Aloha from Hawaii. My friend is looking to get this car it’s a 96 Honda Accord automatic 191k miles on it. I know a bit on cars and generally know what to check but there’s some thing I’ve never seen before, or not much.
The coolant bubbles, foams a lil bit when you take cap off and let it run. I bought a head gasket tester and it didn’t change colors during the test.
Owner says car sat for a while and that’s why it could be doing that.
Trans fluid looks ok, not burnt. Shifts pretty well. No slips. Should we just leave it like that or go about changing it.
It idles pretty low at very low speeds and when at stop and in park. He says could be distributed cap as he already changed spark plugs and wires. Don’t see an oil or trans fluid leak, levels haven’t changed.
Check engine light for o2 sensor.
Hard to tell how reliable a car can be and how long it can go when it sat for 5 years.
Test drive 40 mins to the store and back, and another 15 mins. Half time going highway speeds. Seemed ok
The interior is super clean! He said he changed it all out.
Main concern is the coolant issue, and the trans fluid, changing it after it sat or keeping it as is. As well as the idle problem. Didn’t idle weird at normal speeds.
You are looking at a 26 years old car that was sitting for 5 years. I would not even think about buying it.
The one thing that actually might be causing the bubbling if it didn't have a head gasket leak - coolant systems are under pressure with the radiator cap off (which is why you shouldn't take the cap off on a hot engine). Taking the cap off reduces the pressure, lowering the boiling point, which allows an otherwise correctly operating cooling system to boil a little (or dangerously in some situations).
I'd do compression check to make sure that there's no head gasket leak and that the rings and valves are in good shape.
What is a major problem for cars that sit is that the gasoline deteriorates over time (especially in humid places)! It may need substantial de-gunking of the fuel system - a good negotiating point if everything else checks out.
As far as the trans, if you want to be extra-careful, you could drain a couple quarts of ATF and put in fresh to replace it. That way, you get the fresh additives without shocking the clutches too much.
