Just bought a '92 Accord......

We just bought a '92 Accord for my daughter who is going to college 70 miles away....

I love this car....Looks practically brand new, both inside and out....Has 135, 000 miles.....Paid 1,200.00....Runs great but have a couple of concerns....

We were told that it tends to overheat when at stop lights....I've been driving it mostly highway and it hasn't overheated w/me yet.....Also the heater doesn’t blow warm air and I can't help but wonder if that's related to the overheating....

The other concern is when in reverse the car tends to vibrate....Is that a future problem?.....

The timing belt was changed a couple of months ago.....We are the 3rd owner of this car and Carfax said there were no problems.....

I read the other posts on what to look for in a used car and this car gets an A+.....

I would have normally have my mechanic look at it b4 buying but he is out of town......I think we got a good deal and it'll be great for my daughter.....What do you think?......

Welcome to the forum, water_sprite.
Cold air from the heater tells me that there might be air pockets in the cooling system. I have heard of a trick on removing them: park on the hill nose up, open the radiator cap and run for awhile. After the thermostat opens you should see air boubles comming out. After it cools off you will have to top off the collant because some of it will spill out while waiting for the thermostat to open.
If I were you for the car that age I would replace the coolant anyway. If done right it would eliminate air pockets and give you a little security on the cooling system. If it is not too late, of course.

Car vibrates when you put it gear. I would do sparks - wires - distributor cap replacement. It may take care of the problem.

Good luck!

Sam

Car vibrates when you put it gear. I would do sparks - wires - distributor cap replacement. It may take care of the problem.
Sam

I am not sure about your suggestion. It may not help at all if you don't know what causes the issue.

My 92 Accord vibrates at reverse also, for many years. But it runs great. No problem at all. It's about 200k miles now. My observation is the idle may be a little bit low. Adjusting idle RPM may help it. But bottom line, I wouldn't worry about it.

I agree, I had a 90 accord and it would also vibrate when put into reverse. I had it for a while and nothing else came of that vibrating. As a personal rule of thumb, whenever I get a new vehicle, I always give it a full tune up (oil, coolant, air filter, cap, rotor, spark plugs, plug wires) because even if the person tells you that they kept it well maintained you just never know. Better to start from scratch. That might help as well

I'd be inclined to blame the vibration on bad motor mounts.

What is happening to engine RPM when you put it in gear. If it goes down, it could mean ignition, spark plugs or compression. If there is anything wrong with a cylinder, it really becomes noticable at slow engine speeds.

I'd be inclined to blame the vibration on bad motor mounts.
I agree with AccordCodger. That might be a problem too.

Sam