I became a honda accord enthusiast when i got my first accord, an 87 LX, in high school. I would probably STILL be driving that thing if someone hadn't decided to t-bone me my 3rd year of college...but that's a whole other story.

I'm a new owner of an automatic 98 Accord LX with 149k miles on it. I love the car, and for all the miles it's already travelled, it's a sweet little ride. We are the second owners. (Plus it was practically given to us!)

It does have a few little kinks we're trying to iron out...fortunately, we've found a great mechanic in Houston (we're not even going to pretend I know enough to do the work ourselves), but I like to at least know what I'm talking about before I take it to him.

SO...does anyone want to speculate on what work might need to be done. Here are the issues:

1. The brakes seem to rub and slightly lose traction over and over when stopping from a moderate-high speed (say 35+mph). As soon as the speed has dropped low enough (say about 10-15mph) that goes away.

2. The steering wheel started a faint repetitive clicking when turning about a week after we got it.

3. When changing from 1st gear? to idle (say after stopping at a stoplight), there is a jerk. It shifts very smoothly both accelerating and decellerating, except at this point.

4. For the last two days there has been a leak at the center/front half of the car (about a 6in circle on the driveway when left overnight). The fluid is light in color, thin, and is slick/oily. It has a faint petroleum odor to it (sort of like a lubricant-ish smell). You can't smell it unless you get it right next to your nose. It looks clear on the driveway, but when you sop it up with a paper towel it is very light brown.

Thanks!

 

Moved this so you can get your questions answerd faster.

 

thanks...i wasn't sure where to post it

 

so I sort of got an answer to number 4...both my mechanic and I thought it was PSF but when he got it in the air he discovered the leak was actually oil. It was on the bottom and back of the engine. He thinks the oil filter was gummed up and putting extra pressure on the system so he is going to put another filter in and see what happens. A $15 fix works for me!

The thing is, the oil was just changed a couple of weeks ago and I'm assuming the filter was as well...so is there something gumming up the filter, or did they just not replace it right? What could block up the filter in such a short time?

 

In interpreting your list clicking steering when turning would be a bad CV joint or worn suspension component more likely CV joint. Usually the CV boot tears and the joint goes bad after the grease is lost and water gets in

I am not sure what you are describing with the brakes if you mean the brake pedal pulsates that would be warped rotors. If you mean it takes a long time to slow the vehicle I would need to know if the pedal goes close to floor before you feel the resistance of the hydraulic system. If this is the case you need to rule out air in system, master cylinder condition, and rear brake adjustment.

With the oil leak I doubt the oil filter is the fix. If you have an oil filter leak it is usually so much it pours out and is usually someone put the new filter over the old filters O ring or gasket(depending on what you want to call it). I have seen oil pan drain plugs leak a small amount from reusing the washer or not tightening it enough.

I don’t know a lot about Honda Transmission, but if you are feeling the vehicle downshift that is usually a cable adjustment.