Honda Car Forum

I bought an '84 Honda Accord at an auction, an auction is always a gamble,
only paid $200.
I like Honda's they are fun to drive, economical & comfortable. I had
forgotten how much I dislike working on them.
This one ran when I bought it, turned out it ran well enough to get into the
sales ring and back to it's parking spot. I changed the fuel filters &
cleaned the spark plugs then it ran well enough to have a serious miss/
backfire.
A compression check showed there was a problem, so now I'm taking the head
off. I had honesty forgotten just how much there is to do in taking the head
off an older Honda.
No more older Honda cars for me...
Just had to vent somewhere.

Rob
(still working at taking the radiator off so I can get a wrench on the lower
air line from the exhaust manifold & hoping I have marked the five thousand
vacuum hoses well enough so I can get the sucker back together if the
problem is not too expensive.)

becida wrote:
>
> I bought an '84 Honda Accord at an auction, an auction is always a gamble,
> only paid $200.
> I like Honda's they are fun to drive, economical & comfortable. I had
> forgotten how much I dislike working on them.
> This one ran when I bought it, turned out it ran well enough to get into
> the sales ring and back to it's parking spot. I changed the fuel filters &
> cleaned the spark plugs then it ran well enough to have a serious miss/
> backfire.
> A compression check showed there was a problem, so now I'm taking the head
> off. I had honesty forgotten just how much there is to do in taking the
> head off an older Honda.
> No more older Honda cars for me...
> Just had to vent somewhere.
>
> Rob
> (still working at taking the radiator off so I can get a wrench on the
> lower air line from the exhaust manifold & hoping I have marked the five
> thousand vacuum hoses well enough so I can get the sucker back together if
> the problem is not too expensive.)

I'm not sure why you're taking the head off. Your symptoms sound more like
an ignition problem, e.g., spark plug wires, distributor, etc especially
since the compression checked out all right. Moreover, a leak down test
should help to find a problem if you suspect something's wrong with the
valves. But anyways, if you are pulling the head, you can make life easy on
yourself and leave the exhaust and intake manifolds attached. Everything
stays on the intake manifold, carb, vacuum lines, including the vacuum
control boxes. Then when you get the head off put it in a stand such as one
of these http://tinyurl.com/xo2h to work on it. Note that it will take two
people to pull the head with everything still attached but it's a lot easier
in the long run.

Eric

I agree the 82-84 is fun to drive but can tell you I've taken heads in and
out ten times near the end of its life. On the tenth time, I <beep> had it.
Okay, I had to vent it, too. But it's not the car's fault. I soon learn that
these babies can go 300k or more and keep goin...

The problem I had was the head and carb. My repairs were not adequate. Word
of advice, it must go in precisely with OEM gaskets and anything around it
has to be inspected. The head must be in top shape before it goes in. After
1200 mi, angle torque it again. Any signs that the head had been exposed to
over heating prior should be rejected...god knows what's gonna go wrong.

The best approach is get a new motor from the salvage yard with a
compression inspection report nearing the 184 range. Not below 180s range.
These top range means that's there's no overheating and untouched and will
last forever, assuming proper maintenance.

A motor here runs about 200 bucks, the price of your car. If I can go back,
I would care for my baby differently. That's why my 15 year old steady idle
Honda at 250k mi with top spec compression with little or no oil comsumption
is remarkable for a Honda. I could just WELD this hood shut.
Ind

> I bought an '84 Honda Accord at an auction, an auction is always a gamble,
> only paid $200.
> I like Honda's they are fun to drive, economical & comfortable. I had
> forgotten how much I dislike working on them.
> This one ran when I bought it, turned out it ran well enough to get into
the
> sales ring and back to it's parking spot. I changed the fuel filters &
> cleaned the spark plugs then it ran well enough to have a serious miss/
> backfire.
> A compression check showed there was a problem, so now I'm taking the head
> off. I had honesty forgotten just how much there is to do in taking the
head
> off an older Honda.
> No more older Honda cars for me...
> Just had to vent somewhere.
>
> Rob
> (still working at taking the radiator off so I can get a wrench on the
lower
> air line from the exhaust manifold & hoping I have marked the five
thousand
> vacuum hoses well enough so I can get the sucker back together if the
> problem is not too expensive.)
>
>

