"HondaAccordManEX" <saylo1234@yahoo.com> wrote
> Hi: The year which I bought the car is this year. In fact, it was
> just one week ago.

Thanks. I was curious if you got this car for what may have seemed like a
bargain but, because of engine problems, was not. I see what you say below about
the car having back end damage. I just checked for the car's blue book value at
www.nadaguides.com . It gives the following for a 1991 Honda Accord EX 4-dr
Sedan with 123,000 miles on it:

Low Retail Base Price = $2650
Average Retail Base Price = $3650
High Retail Base Price = $4,400

Maybe you knew this before you bought the car. From your whole description,
sounds like you did your homework, excepting maybe having a mechanic check it
out before purchase?

With the rear end damage and no other problems it sounds like a fair price.
Unless the guy who sold it to you knew more about the engine and wasn't letting
on... As you probaly figured out.

> It has been driving great on the highway and
> locally! (except for the said shake at idle). The gas mileage seems
> good. I went so far 160 miles on a half tank. I will calc. the
> mileage after I have to fill up again.

That sounds about right for an Accord in good repair; but again, I am not an
Accord owner. I am going from memory of Consumer Reports claims on fuel mileage
and an approximation of your tank size.

www.fueleconomy.gov says your car should get 22-29 mpg, depending on whether
you have a manual or automatic and are driving in highway or city.

> I had a tune up done at a none-honda shop. They were the ones who put
> in new MDG (sp?) plugs. They did mention something similar to what
> you said: ie it may be the distributor cap, the wires and such. They
> also, however, said that it could be that the engine's compression is
> not equal (ie four cylinder may have discrepency in the compressions).
> They suggested that I could take it to a shop which does measurement
> of compressions to get it measured. If the cylinders measure out
> equally strong, then the next step is to change the wires and
> distributor cap. However, if the compressions do not measure out
> equally, then there is no need to go further because the only way to
> fix the compression is replacing the engine

They know better than I. I doubt they're BSing you, except I think I'd first go
ahead and change out the wires and distributor cap and distributor rotor and
eliminate them as a cause of the problem. It's cheap enough to do this.

On the other hand, I have no idea what the charge is for checking cylinder
compression. Might be cheaper than wires, cap, and rotor.

> The above info was what I got from the shop. If anyone can verify the
> info or add new insights, please chime in :-).
>
> By the way, the shop did do a timing (spark/distributor timing) as
> part of the tune up, therefore, I think the timing is okay.
>
> Now on to the subject of the timing belt itself: It is interesting
> that you say non-honda shops can do it for substantially less than
> $600.

Not definitely. Maybe. Again, this was a few years ago (2000 or 2001, and it was
for a 1991 Civic. But it seems like there shouldn't be much difference in the
prices for the two models. Others here will know better.

You could call around. Shops (independent or dealer) generally have estimates
for such jobs readily available.

> Now, you did mention that the oil pan was dented. Did that
> affect the way the car ran?

Not at all.

> Did you have to get a new pan or it was
> more/less cosmetic?

Cosmetic.

> If it is only cosmetic, then it is not a big
> deal.

Correct. It's only a sign of a sloppy shop or one that doesn't do Hondas much.

> This 91 Accord of mine has back end damage (which does not
> affect the way the car runs, but did reduce the price). I was
> actually looking for a car with some dents so as to get a bargain. It
> worked out perfectly that the back end damage (some bumper crack and
> the trunk is misshapened--but no leaks in the trunk) does not affect
> the performance of the car but did lower the price of the car ;-)
>
> :-)

Okay. Hope the shake turns out to be something minor. Hopefully a few more will
post here with a few more things you can check before getting serious with
another shop to do the checks the first shop suggested. I think I'd probably
trust the first shop, though.

If the shake is easily fixed, and you cannot get out of the previous owner when
he last changed the timing belt and water pump, I'd go get them changed. :-)

G'luck.