Hello All! Well, I've joined the Honda (car) ranks. Already had the 2-wheel Valkyrie.

I bought a 95 Accord Ex (228K) mainly because I really love that body style and I need gas mileage. Looked for several months trying to find a decent Honda because I also drive an F-150.

I do have issues though. As beautiful as this one-owner car is on the outside and the interior, she's killing me with the inside stuff!!

1. The speedometer jumps around and on my way to work this morning, the check engine light came on and the light around "D4"started flashing. Took it to a transmission shop and they put a new speed sensor on it but the needle still bounces around. It works sometimes and doesn't sometimes. So, besides the SS, they suggested putting in a different instrument cluster. Apparently, this is a common issue on the older Honda's??

2. She's a leaker. I changed out the valve cover gasket and that helped but didn't solve the problem. A different shop told me the front, rear, and oil pan gaskets needed to be replaced too. For now, just put some of that Lucas oil additive to help revitalize the gaskets?

3. The bellows on the rack and pinion leak too. Again, get some Lucas Rack and Pinion fluid, suck out some of the power steering and put this in it. Does that sound right?

4. rough idle especially in the mornings

5. The fan runs for about 10 minutes every time I turn it off. Is this normal?

6. (UPDATE) the cluster has been changed out (this one shows about 100k less miles on it) and now the SRS light is on. The shop told me a couple of bulbs were burned out on the old one. He tried to clear the light but it kept coming right back on. Anything I need to know about getting this looked at?

ANY help on any of this would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

When was the timing belt last changed?

1. Does the cruise control work properly? Is the needle getting stuck at around 19mph?

2. I don't know if the Lucas stuff will help. You will likely have to find and fix each leak. I'd recommend cleaning all the oil off the engine block. Do not power wash. You can spray some athlete's foot powder around the block. Find the highest spots where there is oil staining.

3. You will likely have to replace/repair the PS rack to fix this. It is kind of a pain to replace them, but I have never had to do this repair.

4. Can you be more descriptive with the rough idle?

5. The fan will turn on when you shut off the car if the coolant is over 223 degrees F. Normal operating temperature on that car is about 1/4 to 1/3 on the scale. What temperature does it typically show? Do your fans turn on when the engine gets warm? Do both fans turn on when you turn on the a/c?

6. Did replacing the cluster fix the speedometer issue? Check for codes. The common DIY thread on top of the gen tech help forum has link for checking engine codes on this car. The check engine light flashes engine codes, the D4 light flashes transmission codes, and the SRS light flashes the SRS codes. Count the flashes and post the codes on here.

 

Thanks for the reply PAhonda!
The timing belt was changed out around 4000 miles ago. There is a sticker in the engine compartment that shows that. I have been told that because of the oil leaks I have, that could possibly wear out the timing belt sooner becasue the belt gets saturated and wears out. Is this true?

1. You know, I've never tried the cruise control. I just don't use it very much and never really have on anything I've owned but next time I drive it (tonight), I'll try it

2. Ok, I'll do that

3. Yeah, I'm not sure what I want to do here. I would rather just replace it so I don't have to worry about it but that's just more money but a necessary evil!

4. When I crank the car, it seems to run fine but as soon as I put it in drive, the car vibrates like the idle might be too low.

5. The temp needle is showing at about 25% up the scale so that seems in line with what you are saying. I assume the fan or fans turn on as soon as the engine gets warm and I'm not sure what happens when the ac is turned on. I haven't had the opportunity to use it much but when I have, it doesn't get that cold at all.

6. Yes, it appears the speedometer issue is fixed. I rode my motorcycle today so I'll have to check the codes tonight and post them.

Since the instrument cluster has been replaced and all the bulbs are working properly, the SRS light is now on. The guy tried to reset it but it just kept coming back on. He said the only problem with this is that the air bags might not deploy in an accident. How do I check for that?

He also said he noticed that the car will bog down and really vibrate every once in a while when it's just sitting like at a red light and when it does, the battery light (that now works) starts flickering which he said indicates the alternator could be going bad. Any advice on that one?

Boy, I picked a good one, huh? Like I said, she looks great but definitely has issues.

 

4. Sounds like it needs a tune-up (especially a new set of sparkplug wires)


5. It is normal for the cooling fan of this generation of accord to kick on after turning off the key. If your gut is telling you that it is running hot, then you can try to bleed the cooling system (I think the bleeder is toward the rear, on the passenger side, around the distributor). You can bleed it while your car is running but try not burn yourself. Just loosen it to let the air escape out then tighten it as soon as you see a solid flow.


The battery light flickers because your car engine was about to die and has nothing to do with the alternator. As a matter of fact, after your car started, the alternator can die and the car would still run off your battery power--this is the time you need to hauling A** home before the battery runs out of juice.


I highly recommend you to clean out your EGR chamber too. It needs to be cleaned out every 80K miles. Yes, I am surprised Honda did not put that in their tune up schedule.