New (to me) 99 Accord

[seb9316]

Hi all, I just wanted to introduce myself to the forum, I recently purchased a 99 Honda Accord EX sedan with 245,000 miles off CL Marketplace for $450. It actually ran but had lots of cosmetic/ electrical issues (power windows, door locks, climate control, and cruise all did not work--and the engine struggled and sounded pretty bad when under load.) So far I replaced driver's side fender and mirror (where the PO smacked it against the side of the garage door), driver's door window regulator (it was missing, that fixed the power window problem), climate control in dash unit (fixed all those issues), and the air cleaner to intake duct tube (old one was split at the intake connection producing a huge vacuum leak-- replacing that fixed the engine performance issues.) Also mice had nested in the car, so it's pretty stinky and they chewed some wiring in the engine bay (turned out to be the cruise control actuator wire harness which I also fixed.)
So now, the car runs very nicely and I have about $675 total in the car. I still have to replace the passenger side windshield wiper as it is missing, figure out the door locks, and get the interior professionally shampooed, and it desperately needs an oil change and probably an ATF flush and fill, but even so it is a fun car to drive and I am pretty impressed that the automatic in this thing still works! (If you are familiar with the auto tranny issues from Hondas of this era, it's sort of an aberration to have one with this mileage on it still working properly! All my previous Hondas were manuals, but for the price I couldn't really pass this one up!)

 

[RedRyder]

Welcome, glad the car is working out for you. These cars certainly have a reputation for bad auto transmissions, but not all of them were destined to fail. I often wonder how long mine would have gone had I not swapped it, I took it out at 133k miles and it was still operating normally.

 

[seb9316]

Thanks RR! I'd love to swap over to a manual but that's way beyond my skill set or budget-- just have to hope this auto tranny holds up for a while longer yet! BTW what is it that caused so many of these auto trannys to fail?? I've read several theories, one says the closed system of the transmission (no drain pan-is that right??) allows contaminants to build up in the system and clog up clutch packs, synchros etc. Sounds strange but there has to be a reason so many of them fail...

 

[RedRyder]

It was heat killing clutch packs, which also caused other issues. You can add a transmission cooler, and change the fluid regularly. There is also a thread on how to drive the car to cause the least stress on the transmission, might be stickied.

 

[seb9316]

Thanks I'll check it out. Sounds like a major design flaw...

 

[RedRyder]

It was. Honda extended the warranty on them (to 100k miles), but really should have replaced them for the life of the car, or at least to 150k miles or something. And it was only on certain years if I remember correctly.

 

[RedRyder]

http://www.6thgenaccord.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44620

 

[WHEEELMAN]

Welcome aboard.
For the price, sounds like a decent "beater" to drive for a while.


One suggestion on that tranny. If the fluid looks really dirty or burnt, you may want to just leave the fluid in there. Sometimes, when you swap out old fluid for new fresh fluid, it causes problems.

The theory is that the old fluid has lost all of the friction modifier qualities.
Friction modifiers are designed to cause slippage on purpose, for a comfortable shift. They actually create heat on the clutchpacks, combined with the bad design of that tranny and lack of a decent factory external tranny cooler -- that will kill the tranny.

The new fluid will have friction modifiers and may cause it to start slipping.


But, if you do decide the change the fluid. do NOT flush it with any power flush machine. Drain and fill it - just let the fluid drain from the tranny, which will be about 3 quarts, then fill it with new fluid. Drive a little bit, then repeat two more times.

We call this a 3x3 drain and fill because the tranny holds 9 quarts total. most of the tranny fluid is in the converter. That is why you need to drive it after each drain and fill, to circulate all the fluid and eventually replace with new fluid.

There are 2 tranny fluid pressure switches that probably need to be replaced also. When those have wear/mileage on them, the tranny shifts a little slower. We suggest replacing those very 50k miles. From the condition of that car, I bet they have never been replaced. Even if you leave the old fluid in there, replace those.

 

[Enne]

But, if you do decide the change the fluid. do NOT flush it with any power flush machine. Drain and fill it - just let the fluid drain from the tranny, which will be about 3 quarts, then fill it with new fluid. Drive a little bit, then repeat two more times.

We call this a 3x3 drain and fill because the tranny holds 9 quarts total. most of the tranny fluid is in the converter. That is why you need to drive it after each drain and fill, to circulate all the fluid and eventually replace with new fluid.

^ THIS! Please use this method if you plan on changing the fluid. I've done this in my 1999 Accord automatic, as well as my 1989 Prelude, which was shifting hard until I changed the fluid in this manner. Now it shifts very well. It's easier than doing an oil change.

 

[seb9316]

Thanks for all the input/ advice/ suggestions guys! I have been driving the car the last few days and the shifting seems to have smoothed out a bit, I would however still like to do the fluid change, if I do I will definitely follow the procedure listed above. Where are the fluid switches located if I may ask? Looking down into the engine bay I see two cylindrical units on top of the bell housing, is that what those are?
I also removed, cleaned and inspected the VTEC solenoid on the back side of the engine, the screen in it was a bit clogged so I wiped it down and blew it out with compressed air. The car seems to run better with hardly any hesitation now.
After fixing the AC (by replacing the dash control unit) when I have it turned on now, I have a squeaky compressor belt, it goes away though if I turn the AC on and off a few times.
Other than those things I am very happy with the purchase- IMO certainly worth the $650 or so I have in it so far. I'll try to get a few pictures posted up here ASAP. Thanks again all!