As of tonight I am the somewhat proud ownerof a new to me 91 Accord Wagon LX. The car has 231k miles on it but it seems to run and drive pretty well for a car with so many miles - but it's a Honda so that is to be expected. The best part - I paid $320 for the car! I have some questions that maybe you can help with...

1. No heat! The blower motor only kicks on if I reach under the dash and touch the fan. Once it is running it is noisy but it does blow. Is the motor shot? How hard is this to fix?

2. Really bad oil leak. The p/o said he puts in a quart of oil a week! There is oil around one of the bolts on the top of the valve cover and oil inside all of the spark plug holes. Valve cover gasket set? I ran a compression test and all thecylinders were in the mid 180's - is that good?

3. Timing belt. The p/o said he didn't recall ever having the timing belt changed and he owned the care for 7+ years and 150k miles! Can I do this myself and if so - any tips?

4. Rust repair. The rear quarters are rusted pretty badly - to the point that the rear bumper is starting to sag near the rear wheels. I plan to fix it up to make it a little more presentable - any tips on this?

5. Brakes. The brakes are absolutely horrid. I am talking metal on metal grinding coming from the front passenger wheel. I pulled the wheel and the backside of the rotor is badly scored so it will need to be replaced along with the pads. How long should this job take me?

Thanks!

This is my 29th vehicle and one of 4 that we have at the moment. I have owned an 81 civic, 83 civic, 88 civic hatch, 93 civic ex, 91 civic wagon, 98 CRV and now this one. Every single one has had more than 100k miles (except the CRV) and all were great vehicles. I am hoping this one pans out for me too without becoming a money pit.

 

When you say you just touch the fan do you mean like two contacts or do you have to push it around for it to kick on? If you have to "push start" it then I'd say your motor is shot.

Oil Leak: Compression sounds great actually. Look in the DIY section for oil in spark plug tubes, replace your seals and valve cover gasket.

3. Yes you can do the timing belt yourself. Also change the seals, tensioner and waterpump at the same time since you're in there already.

4. How professional do you want it to look? You could always simply clean up the rusty area and spray it with a can of rustoleum spray paint to stop the spread and then wire the bumper into place and that would get you by and prevent it from getting worse, but wouldn't look perfect.

5. Brakes for rotors and pads etc is going to take about 2-4 hours (for all 4 brakes) with the proper tools if you don't run into any "frozen" bolts.

If you are going to do all the work yourself I think think the waterpump/seals/belt is going to run about $200ish, Get a junkyard blower motor for about $50.00, rust repair all depends on what you want to do. Brakes, no idea on costs..... I'd say for less than $500.00 you should be able to repair everything you mentioned on your own.... search the forum for "free manual" and you can download a free service manual for that vehicle..

WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

 

I have been reading up on changing the lower spark plug tube seals - am I correct in thinking that the timing belt can be replaced at the same time since I might be in there anyway? Is there more than 1 belt in there - and what else should be changed while I am in there?

The blowermotor is running now - but it is noisy so I will probably replace it with a junk yard one soon.

Did I read correctly that to do the front rotors I need a 36 mm socket and a puller tool?

Thanks everyone!

 

I don't think you need a puller tool.... I've never used one anyway and the 36 mm socket is for removing the hub I believe... When you are doing spark plug tube seals you may as well do a valve adjustment (there is a writeup for that as well)... So I'd do valve adjustment, gaskets, timing belt (just one inside there), seals, water pump, tensioner and whatever else looks faulty....

 

I just bought a valve cover gasket set from Napa - it has the valve cover gasket, top metal washers with gaskets attached and a set of what I think are the upper spark plug tube gaskets. Shouldn't there be something for under the rockers as described? They couldn't find anything in their system?

 

If it's not in there they may need a part number or something... Go to Honda Parts Warehouse on the right and you can call them, that's where I got the part number... Here's the link, it should be part #19

http://www.hondapartswarehouse.com/p...%20%2010%20%20


91301-PT0-003

 

Be careful using aftermarket parts like seals and such. You won't pay much more for Honda brand products for things like that and they could make a world difference.