How can I get a few more years out of my honda?
 

Hello! I am new to the forum and hopefully I can explain everything correctly and give you the details you need. I have a honda accord 1996 LX with a v6. My car has over 200k miles and she is still going strong! I just want to know what kind of DIY maintenance I can do to keep her going.
My gas mileage has gone down and I know I need a need pan for my oil, but what other parts could I buy to give my car a boost?
I am not trying to supe it up; I just want to keep her healthy.
Any suggestions would be great and I apologize if I left out any information needed.

Hi,

Well, the place to start is always the owner's manual. There you will find the maintenance schedule for your car. Start by making sure you are up-to-date with all the listed items. For instance, spark plugs, timing belt, coolant, tranny fluid.

After you have all maintenance items done, see how the mileage is. You may need new ignition wires and cap and rotor.

I think the question can be more easily answered if you ask yourself this. If you just bought the car yesterday what would you do with it immediately? Well, you'd change all the juices and filters, that would be very first on the list. Then you'd see if the belts needed to be changed, either because of their age or of course if they showed any signs of wear.

Next you'd probably give the interior a good cleaning and check all the light bulbs around the car and replace any that might have blown out. This would include both the interior and exterior lights. I'd take a look at the brakes or if I didn't feel competent to inspect them I'd have someone who knew about brakes to take a look and tell me how much wear they had left in them.

I'd clean the exterior by hand and take note of any chips or dings in the car. I'd buy a small bottle of touch up paint and dab a bit where necessary. If I found any parts hanging off or our of line I'd have someone look at them with an eye toward repair. I'd check the spare tire and the jack/lug-wrench.

I'd change the interior air filter and the engine air filter too. Oh, and this is just something I do with all of my vehicles, I'd have an oil analysis done on it.

None of this stuff is very expensive and none of it is very difficult. After its done try to park in the shade and keep it clean. It should still have a good bit of life left in it.

Here is the owner's manual.

1996 Accord Owner's Manual

There's a section on maintenance. It has some instructions on various DIY such as air filter replacement, some fluid changes, etc. Keep up with regular maintenance and regularly check fluid levels.

To try to improve your gas mileage, check tire air pressure when they are cold. Get a good tire pressure gauge, such as a digital one; some of those cheaper $1 - $3 gauges can give you wrong readings.

Also, change the PCV valve (it's not shown in the owner's manual) to try to improve gas mileage. It's only a few bucks at a local auto parts store. But, around $20 U.S. at Honda dealerships. You just need a pair of pliers to squeeze the hose clamp to during PCV valve replacement. See attached pic. for location of the pcv valve.

How much of a mileage drop? That would probably be the first focus as that will eventually probably leave you stranded on the side of the road. I tend to do more reactive vehicle care except for transmission fluid, timing belt and oil changes.

Wow thanks for all the great answers everyone! I have made a small to do list and plan to get started asap!

good replies and your reply too. Not an urgent situation from your description.

In big picture my cars, I do motor oil/filter more often than recommended,
tranny fluid and belts as recommended, all other fluids flushed every 5 yrs.

You didn't say how much your fuel mpg has changed.