Hi all, new member here. Hope you can help me out - I think I need to do some maintenance on my car, and I want to find out what are the appropriate prices to pay.

The car has about 90,000 miles on it.

I'm in the Washington, DC / NOVA area, and I'd love to follow all the DIY steps available online, but I have nowhere to work on my car, so I'm forced to pay the pros...I park my poor car on the street.

It's showing the appropriate wear and tear on the bumpers, and it's survived a tree crushing the roof (that was rough...), but mechanically the Accord has been great for the past year that I've owned it.

In that time, the only real maintenance I've done is oil changes and tire rotations.

I took my car to Radley Acura to get the oil changed (it's a great deal at <$30 for an oil change and a car wash), and they recommended the following services and prices:

1. Battery Service - $35
2. Brake Flush - $170
3. Power Flush - $170
4. Balance and Alignment - $189
5. Air and A/C Filters - $189
6. PCV Valve - $150
7. Fuel Induction Service - $190

If I did everything at once, they were going to charge about $1000.



Here are my questions:

Which of these services do I need?
What's a fair price for the services?
Are there any services for a car approaching 100k that I should be looking to do?
Does anyone know good spots in the DC/DMV area?

Thanks!

 

Timing Belt and Water pump supposely every 90k miles..matter of time before someone guides you in the right way bud.

 

Welcome to HAF...

Wow, I wish you had a place to work on this.

My opinion on these:

Battery service - I'm sure this is nothing more than testing the battery (it could be getting towards end of life at ~5yrs old) and cleaning and protecting the cable ends. Needs to be done so the ends don't get so bad the cables need to be replaced....

Brake fluid - needs to be changed out every few years.

Power flush - I'm going to guess this is for the auto trans. I'm not a fan of power flushes. I am a fan of doing a "drain and fill" of the trans with Honda Trans fluid. You can buy the fluid for <$8 a quart. Nothing more than removing a drain plug, install drain plug after drain and cleaning, install proper amount of fluid.....done. You buy the fluid, check owners manual for amount, at most 5 qts?, and I bet almost any oil change place would do this for $25~$30????

Balance and align - well when you get the tires rotated I'm betting the are doing a balance. Next time you are there ask them to "check" the alignment....if it is out of alignment than get it done.


Filters and PCV should be done.

Fuel service.....buy a can of fuel treatment and be done with it.

I would call another shop....Firestone, Midas, Just tires or what ever and see what they quote.

The ONLY thing special in all of this, ONLY use Honda Trans fluid and again this can be bought for $7.99 a quart at most....I've seen ot at that price in carquest auto parts stores.....

 

Good info for you on what to do..
Thanks for posting in the HAF...

WheelBrokerAng

 

And skip the timing belt comment. Your 2007 4-cyl doesn't even have a timing belt, it has a chain.

You'll want to replace the spark plugs at about 100k miles, so that's not very far off.

I'm with Poorman on a few other things:
- Don't "power-flush" the transmission, only drain & fill.
- "Fuel Induction Service"??? WTH is that? Buy a bottle of fuel-injector cleaner at AutoZone and pour it into your fuel tank.

It's very easy to change the cabin-air filter. Buy one of those at a parts store & change it yourself. All you do is open it up behind the glovebox, I'll look for a how-to post on that.

The engine air filter is pretty easy, but it IS under the hood so I don't know how you feel about that. I would do that while parked on the street. Lots of car-parts-stores will let you change it in their own parking lot. Maybe even help you if they're not real busy.

 

Here's one about the cabin-air filter in a Civic. The Accord is just about the same, except for the details of how you disconnect the keepers for the glovebox.
https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...cleaner-36358/

You need to empty the glovebox, then disconnect the keepers & allow the glovebox to swing completely down so you can get behind it.

 

Thanks for the replies!

I'm thinking the "power flush" may have been for power steering fluid - does that make sense? Is it also something I should be doing around this point?

As for the timing chain, is that something that's going to need to be changed?

I'm not opposed to replacing the filters myself - it's the fluid changing/draining that I'm not comfortable doing on a city street.

I installed a Dice Mediabridge right after I got the car, and that involved taking much of the inside apart. Helped me get to know the vehicle.

As for spark plugs - my first car was a cab-forward Chrysler, meaning you basically had to take the engine out to replace the plugs. I've looked around, and it seems like the Accord is more straightforward.

"Fuel-induction" sounded like a crock to me too.

Now, the one I wanted to talk about - this PCV valve. I saw elsewhere on this board that it costs like $3. How critical is it that I replace this? How can I confirm I need to replace it? I don't have a CEL indicating it's broken (yet).

Can I do it myself? If not, how much should I expect to pay to have someone do it?

Thanks again for your help!

 

Yeah, steering fluid is probably kinda muddy by now. I've never seen that on any kind of maintenance schedule but I refuse to believe that any working fluid can last FOREVER.

You need to use Honda steering fluid, it really is different. Don't use anything the says "for all makes". I have seen some (outside of the dealer) that say "FOR HONDA/ACURA" but the dealer fluid isn't stupidly expensive either.

Here's an idea...
Use a turkey baster to suck the PS fluid out of the reservoir. Refill with fresh. Drive around. Repeat about 5 or 8 times because you're only changing about 1/3 the total fluid. (Then never EVER put that turkey baster back in the kitchen.)

 

Here's a picture of the breather hose. Say you're standing in the center of the front bumper, looking towards the alternator. This is the alternator bracket, and the PCV valve is #1, screwed into a hole in the alternator bracket. It's not as simple (or cheap) as the older Accords with the plastic PCV valve that pops into the valve cover.

You test the PCV valve by removing it & shaking it. There's a spring-loaded plunger inside that's supposed to rattle. If it's plugged up with sludge, oil, & crud, then replace it. Think about a new hose too.

Also.... the timing chain is not a normal maintenance item. But there is a way to measure how far the chain-tensioner is extended. (I don't think it's a roadside job) If it's beyond the acceptable range, then it's a pretty big job to change the chain.