly. I learned to replace it every 30,000 miles and everything was good again. There was never an actual mechanical failure, it just shifted better with new fluid.
At the time, I was surprised to learn that the local Honda dealership would flush and change the fluid for $99. This time, just paying someone a hundred bucks actually seemed like a lot more fun than a 3x drain and fill, so that's what I chose to do on the blue car.
Just as a precaution, I've had the dealership change the fluid on the green car, even though it was shifting just fine, and I sent the gray car to the dealer last night, just to get it done so I don't have to worry about transmission fluid for another two years
Dealer just called for the upsell.
He said that the timing belt looks good (I know, it's three weeks old). He suggested new spark plugs (no), and new brake fluid (also no).
He did also suggest flushing the power steering fluid.
Hmm...
Son's car / In state --> No, thank you. I can deal with it if it becomes a problem.
Daughter's car / Out of state --> Just do it.
$199. Car will be ready at noon.
Surprise! I underestimated the total cost of the transmission and power steering services by about $100, but now it's done and paid for and I didn't have to mess with any fluids. These were both jobs that I could have done myself, but I just didn't feel like it.
I do believe that I'm done prepping this car at this point. I'll continue to drive it for another week to make sure that nothing else rears its ugly head and then effectively trade it for the green car.
For some reason, the airbox lid was missing two of its four bolts. That seemed odd, because they usually stay with the top cover when you change the air filter. I don't think it was enough to let air in around the filter, but it just bugged me that they weren't there.
They're oddball bolts, but I found an eight pack on Amazon, and I'll toss the leftovers in the Honda box, in case of more Hondas.
I almost forgot about this one.
The gray car, having come from a life in our nation's capital, has had its fair share of lumps and bruises. But aside from a good cleaning, I really didn't address any cosmetic issues.
Except one. Back when my cousin was asking about how to dispose of this car, and before I even considered buying it, he mentioned that the door window seals were pretty trashed. This seemed odd to me, and I didn't really care when he told me, but boy, he was not kidding.
These things were really gone. Apparently, this is a common issue for this generation of Accords. Oddly, the problem doesn't seem to have affected the green car. Some quick internet research tells me that factory replacements from Honda are fairly expensive and don't last very long, but very affordable replacements are available on Amazon, and they are well reviewed.
I ordered a full set of four for about $40. They were probably packaged better than anything that I've ever bought online. They were in plastic, inside a tube, that was in a box, cushioned with packing paper, inside another box. Screw the environment, but these things arrived factory fresh.
Installation was quick and easy. The rears went quicker, just two screws and some clips. No need to remove any door panels. In front, you need to remove the door mirrors, but it's not terribly difficult (Use a magnet: Don't drop that front screw!). The whole deal took less than an hour.
It's the kind of thing that you only notice when they've gone bad, but this really made huge difference in the car's appearance.
Fronts:
Love this generation of Honda Accords. My mom have been buying Accords brand new since 1996. She drives a black 2014. My little brother first car was a black 2009. And I have a blue 2019. Honda makes a really good sedan, they're hard to resist.
In reply to yupididit :
And with 271 hp, they're also really quick and fun to drive!
I'm not happy with the idle on the gray car. It's noticeably rougher than it is on the green car. I was going to remove the throttle body and try to clean the IAC, but when I went to order new gaskets, I found that a complete rebuilt throttle body assembly is less than $100. So I have one on the way and it should be here on Tuesday.
Gray car.
I changed the PCV valve. I'm not even sure if it needed to be changed, but it was cheap and easy and I'm sure it's never been done before.
It actually took me a few minutes to find it because it hides under the wiring harness for the spark plugs. Old one was oily (no surprise) and rattled more than the new one.
One bolt, no hose. Super simple.
I waited all day for the blue truck to show up with the new throttle body, but at 5:30 I got an email saying that it was going to be delayed another two days.
Fortunately, the gasket that I ordered arrived yesterday, so I removed the old throttle body, cleaned and reinstalled it.
R&R was straightforward and access was easy. The filter side looked pretty good, but it was fairly nasty once you got past the throttle plate and into the plenum. It's still showing its age, but it's a lot cleaner than it was before. The TPS is not serviceable on this generation, so, fingers crossed...
You need to reset the electronic throttle any time you disconnect the battery or clean the throttle body. I tried to do this with the Foxwell scanner but Not Support This Function.
YouTube tells me that I can do a reset by starting the engine with no load, holding revs at 3000 rpm for five minutes and then let it idle for ten more. I'll try that in the morning.
I decided to buy myself a better code scanner. It was delivered last night, but I ran out of time to do anything with it. It's a Launch X431 Elite for Hondas and Acuras. With a $30 coupon, it was $139 on Amazon, and it looks like I can add the Toyota software to it for another $35.
Setup was easy and straightforward. I cleared the existing throttle position setting and ran through the re-learn protocol. It's really weird holding the revs at 3000 rpm for five minutes while you're in neutral, but it really made me appreciate how smooth these Honda V6 engines are.
When it was all said and done, the idle was much better and, after a full scan, all systems on the car are operating within the proper parameters.
I'm very happy with the tool, and with this car. It's such a nice driver now. I'm ready to put it into service and swap it for the green car this weekend.
We had a wedding in the family this weekend. It was in state, but still about an hour away. I drove the gray car to the hotel, and drove the green one home. This was a good thing, because it gave me a chance to spend a little highway time with the green car before removing the license plates. Both cars came back to my house together the next day.
These cars are like fraternal twins; they have nearly identical specs, but very different personalities.
The green car has been around the block a few times, but man, that engine is sweet.
The gray car is much prettier, but I was still fighting with the idle. It drove perfectly and wasn't throwing any codes, but it just didn't feel right with the throttle closed. It was very subtle, and I might not even have noticed it if I didn't own two cars with the same engine, but it was there.
I decided to fire one last shot at the gray car with the parts cannon. I had another new set of spark plugs on the shelf, and this time, I skipped the copper anti-seize on the threads. I followed that up with a new upstream oxygen sensor for the 1-2-3 cylinder bank. The front bank (4-5-6) had gotten a new sensor at the shop a couple of weeks ago.
Breaking the old O2 sensor loose wasn't much of a problem with the engine at full operating temperature, but getting the electrical connector apart was a bit of a PITA. Access to the rear bank of cylinders was much better after I removed the factory shock tower brace and the little heat shield between the exhaust manifold and the coils. Once I could get in there a little easier, I was able to remove the plug from its bracket, and then disconnect the wiring. Installation was the reverse of removal.
With the last of the new parts installed, I used the Launch scanner to clear the throttle position sensor memory again, and performed the steps to reset the learning value.
This time, the idle is finally as smooth as it is in the other car.
One final tankful of premium and the gray car is headed home with WK1.
Oh man, this has me accord shopping for v6 manual sedan. I've had a bunch of 4 cylinder manual and brother had V6 auto. Got a buddy running a TSX with that combo thrown in and it's the fastest honda on the track any given weekend.
In reply to johndej :
I think you could only get a 6MT V6 Accord sedan through 2007.
Look for the red V6 badge on the back. Only the manuals got those.
It's time to turn my attention back to the green car and get it ready to sell.
There was a pinhole in an A/C hard line that I "fixed" with JB weld a few years ago. That held for a surprisingly long time, but now it's back and I'm going to do a proper repair. Today is the day.
I was fearing the cost of this seemingly complex replacement part, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it for $19.93 at Rock Auto. I had figured that it would be a dealer only part. Shipping cost me nearly the same amount on top of that, but it still seems like a really good deal.
You'll need to log in to post.
