Shock purchase of a V6

[hughezee]

3 hours ago, Andy Mc said:

If there is a thread or pictures of centre console removal or the cluster panel that'd be great, as I went out for a drive in the dark for the first time last night in the Honda, only half the dash was lit but that was nothing in comparison to the view out of the car the lights are quite poor so I guess an upgrade there either with wiring or bulbs will be done over the summer months at some time.

 

 

These topics should be enough to give you the right idea

Hope that helps fella

[CharlesM]

IIRC I replaced the dipped bulbs with GE +120 or Osram Nightbreaker of similar output.  I think the reflectors could certainly do with a clean, that I didn't do.

Edit - just checked and they were Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited from Powerbulbs.

[Andy Mc]

Great stuff thanks, I was at work earlier so couldn't search too long and restricted to phone in the evenings at the moment. 

The list of jobs gets longer! But with another road trip this week to the east coast now planned, on the list they'll stay.

I was thinking there might be a similar fix as 90s VW's suffered poor lights too. An auto electrician figured a new cheap circuit to add in as a shortcut as the original ran right round the engine bay and through the switch etc. The voltage actually reaching the bulbs was more 8v rather than 12v no matter what new bulbs were in. A quick cut of a particular wire feed in new circuit which fed across between the headlamps and hey presto full voltage and light.

[Andy Mc]

Bridgestones on and a great difference in ride comfort and noise reduction. Just tipped 1k miles since a few weeks of ownership and getting used to it. 

I called honda about booking it in for the timing belt, they said they'd call back with times when a courtesy car was available but haven't so far.

I'm now at a crossroads with it however, once going it's a pleasure to drive but noticeably more often than not shifting to 2nd it can struggle and if so does it with a proper thud and dropping back is also similar. More noticeable when cold so I put it down to that for a while. However you can't ignore the avalanche of grumbles online about the v6 transmission and other models from the same era.

So, new tyres, plans to tackle a list inc timing belt. Is this going to be throwing money into the wind or not. As stated i really like the car and don't mind investing into it as you'd expect for any older vehicle but if the box continues then that could be too much. Firstly i think the d4 bulb will be done as i suspect this could or should flickering away 

[hughezee]

Glad to hear you've put a few miles on the motor and regards the Honda Dealer it's probably worth chasing as they are not normally equipped with V6 engines in mind or much knowledge either so a friendly reminder will speed things up to encourage them to order in the tensioner tool and get the Books out. Regards the transmissions there's loads and loads of bad information on cars, in general, to be found, happy owners generally don't complain or participate in online community's until they have a long overdue question or complaint to share. I like to think Honda 6 is very different though with a small minority of owners having problems.

Anyway, the V6 transmissions do get a bad rap or what's considered a premature problem only account for around 8% of all Honda cars that shared the same powertrain according to USA car complaints website covering 1998-2003 models up until 2015. Let's not forget 11% score for Toyota and 38% Ford 42% Volkswagen for failures, that being said they all are doing well for their age. Nevertheless, it doesn't help your situation and since the transmission was serviced recently once or twice can't remember exactly but the third time is or can be the charm. Personally, I would think the internal screens are slowly clogging up on yours, so another fluid change might not even be beneficial at this stage?

Firstly I would suggest a reset for the transmission control unit, although it doesn't always work. However, a scanner tool with the transmission comlink and doing a hard reset has had an 8/10 success rate for me or try fitting inline filtration which has tamed a few hard shifting transmissions.

 

[Andy Mc]

Thanks for the advice Stuart, i was getting a bit lost and dismayed online trying to get  sensible solutions and pointers. It's all American threads that get thrown up with a different answer on each one.

Of course all manufacturers have their issues and cock ups (mainly due to penny pinching), i think most cars I've had all eventually got more than one or two 'common to that model' part failures. As i said I'm really enjoying the Honda especially the individuality, not another one spotted at all.

Are these internal screens accessible for cleaning at all or buried deep in the box? I also read about the in line filter the other night too, so will look into that more. Thanks Andy

[Andy Mc]

In the meantime here's  (not the best) picture i took of the Honda and corrado in the in-laws garage as i sorted a few bits, just to show the similar dark purple colours. Of course I've already been mocked for obtaining another same coloured car but at the same time everyone has been impressed by it. Even the inlaw despite the Hondas lack of 4 wheel drive, inability to plough and pull a cattle trailer 

 

[Mazda Man]

Lovely..the best colour too.  Then again I am biased.