Eric wrote:
>
> becida wrote:
> >
> > I bought an '84 Honda Accord at an auction, an auction is always a
> > gamble, only paid $200.
> > I like Honda's they are fun to drive, economical & comfortable. I had
> > forgotten how much I dislike working on them.
> > This one ran when I bought it, turned out it ran well enough to get into
> > the sales ring and back to it's parking spot. I changed the fuel filters
> > & cleaned the spark plugs then it ran well enough to have a serious
> > miss/backfire.
> > A compression check showed there was a problem, so now I'm taking the
> > head off. I had honesty forgotten just how much there is to do in taking
> > the head off an older Honda.
> > No more older Honda cars for me...
> > Just had to vent somewhere.
> >
> > Rob
> > (still working at taking the radiator off so I can get a wrench on the
> > lower air line from the exhaust manifold & hoping I have marked the five
> > thousand vacuum hoses well enough so I can get the sucker back together
> > if the problem is not too expensive.)
>
> I'm not sure why you're taking the head off. Your symptoms sound more
> like an ignition problem, e.g., spark plug wires, distributor, etc
> especially since the compression checked out all right. Moreover, a leak
> down test should help to find a problem if you suspect something's wrong
> with the valves. But anyways, if you are pulling the head, you can make
> life easy on yourself and leave the exhaust and intake manifolds attached.
> Everything stays on the intake manifold, carb, vacuum lines, including the
> vacuum control boxes. Then when you get the head off put it in a stand
> such as one of these http://tinyurl.com/xo2h to work on it. Note that it
> will take two people to pull the head with everything still attached but
> it's a lot easier in the long run.
>

OK. That was my mistake. I reread your original post and noted that you
had indeed stated that there was a problem with the compression.

However, my advice regarding removing the head with the manifolds attached
still stands as the easier method.

Eric

You paid $195 too much!




On Fri, 05 Dec 2003 14:39:12 -0800, Eric <say.no@spam.now> wrote:

>Eric wrote:
>>
>> becida wrote:
>> >
>> > I bought an '84 Honda Accord at an auction, an auction is always a
>> > gamble, only paid $200.
>> > I like Honda's they are fun to drive, economical & comfortable. I had
>> > forgotten how much I dislike working on them.
>> > This one ran when I bought it, turned out it ran well enough to get into
>> > the sales ring and back to it's parking spot. I changed the fuel filters
>> > & cleaned the spark plugs then it ran well enough to have a serious
>> > miss/backfire.
>> > A compression check showed there was a problem, so now I'm taking the
>> > head off. I had honesty forgotten just how much there is to do in taking
>> > the head off an older Honda.
>> > No more older Honda cars for me...
>> > Just had to vent somewhere.
>> >
>> > Rob
>> > (still working at taking the radiator off so I can get a wrench on the
>> > lower air line from the exhaust manifold & hoping I have marked the five
>> > thousand vacuum hoses well enough so I can get the sucker back together
>> > if the problem is not too expensive.)
>>
>> I'm not sure why you're taking the head off. Your symptoms sound more
>> like an ignition problem, e.g., spark plug wires, distributor, etc
>> especially since the compression checked out all right. Moreover, a leak
>> down test should help to find a problem if you suspect something's wrong
>> with the valves. But anyways, if you are pulling the head, you can make
>> life easy on yourself and leave the exhaust and intake manifolds attached.
>> Everything stays on the intake manifold, carb, vacuum lines, including the
>> vacuum control boxes. Then when you get the head off put it in a stand
>> such as one of these http://tinyurl.com/xo2h to work on it. Note that it
>> will take two people to pull the head with everything still attached but
>> it's a lot easier in the long run.
>>
>
>OK. That was my mistake. I reread your original post and noted that you
>had indeed stated that there was a problem with the compression.
>
>However, my advice regarding removing the head with the manifolds attached
>still stands as the easier method.
>
>Eric