91 SE - what it took in 14 years, 170,000 miles of service.

[Huffa]

I won't include regular maintenence things such as brakes, tune -ups, tires, timing belt, etc........

1) heat control cable
2) auto transmission shaft nut (recall) (104,000)
3) drivers window run channel (recall)
4) o-2 sensor (135,000)
5) coil, ignition switch & main relay (166,000)
6) R & L drive axles due to CV boots tearing (170,000)
7) oil pan gasket (170,000)
8) front torque rod - by radiator (often called motor mount) (170,000)
9) inside door handle assembly on passanger side ( weird that that side broke first!)
10) trunk springs (too weak) need to be replaced yet (recall)
11) JUST FIXED both seals on tail lights . They get old & dry and leave water seep into both corners of trunk. I simply just used silicone with old gasket and it worked fine - probably will never leak again this way.
12 One lost tailpipe chrome end piece (SE has 2) - did not replace yet.
13) new muffler (124,000)

NOTE - when timing belt was done, it took the balance shaft gear housing also (170,000) due to seal leaking which is the most costly part at 160 bucks - It is NOT rebuildable. So wth that, total parts came to almost 340.00

I'd recommend to ALWAYS replace it even though I don't think Honda does!

Thats about it.

OH, The rear fenders still have NO RUST !!!!!!!!

Be REAL INTERESTING to see what your 4th generation took also.

-Huffa

[Tom_91_LX]

I traded in my '91 LX with 112K miles last month. I bought it in 10/02 and got all the records from the original owner. It had:

Left inside door handle, 36841 miles = $25.62
LF outside CV joint replaced, 46011 miles = $273.46
Right front power window switch, 56076 miles = $50.64
Muffler, 57331 miles = $174.43
Muffler, 80204 miles = $143.68
Radiator, 85973 miles = $297.97
Wiper linkage (broke because I tried to turn on the wipers when they were frozen to the windshield), 86676 miles = $193.87

Total = only $1159.67 non-routine items in 14 years! And technically, I'd consider mufflers to be "wear items", and the wiper linkage was mostly my fault, although the combination of age and cold weather probably made the plastic bits more brittle. The A/C had never even needed recharging. Sadly, I was just starting to get three tiny spots of wheelwell rust.

I decided to trade the car in rather than selling it myself. Had I sold it myself, I would have asked around $3K based on what others were selling for in the want ads. I asked the dealer for $2K in trade and they did so without hesitation. Within 3 days it was on their used lot for $5995!!! It was gone within a week so I'm sure someone knew they were getting a good one.

[Huffa]

Thanks for the reply!

You got only 57 out of the 1st muffler and only up to 80,000 out of the 2nd? HMMMMM- they, the stock ones usually last much longer then that? Then only 23 out of 2nd. What the heck?

Both our Accord & CRX Si that we once had, got about 125,000 out of the 1st original ones.

I guess age becomes a factor too when they get old just as much as the milage does.

Man, why didn't you try to sell it on here?

[Tom_91_LX]

[You got only 57 out of the 1st muffler and only up to 80,000 out of the 2nd? HMMMMM- they, the stock ones usually last much longer then that? Then only 23 out of 2nd. What the heck?[/quote]

I'm pretty sure the mufflers wore out so fast because the first owners were elderly and retired and only drove about 8K miles a year (and were probably very gentle drivers to boot). Short trips can be very hard on exhaust systems because water vapor never gets a chance to blow out of the exhaust. Mufflers take it extra hard since they have lots of crevices where water can collect and cause rust.

Years ago, my mom and I both had '84 Nissan Stanzas. I drove the crap out of mine, but mom typically only drove hers a mile or two at a time. I never had to replace a muffler even once, but I think she went through at least five. It actually wasn't even the muffler itself, it was the point where the exhaust pipe entered the muffler. Water collected there and rusted out the pipe in the exact same spot every time. Every now and then I used to take her car out on the freeway and blow out all the carbon in the motor. It created a pretty spectacular smoke screen behind the car. I'd just keep flooring it until it quit blowing grey smoke. Afterward, it always had twice the pickup and got better mileage too.

[AccordCodger]

SIX GRAND FOR A '91 LX!!!??? Maybe they sold it, or maybe they just sent it to auction.

In January (2004), I bought a '93 EX with 140,000 for $2,800 (though, granted by private sale, not from a dealer).