2001 honda accord maintenance: what’s REALLY required

Since you’ve got a vehicle that spends most of it’s time sitting, the owners manual doesn’t really apply anymore, at least not as far as the maintenance schedule is concerned. The first thing you should do is check all the fluids with a cold engine. I’m going to presume that you don’t know anything about the under hood area of your car for my explanation, please don’t take offense. You’ll need a rag, a flashlight and something kind of thin and long that you don’t mind getting oil on. I commonly use a pocket screwdriver, but a pen will work just as well.

Engine oil: On the passenger side of the engine bay, there is an orange handle. That’s the engine oil dipstick. Pull the stick out, wipe it clean and then re-insert it. Remove it again and check the level. At the end opposite the handle, there should be two marks with some cross-hatches between them. As long as the oil level is in the cross-hatched area, the level is ok. If the oil is below the low mark, then you’ll need to add some motor oil to bring the level up. 1 quart of oil is enough to bring the oil level from the low mark to the full mark. On a cold engine, the oil level is ideally in the middle of the cross hatched area, so that when the engine is at operating temperature, the oil level is at the full mark. Your engine uses 5w20 oil. Clean oil looks like tea. Dirty oil looks like chocolate, or ink.

Transmission fluid: On the driver side of the engine bay, between the engine and the battery there is a yellow handle. That’s the transmission dipstick. Pull that out and look at the fluid that’s on it. Don’t worry about the level, as you can’t get an accurate level reading on a cold transmission. What you’re looking for is transparent fluid, which is ideally red, but as the red coloring is just a dye, fluid color is NOT a good indicator of transmission fluid health. It should have a fairly sweet smell to it, and shouldn’t have any particles floating in it. If the fluid smells burnt, or is not transparent you should change the fluid. Honda recommends doing a drain and fill, not a machine flush. I’m not saying that using a flush machine will hurt anything, but then again, I like to think that Honda is a little more knowledgeable about their cars than I am. The hole that the dipstick sits in is buried way down in the engine compartment, so the flashlight will help you see where the hole is so you can put the dipstick back.

Coolant (also called Anti-Freeze): There are two places to check this. First is on the radiator itself. At the front of the engine bay there should be a right metal cap shaped roughly like a Nissan badge. Press down on that cap and turn it to remove it. Look inside the radiator. The fluid inside should be right up to where the cap sits, and should be bright green. It may also be blue, as I think some Hondas use blue coolant. Chemically it’s identical to the green coolant, but it’s got a different dye package in it, as far as I know. Make sure to put the cap back on tightly. There should be a small rubber hose running from the radiator cap toward the driver side of the engine bay. Follow that line to the coolant overflow bottle. Shine the flashlight inside the bottle and see where the coolant level is. There are two lines molded into the side of the bottle. The upper line is labeled full, the lower line is labeled low. As long as the coolant level is between those two lines and is the right color, everything is OK.

Power steering fluid: Behind the passenger side headlight, there should be a round container with a little red cap. That’s the power steering fluid reservoir. Pull the cap straight up and dip a pen (or something similar) into the fluid. Like the other fluids, it should be transparent and not have little particles of stuff floating in it. There are level lines molded into the side of the reservoir. As long as the fluid level is between the “full cold” and “low cold” lines and is the proper color, everything is ok

Brake fluid: On the driver side of the engine bay, along the rear wall there is a plastic reservoir with a gray cap. Shine the flashlight on that reservoir and look at the fluid color and level. It should be clear with a light yellowish tint, like really weak lemonade. If the fluid is a very dark color, you should get the brake fluid flushed out and replaced with fresh DOT 3 brake fluid. The dark coloration means that the fluid has absorbed lots of moisture out of the air, and isn’t working as well as it should be. It can also cause rust to build up inside the brake lines, which can lead to a costly repair if you pay someone to do it for you, or a very not fun repair if you decide to tackle it yourself. Low fluid in the reservoir is an indication of either worn out brakes, or a leak somewhere in the brake system. Hondas aren’t really known for leaky brake systems, and as long as the brake pedal feels ok, there are most likely no leaks. If the fluid is low, you’re going to have to have the brakes looked at and repaired as necessary.

On the subject of the timing belt. I know that the belt isn’t due until 100k or 105k or something like that, but something to keep in mind is this. That belt is made of rubber, and rubber has a shelf life. You may want to get it replaced sooner rather than later, since time takes it’s toll on rubber parts whether they are used or not. Not to scare you or anything, but if that belt breaks, the engine is going to bend valves, which means that what would have been, say, a $600 dollar timing belt/water pump job has now turned into a $2000 engine replacement job. I’m just guessing on the prices, please don’t take them as gospel.

I don’t know where you live, but if you live somewhere close to Manssas Virginia or Fairfax/Burke Virginia I can take a look at your car for you.

Glad I could be of assistance. I see cars at my shop a lot that spend most of their time sitting. If you’ve got any other questions, feel free to ask.

Hi,
Could you please do me a favor and tell the indie mechanic to stop creating work to make money off from you? Obviously he tried to cheat you.
1) You never machine flush a Honda’s transmission and you only use Honda’s fluid for it.
2) If you are not losing fluid nor it’s leaking out of your engine, then you don’t have a leak.
3) Oil pan leaking, a few things you must check first: 1) clean the pan area so that you can see a leak if there’s one. 2) If your oil level is not low when you check then the leak is either not there or too little to be of concern. 3) How do you know it’s not the residual fluid left behind from oil changes?
4) Spark plugs: Stay with what the manufacturer recommended. However, I would pull it at 10,000 mile interval to see how’s the car doing. Only use the brand and model that is recommended under the hood.
5) Come here often or hond-tech to learn about your car more. You would be amaze how in heck I have been paying these mechanics all this money while I could do them myself.

Good luck and stay dirty.