I also had a 88 LXI and sold it three years ago with 378,000 miles on it.
Hopefully it is still running around town with over 400,000 miles on it. At
200K, I was blowing a lot of oil. I had the engine block slit, baked and
the face planed. After three attempt we put in over sized pistons because
of a waiver in the wall, and one piston was still blowing oil. The
difference in the initial estimate was $200 less than for a remanunfactured
short block. The dealership ate more than the $200 to get it right after
three attempts. The short block looking back should and was the correct
fix. The final outcome was more power and another 178,000 miles. A car
this old everything shrinks, cracks, or falls apart when you touch it. Give
it the respect it deserves and park in the driveway and just sit in it and
play the radio once in a while--no kidding.
"Ralph" <ralph.topliffe@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:qRGcd.747345$M95.417612@pd7tw1no...
> I have an 88 Honda Accord with 371,000 KM on it and I think the problem is
> that it is basically worn out. The compression on all cylinders is between
> 75 & 90 psi. It is suppose to be at least 141 according to the manual. The
> timing belt needed changing so I did that job a couple of weeks ago but no
> change in the symptoms. There is a chugging/puffing sound that comes out
the
> exhaust. I am thinking that this would be caused by exhaust valves that
are
> not seating. I have checked valve clearance and they are all set within
> specs. I am assuming that the problem is a new head assembly and not rings
> as it doesn't burn oil. I have heard that the catalytic converter plugs up
> on these older vehicles and that I should remove it and put in a straight
> pipe. No emission testing where I live, so that may be the cheapest next
> step. Anyone else had a similar situation?
>
>