120k mile auto service - Page 2

Changing your oil is super super easy so long as you have a jack and stands, oil drain pan, a 12mm wrench (I think on the Hondas the drain plug is that size, may want to check), and a strong grip for taking the oil filter off by hand. If you want you can get a filter wrench (get the adjustable style that has 2 C shaped sides or three fingers, and attaches to a 3/8 in socket wrench). A little searching online and you can find the location of the drain bolt and filter as well as the amount of oil you will need (probably around 4 quarts if its a 4cyl). Doing the spark plugs I suggest getting Irridium Honda brand plugs, dont get cheap auto lites or anything. You will need the smaller style sparkplug socket and a long (4-6") 3/8" socket extension and wrench. Take out the old ones one at a time (helpful for a beginner so you dont lose track of which plug wire goes where, though most of the time its obvious). You wont need to gap platnum or irridium so dont bother. Put a little anti seize on the threads of the plug and put it into the spark plug tube using the socket and extension. Run it down to finger tight then give it a 1/4 to 1/2 turn till pretty snug, dont over do it. Air filter is self explanatory, dont buy a cheap paper filter. If your break light is coming on intermittently then your pads are about shot. The brake fluid level will get low only if the brake caliper pistons are pushed pretty far out. Either that or you have a leak in your system, but that would be noticeable by a spongy brake pedal. Getting the system flushed is still a good idea though.

I'm pretty good under the hood. I spent most of my teens/early 20s working on various cars, and I still have a Jeep I keep around as a weekend/project car. If you'll be in Athens on a weekend I'd be happy to help you out, as long as you supply the beer.

I'm pretty sure T3 only works on Lexus/Infiniti, maybe Nissan/Toyota too -- no Honda/Acura products. I wouldn't try doing stuff yourself with little or no experience, you can make a much bigger (and more expensive) mess. At 140K with no known history on the car it's best to do everything now. All used cars require $1000-2000 of rehab upon purchase, that's why the previous owner got rid of it.

+1 on the Haynes manuals - I prefer them over the Chilton and Mitchell manuals. And Hondas - for the most part - are astonishingly simple to work on - for most systems at least. The biggest hassle for me is how to manage the used fluids (antifreeze, brake fluid, power steering, various oils, etc.).

And - while you're under your 10-year-old car - I'd recommend you check the CV boots on the front axles. If they're split or torn you'll need to address them - preferably sooner than later.

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MrG - you have a Jeep? CJ-7, perhaps? I miss mine. Well, sort of.

Sweet. Hit me up for drinks, working on cars, or both.

Among their standard brews Rye is definitely my preference.


I wish. Well, sort of. One of my best friends in high school had a CJ-7, and, suffice it to say, it's part of the reason I'm pretty good at working on cars.

Mine's a '98 TJ. I love it to death, though.

Sounds right: mine was a '79 and it was my first car after getting my license. Learned to drive stick-shift on it, drove it though high school, college, and a year after until the starter got really balky and I couldn't find a new one. Then I relocated and couldn't take it with me.

Start here: http://www.hondaaccordforum.com/forum/

You can do much of this maintenance yourself.

lefty

IIRC his was an '80, and it was a pile. On top of all of the problems that came with a 15-year-old Jeep, a prior owner had used it to pull a boat. This was in Florida, so the saltwater had basically dissolved the back half of the Jeep. He had to replace the frame from about the transmission back very shortly after buying it. I swear he had to say a prayer every time he started the thing.

Mechanical issues aside, that Jeep was fun, and it was a beast. I learned to drive stick on it; I can still remember the clutch feeling like it weighed a ton and occasionally hitting first when shifting to third because it didn't have a lock out. It had the AMC eight cylinder in it, which was 304 if memory serves me correctly, and it was so powerful he'd get stuck in sugar sand because it was nearly impossible to throttle it gently. Then there was the time we broke it in half jumping sand dunes...

Mine was in better shape, fortunately, although I learned a lot about drilling and tapping new bolt holes for new parts. Plenty of broken bolts, and Good Lord, do not get me started about the exhaust. Although, it was pre-catalytic-converter (and Canadian-made, iirc), so we sawed the muffler off late one night under the Kyle Field stands. I frequently set off car alarms with it - but it was the 258 straight six: Only God knows how much louder the 304 would be.

And yeah - the 258 was fairly stout, I towed a few friends' cars (Dodge Chargers, all of them) with no trouble. I was just remembering this actually; one drizzly evening I was driving a couple of ladies from the office down to this dive bar we frequented, and I had to swing a tight u-turn to get into the parking lot. I briefly stepped on the gas mid-turn and the back end swung around to complete the turn as both girls grabbed the bars for dear life. Well, I thought it was funny.