I'm sure this will come as a surprise to almost no one, but after putting all that time and work into the green car, along with almost zero effort put into selling it (just an ad here on GRM and a sign in the window), I took a ride to the DMV this afternoon.
Behold! My new daily driver.
Today was my first day out in the car for real.
The air conditioning remains ice cold. I'm very happy about that.
The seats are among the best I've ever owned, and this includes Volvos and Porsches. They're better than the ones in the 2014 and 2022 Accords that we've owned, as well.
I did notice a subtle clunking from the right front while slowing down in a straight line. The noise reminded me of when I installed heim jointed sway bar end links in one of my Miatas. I hated them from the very first ride and removed them immediately. They would have been acceptable on a race car, but were horrible on the street.
When I got back home, I removed the right front end link. It was original to the car, and came apart as I was removing it. I went for a test drive and the noise was gone, confirming my suspicion.
I ordered a pair of replacement links from Advance Auto and will swap them in tomorrow.
Well, there's the problem...
The passenger side link wasn't in two pieces as it sat on the car, but it fell apart as I was removing it.
I swapped in a pair of new end links and took the car for a two hour drive. No more clunks. Problem solved.
I'm thinking about changing the front shocks on the green car. Just some new daily driver quality shocks, preferably fully assembled drop in units with new stock springs. Any suggestions?
When my mom's 2007 Civic needed a suspension refresh, I picked up a set of KYBs from Rock Auto. They did the job and were well priced.
I am sure they have them for the Accord as well.
Love the concept of loaded struts. I think for a daily I would look at Rock Auto and then either go that route or part number shop. I'm not sure there will be enough difference to discern and any will be much better than the current worn out ones.
In reply to Slippery :
KYB from Rock Auto was my plan, but I don't see them listed there for a 2010 Accord V6 sedan. I'm not familiar with a bunch of the other brand names that they have there.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
I see them:
I did a full set of 4 KYB loaded struts on SWMBO's 2010 Accord Coupe, and she had about 15k miles on them before we ended up selling it with no issues whatsoever.
Slippery said:In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
I see them:
I swear, those weren't there this morning. I did see the ones for the coupe though.
Thanks!
I ordered the KYBs from Rock Auto. No ETA at this point though.
I watched some videos and installation doesn't seem too bad. I'm looking forward to this upgrade.
You will be happy with the KYBs.
I see your Accord has a completely different front suspension from my mom's '07 Civic, yours being double wishbone, but there was a bushing on her lower control arm that had failed on both sides and made a world of difference once swapped. When you are in that area check yours to see if it is in good condition, you can easily see if it failed once you remove the wheel.
This would be the bushing on your car:
In reply to Slippery :
Wow... thanks. I'll look into that.
New KYB shock/spring assemblies arrived a few days ago, but it was too hot to tackle the job. It's cooler now, but motivation has been low. I did go as far as moving the car inside, so at least there's that.
One thing's for sure though: the more I drive this car, the more I wonder how hard it would be to swap these seats into my new Integra. The Accord EX-L seats are ridiculously good, and these are as good or better than the two subsequent generations.
Still no progress on the shock installation, but I swapped in a new sun visor and polished out a pretty crusty headlight today.
This was much worse than it looked in the pictures. I really didn't think that I could save this one.
Green car
Removed and replaced without disconnecting a single ball joint!
I owe this guy an online beer:
One of the wheels on the green car was badly curbed and had a slow leak along the inside of the bead at one of the wheel weights. I casually searched for a decent set of replacement wheels for a few months, but couldn't find four good ones in one place. I finally caved it and bought a refurb'd wheel off of eBay for $166 shipped. I had the tire and TPMS sensor swapped over for $35.
The gray car is home for the weekend, and that gave me a chance to tackle one of the weirdest automotive problems that I've ever encountered: the fuse box was crumbling.
You can read all about it in my previous thread:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/honda-crumbling-underhood-fuse-box/272567/page1/
Short version:
When checking fuses, I noticed that the locking tabs had broken off the cover of the underhood fuse box. As I tried to secure the cover, both the cover and the base started crumbling in my hands.
A google search indicated that I was a pioneer when it comes to this problem. I thought maybe it was common, but the internet had never heard of such a thing before. Fortunately, with the help of online parts diagrams, I was able to buy new top and bottom covers from Honda. Fortunately, the main body of the fuse panel was fine, and I was able to wrap it in a new outer shell. More details are in the thread that I linked above.
Note the zip tie, the broken tabs and the big hole on the front:
No real force involved here, it was just crumbling with the lightest touch.
The new lid already comes equipped with spare fuses and a new puller. Good job Honda!
Oddly enough, the green car, which is two years older and has covered an extra 80,000 miles, shows no signs of this sort of thing.
I don't know what it is with fuse box lids.... they break, disappear and people ask a king's ransom for good ones on eBay.
at least for my c6 (mine has broken clips) and our yj (missing)
After seeing the pictures, I remember spraying a Saab part with Brake Clean, per the instructions on YouTube. The plastic literally disintegrated into pieces like yours. Someone must have sprayed something in that engine bay that caused the plastic to break up like that, I don't think that's a normal failure mode. The new one looks great!
Where you buy that visor? Wife's Pilot needs one - there's a youtube trick to oil them up when tight but that lasted 8 months.
You'll need to log in to post.
