Honda Car Forum

While struggling to keep my 99 Accord on the road (192,000 miles and
climbing) I have become pretty familiar with it, but so far with my 2003
Accord all I've had to do is change the oil.

I just tried to replace the air cleaner element and found the designers have
replaced the steel hold-down clips with screws. So I removed them and then
tried to maneuver the cover off to expose the filter but could not. All
right, I need a book for the "new" car and will get one. But in the
meantime, while replacing the four screws on the air cleaner, I dropped one
and lost it somewhere in the engine compartment.

Can anyone tell me what screw to use as a replacement? I've gone crazy
searching for that little sucker. Thanks as always to this generous group
for all the help.

John Smith wrote:
> While struggling to keep my 99 Accord on the road (192,000 miles and
> climbing) I have become pretty familiar with it, but so far with my 2003
> Accord all I've had to do is change the oil.
>
> I just tried to replace the air cleaner element and found the designers have
> replaced the steel hold-down clips with screws. So I removed them and then
> tried to maneuver the cover off to expose the filter but could not. All
> right, I need a book for the "new" car and will get one. But in the
> meantime, while replacing the four screws on the air cleaner, I dropped one
> and lost it somewhere in the engine compartment.
>
> Can anyone tell me what screw to use as a replacement? I've gone crazy
> searching for that little sucker. Thanks as always to this generous group
> for all the help.

-------------------

When that happened to me recently, I smacked the underside of that
plastic 'guard' that's under the radiator and the screw jumped out.
www.slhondaparts has diagrams and part numbers for everything.
www.helminc.com has the service manual you need.

'Curly'

"John Smith" <jsmith@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:47ecfcdd$0$15194$607ed4bc@cv.net...
> While struggling to keep my 99 Accord on the road (192,000 miles and
> climbing) I have become pretty familiar with it, but so far with my 2003
> Accord all I've had to do is change the oil.
>
> I just tried to replace the air cleaner element and found the designers
> have replaced the steel hold-down clips with screws. So I removed them
> and then tried to maneuver the cover off to expose the filter but could
> not. All right, I need a book for the "new" car and will get one. But in
> the meantime, while replacing the four screws on the air cleaner, I
> dropped one and lost it somewhere in the engine compartment.
>
> Can anyone tell me what screw to use as a replacement? I've gone crazy
> searching for that little sucker. Thanks as always to this generous group
> for all the help.
>

Look at one of the three remaining and go buy another?

On 3/28/2008 10:27 AM Piso Mojado spake these words of knowledge:

> "John Smith" <jsmith@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:47ecfcdd$0$15194$607ed4bc@cv.net...
>> While struggling to keep my 99 Accord on the road (192,000 miles and
>> climbing) I have become pretty familiar with it, but so far with my 2003
>> Accord all I've had to do is change the oil.
>>
>> I just tried to replace the air cleaner element and found the designers
>> have replaced the steel hold-down clips with screws. So I removed them
>> and then tried to maneuver the cover off to expose the filter but could
>> not. All right, I need a book for the "new" car and will get one. But in
>> the meantime, while replacing the four screws on the air cleaner, I
>> dropped one and lost it somewhere in the engine compartment.
>>
>> Can anyone tell me what screw to use as a replacement? I've gone crazy
>> searching for that little sucker. Thanks as always to this generous group
>> for all the help.
>>
>
> Look at one of the three remaining and go buy another?

Nah, they're not the same length.

John, look at the illustration Curly pointed you to. If that doesn't
get it, I'll get my Helm's (I also have a 2003 Accord) and will find it.

RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen
--
"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just
because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." - H.
Jackson Browne

Look it up on one of the online Honda parts dealers and order
it....http://www.slhonda.com/
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/home.htm for a couple

"Dave Kelsen" <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:47ed6d67$0$4953$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> On 3/28/2008 10:27 AM Piso Mojado spake these words of knowledge:
> http://www.slhonda.com/
>> "John Smith" <jsmith@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:47ecfcdd$0$15194$607ed4bc@cv.net...
>>> While struggling to keep my 99 Accord on the road (192,000 miles and
>>> climbing) I have become pretty familiar with it, but so far with my 2003
>>> Accord all I've had to do is change the oil.
>>>
>>> I just tried to replace the air cleaner element and found the designers
>>> have replaced the steel hold-down clips with screws. So I removed them
>>> and then tried to maneuver the cover off to expose the filter but could
>>> not. All right, I need a book for the "new" car and will get one. But
>>> in the meantime, while replacing the four screws on the air cleaner, I
>>> dropped one and lost it somewhere in the engine compartment.
>>>
>>> Can anyone tell me what screw to use as a replacement? I've gone crazy
>>> searching for that little sucker. Thanks as always to this generous
>>> group for all the help.
>>>
>>
>> Look at one of the three remaining and go buy another?
>
> Nah, they're not the same length.
>
> John, look at the illustration Curly pointed you to. If that doesn't get
> it, I'll get my Helm's (I also have a 2003 Accord) and will find it.
>
> RFT!!!
> Dave Kelsen
> --
> "People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just
> because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." - H.
> Jackson Browne
>

On Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:12:31 -0400, "John Smith" <jsmith@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>While struggling to keep my 99 Accord on the road (192,000 miles and
>climbing) I have become pretty familiar with it, but so far with my 2003
>Accord all I've had to do is change the oil.
>
>I just tried to replace the air cleaner element and found the designers have
>replaced the steel hold-down clips with screws. So I removed them and then
>tried to maneuver the cover off to expose the filter but could not. All
>right, I need a book for the "new" car and will get one. But in the
>meantime, while replacing the four screws on the air cleaner, I dropped one
>and lost it somewhere in the engine compartment.
>
>Can anyone tell me what screw to use as a replacement? I've gone crazy
>searching for that little sucker. Thanks as always to this generous group
>for all the help.
>


Last year I did exactly like you. I cleaned my filter and dropped the
bolt when putting it back together. I couldn't find the orig. bolt
either so before finally going to the dealer for the new bolt, I
called my repair shop. They told me their mechanic did the same thing
the day before and didn't know the size. Hence I went to the dealer
for the new bolt. I don't recall the size now and I think I paid
about $2 but I had to travel almost 1 hour round trip so the new bolt
was expensive. I learned from that experience and later the same
year chose to replace the filter (wish I did that to begin with
instead of cleaning the filter) and decided to let my mechanic do it
instead. Afterwards I checked for missing bolts and all was fine.
Unless they sell a special tool, I think you need very nimble fingers
for this job.