Richard's '02 V6 Coupe EX-L

[Sil2DrV6]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

Dropped off the car to the shop for the 150K+ mile maintenance:

- Oddy alternator swap
- A/C compressor belt renewal
- P.S. pump belt renewal
- Spool valve filter's whole assembly renewal
- BF fluid reservoir tank's cap + sealing renewal
- BF fluied change
- P.S. fluid change
- Engine coolant change
- Engine oil 'n filter change
- Battery renewal

I guess I could DIY on few of these things to save some funds but... working 6 days a wk sucks haha. Been very hectic, so I'm just glad that I was able to at least set the date for all of this atm, b/c I ended up postponing this by 2 months due to the shop side's complicated reasons not being able to take any appointments. (He still can't take appointments now, so this is only exclusive service for me! )


Couldn't wait much longer, b/c my poor stock Delphi alternator was literally crying out loud for a help 'till yesterday. There were some close calls, but there was a time I had to jumpstart the car a few days ago.
　↑
Here's what I learned. If you're watching out for the battery to see if it's dead or not to the last level, try popping up your trunk with the remote, if you have that feature. If it doesn't operate, you'll need to jump-start your car. I happened to found that out as the easiest way of checking out the voltage to see if the car needs a jump-start or not lol.

 

[Varnell]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

Nice maintenance list right there. I can understand being too busy for some simple DIYs. It's satisfying to do them yourself, but sometimes its just as satisfying to take your car to a trustworthy shop and hand them a long, boring TO DO list.

 

[Sil2DrV6]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

^ I guess the list became a little bit long and painful to look at.., ouch $ lol. Yeah, man. Got everything done right away, and the car feels night 'n day, just like I was hoping for! I love this shop, and this place is the only place I can truly let my car handled by someone else besides me.

(Didn't know this 'till a while ago, but he is a former F1 mechanic in Japan, and opened up his shop some 20+ years ago up here in Seattle. I don't know anyone else who can do the mechanical work so carefully like he does. His paperwork might be a bit old school, which it doesn't matter to me at all, but the cool thing is that he always documents all of his work "with photos", and carefully goes over the details. Unlike other shops I've known, I feel like I'm talking to him as if I was seeing a doctor lol.)

His printout looks like something that we all wanna do it (taking diy pics 'n posting them w/ details) for fun lol:

He didn't even charge me for installing the battery, though modding one terminal was required. He even fixed my side mirror glass being loose, and adjusted the alignment on my door latch for free, which neither of these were even addressed in the first place.. I just found that out the next day.

 

[DrOwZee]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

Dude thats legit. To have a shop actually take pics of their work and show/explain it to you. Wish i knew of a shop down here like that that i can trust. QQ

 

[Mikey]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

I think that's a shop we ALL wish we had. Damn. Looking good bud!

 

[RedRyder]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

Dude thats legit. To have a shop actually take pics of their work and show/explain it to you. Wish i knew of a shop down here like that that i can trust. QQ

+1, amazing. Not sure why shops don't realize if they gave a ****, they would stand out and get more business than the others who don't.

 

[mx5kev]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

Yep, I've never seen that, I'm speechless. BTW, nice ride, I like your wheels. Not too low, not too much, just good taste.

 

[Sil2DrV6]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

My drive belts / serpentine belts have been gradually noisy for the past few months at a cold start. It's becoming pretty obvious, so I need to look for the genuine oem parts. No Gates belts (for me).

Bought the power steering pump belt & the AC compressor belt for my V6.

Replaced @ 156K miles. Belts were showing a few spots of cracked surface layers. The compressor's clutch was also replaced due to its age.

 

[Sil2DrV6]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

My oil filter housing is seeping, so I bought the spool valve filter. (AKA Vtec solenoid.)

Replaced @ 156K mi. At first, I thought it was just a minor seep, but I was recommended to change out the whole assembly (15811-P8E-A01) instead of just the filter itself inside. Was a good call b/c it really looked pretty bad 'n nasty when compared with the new piece. I can hear and feel the Vtec kicking in @3.5rpm like never before, and the car seems like it wants to accelerate forever. (Did a 0-60mph on a steep uphill mountain, and ended up in 80mph lol! ) The sound of the Vtec became almost like a cat in mating season, and it's loud AF. The valve can be completely shut now, so the low-end torque feels very powerful enough once again to be fully able to feel the need of changing shifts within 2 - 3 rpm range. When cruising on the road, car doesn't decelerate as much like how it used to be, when letting go of the gas pedal. CC system used to struggle to maintain a set speed but it operates nice 'n smooth on the road now.

I also bought the brake fluid reservoir cap b/c it was leaking.

I remember that there was one time it gave me the light on my gage cluster, and it turned out to be that the cap was worn out and showing some seeping. (Thanks again for the indication at that time , Mr. Sketch o5.) One less thing to worry about.

 

[Sil2DrV6]

Re: Sil2DrV6's 2002 Accord Coupe EX-L V6

Battery replaced @ 156K mi (Optima Redtop group 25 starting battery -repeat-) The previous one lasted 7 years w/o any attempt of jumpstarting, until recently w/ my old alternator, so I'm not complaining. Thanks again for the confirmation att to Mr. kn0x47 for making sure that I had a right way of looking for a fresh battery.

Alternator replaced @ 156K miles. (Going from stock piece by Delphi to '01 Honda Odyssey OEM piece by Denso.) FIY, the swap is about 95% direct bolt-on, except for the Accord's wire harness being relatively short. It's one of the few yet the biggest performance upgrades that you can really feel some "gains" in performance on your V6, which is getting bigger amperage to run the vehicle from stock's 105 amp to 130 amp, along with having better life span of the generator itself made by different OEM parts supplying manufacture (denso). The upgrade can also eliminate the needs of adding capacitors, if 130 amp is sufficient for you to run whatever you have on your AV6. For more info on this swap, visit V6 Alternator Upgrade

2001 Honda Odyssey OEM alternator by Denso. Part#31100-P8F-A02

Visual comparison:
My old OEM Delphi alternator. (Plz excuse that blue ground wiring, and pretend like it's not there for your reference.) The green socket is located on the top part of the alternator, and it's facing upwards.

'01 Odyssey OEM Denso alternator. (Plz excuse that blue ground wiring 'n pretend like it's not there for your reference.) The green socket is facing sideway, and it's further located below the alternator.

(The remaining 5% of not being fully direct bolt-on): One and the only one famous issue, which is the length of the wire harness from the engine, (to the green socket) was a tad short. The shop had to extend the wire, which it became thicker by the black tube, rapped by the black electrical tape now, instead of the thin black plastic oem tape you see on Delphi's. I'm not so sure how exactly he extended it, so I'll ask him again and document that up here. ← (Sry for the greatest help for now..)


With all of these, it's a little hard to explain, but the car is "electrically" running stronger than ever before lol. Better audio quality for sure; I like that the bass became tighter 'n deeper, but I had to tone down the treble setting b/c it was certainly too crisp for my ears, even at the default setting, which I've always had it higher. The car's power features seem to operate relatively faster than before. The interior lights might have become brighter. Idk about the headlights, since I have the 50% window film on my windshield, but my alarm's chirping became much louder for sure lol. Or, I'm just too excited to feel the difference b/c I got so used to drive on a limp-mode for a while lol. More or less, I'm just happy that she can generate some energy well for the next 15+ years or so, .., well, hopefully haha.