I got a 1996 Honda Accord V4 five years ago with 16,000 miles on it. It’s got 90,000 now. It was my grandmas car and it lived in the garage unless going to the supermarket. She stopped driving after awhile and I luckily got the car. The exhaust was dry rotted so after a trip to the exhaust shop in OH I drove it back to NC. First I got tires then I started going under the hood.
So far Ive done the entire AC system, timing belt, water pump, got a nice AGM battery, flushed all the fluids (trans, coolant, brakes, power steering) I’ve done the spark plugs, I just had to replace the brake pads for the first time at 85,000. I do the oil and filter every 5-7500 (full synthetic) she runs like a top and starts instantly.
Now the only problem I have is a little oil on one of the spark plugs. I know I need to take the valve cover off, and get under the rockers to replace the o-rings. I haven’t checked my valve lashings so I know that’s one thing I’ve missed as well but I can’t think of anything else. Please let me know if I’m missing any other regular maintenance.
My only complaint about the car is when I change the oil even after just 5,000 miles with a fresh filter and full synthetic, the oil comes out black. Is there some oil screen or filter in the oil pan I don’t know about or some part of the oil system that can be cleaned? I often wonder if sitting so long it built up sludge or something, but I figure that would be “worked out” by now. My valves and intake are spotless with 0 carbon build up so I don’t know what else to look for or maybe I’m worrying about used oil color for no reason. Is it worth sending in used oil to be analyzed? It’s been like this since I first got it. Fresh amber oil in, dark chocolate syrup color comes out.
Oil comes out black and dirty when you change it unless you change it after every drive or something nothing to worry about. Sounds like your doing everything and at this point I would just do regular maintenance and change your fluids and stuff. Keep up the good work
If you're going to have your spark plugs out for the tube seals and valve adjust, that would be a good time to do the compression and leak down tests. If they come back good you will have a log of the results for later on down the road to compare future results to. Cheaper then having the oil analysis and tells you more relevant information.
I've heard that when the rockers are off the lost motion mechanisms(vtec) can have their small passages cleaned. Not sure if your car has that feature or if that is very hard to do or not but you can check into it.
