New owner

[Dan]

Hi everyone i hope you are all well, i am a proud owner of my very first 1999 honda accord 3.0 V6 coupe and i must say i think i have fallen in love lol. 

She has her issues (gearbox and the occasional rough start) but im confident that with all the great information there is from you all i will have her running smoothly in no time, i have already ordered myself as much ATF-U as i could get my hands on and will be giving her a well needed service. 

I did go into it with a leap of faith as she has no service history but i intend to start building one, if anyone on here has had any previous dealings with her that would be a great help 🤞🏻🤷‍♂️ (V624 KPB). 

Just thought id say hi, hope you all have a lovely day. 

[PTR200S]

Welcome to the H6nda club !!!

That reg seems familiar somehow,  not sure where....

Looks like you have a number of things to look at according to the mot history. 😪 

Some things have been " fixed" but I would be checking them again I think,.....something unusual was the requirement to add a litre of oil before the emissions test in November 2020, as you said , in desperate need of a service and some tlc along with a number of new bits.

Will be interesting to see your progression,  keep us updated and don't forget those pics  !!! 

[Dan]

13 hours ago, PTR200S said:

Welcome to the H6nda club !!!

That reg seems familiar somehow,  not sure where....

Looks like you have a number of things to look at according to the mot history. 😪 

Some things have been " fixed" but I would be checking them again I think,.....something unusual was the requirement to add a litre of oil before the emissions test in November 2020, as you said , in desperate need of a service and some tlc along with a number of new bits.

Will be interesting to see your progression,  keep us updated and don't forget those pics  !!! 

Thank you and i shall definitely be giving her a good inspection, first on the list is the alternater belt tensioner changed as i can see it dancing lol (part on the way). do you have any recommendations for brands of oil and sparkplugs? 

Thanks 😁

[PTR200S]

15 hours ago, Dan said:

. do you have any recommendations for brands of oil and sparkplugs? 

Thanks 😁

Have a look here for chat on oil but a few of us use Smith & Allen Ultra with good results. 

As for spark plugs, Denso seem to be way at the moment or the usual NGK but watch out for the "copy" stuff that seems to be on the likes of eBay,  usually very cheap !! Iridium stuff maybe worth a go.

Have a look here for some chat

 

This is worth a check re the possible oil consumption....

 

[Dan]

11 hours ago, PTR200S said:

Have a look here for chat on oil but a few of us use Smith & Allen Ultra with good results. 

As for spark plugs, Denso seem to be way at the moment or the usual NGK but watch out for the "copy" stuff that seems to be on the likes of eBay,  usually very cheap !! Iridium stuff maybe worth a go.

Have a look here for some chat

 

 

10 hours ago, PTR200S said:

This is worth a check re the possible oil consumption....

 

Thank you very much. 😁

[hughezee]

On 10/17/2021 at 11:19 AM, Dan said:

Hi everyone i hope you are all well, i am a proud owner of my very first 1999 honda accord 3.0 V6 coupe and i must say i think i have fallen in love lol. 

Welcome to the club, your registration doesn't look familiar in regards to me having worked on the car? Nevertheless, it's very likely it has been discussed on the site at some point?

On 10/17/2021 at 11:19 AM, Dan said:

She has her issues (gearbox and the occasional rough start)

I would tread very carefully if you've got a gearbox niggle, I would start by draining 1L at a time to establish its true state of health?

 

[Dan]

18 hours ago, hughezee said:

Welcome to the club, your registration doesn't look familiar in regards to me having worked on the car? Nevertheless, it's very likely it has been discussed on the site at some point?

I would tread very carefully if you've got a gearbox niggle, I would start by draining 1L at a time to establish its true state of health?

 

Thank you for the advice, i have done the first drain and change and im very sad to report the oil that came out was a lovely shade of brown 😬, the test drive showed a massive improvement for the first few miles then she reverted back to what it was like before, i shall give her a 100 miles or so to let the new oil mix and break up the crap before i do another. 

I am driving her very gently at the moment and have the other service bits on order. 

I shall keep you all updated 😁

[PTR200S]

Looks like it's not been changed for a while, maybe ever 😪

You are doing the right thing though, I would be tempted to dump it again as soon as discolouration starts, the quicker the crap comes out the better. Extend the time / miles between changes as the drive improves...once you feel the deteriorating drive just change it.

Was there much stuff on the end of the sump plug.???

[Dan]

1 hour ago, PTR200S said:

Looks like it's not been changed for a while, maybe ever 😪

You are doing the right thing though, I would be tempted to dump it again as soon as discolouration starts, the quicker the crap comes out the better. Extend the time / miles between changes as the drive improves...once you feel the deteriorating drive just change it.

Was there much stuff on the end of the sump plug.???

I do wonder if it has ever been changed or if the correct oil was used, I will probably do another dump either today or tomorrow and then again when i feel it wants it. 

There was quite a bit of stuff on the magnet but no big chunks, i also ran a magnet through the old oil before getting rid of it and didn't find anything in it so i guess thats a blessing lol. 

 

[hughezee]

51 minutes ago, Dan said:

Thank you for the advice, i have done the first drain and change and im very sad to report the oil that came out was a lovely shade of brown

I would suggest using a better ATF fluid, ATF-U is great for keeping a good transmission healthy at minimum cost. So I would recommend a fluid like AMSOIL before you can expect any improvement.

[Dan]

10 minutes ago, hughezee said:

I would suggest using a better ATF fluid, ATF-U is great for keeping a good transmission healthy at minimum cost. So I would recommend a fluid like AMSOIL before you can expect any improvement.

I have been trying to get hold of amsoil but haven't had any luck, do miller's do something that would work as well as amsoil? 

My plan was to once fully changed over to ATF-U keep changing fluid every 1000 miles or so unti i can gather enough AMSOIL or equivalent.

(am i right in thinking changing oil "too" often shouldn't harm the gearbox?) 

 

[hughezee]

1 hour ago, Dan said:

I have been trying to get hold of amsoil but haven't had any luck, do miller's do something that would work as well as amsoil? 

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-1052-amsoil-multi-vehicle-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid-signature-series-atf.aspx?VariantID=1289

Millers are very good, their range of ATF's isn't anything to rave about though.🖐️

[Dan]

7 minutes ago, hughezee said:

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-1052-amsoil-multi-vehicle-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid-signature-series-atf.aspx?VariantID=1289

Millers are very good, their range of ATF's isn't anything to rave about though.🖐️

Absolutely brilliant! Thank you very much 😁

[hughezee]

2 hours ago, Dan said:

(am i right in thinking changing oil "too" often shouldn't harm the gearbox?) 

If you have a blockage in the valve body you are much better off doing a couple of ATF-U changes separated by 2000 miles no less? This will aid cleaning and then trying AMSOIL as it will have a better chance of successfully smoothing out all the niggles. 🤞

[PTR200S]

47 minutes ago, hughezee said:

If you have a blockage in the valve body you are much better off doing a couple of ATF-U changes separated by 2000 miles no less? This will aid cleaning and then trying AMSOIL as it will have a better chance of successfully smoothing out all the niggles. 🤞

How can you tell there is a blockage , Stu ???  The 2000 miles refers to that situation???

 

[hughezee]

12 minutes ago, PTR200S said:

How can you tell there is a blockage , Stu ???

Having rebuilt a couple of Honda auto boxes the valve body is key to smooth changes and seamless shifts, so very likely something is clogged or worn? There are upgrade kits for rebuilders to adapt improve the V6 transmission and help with longevity in the form of shift kits, uprated clutches etc.

[Dan]

1 hour ago, hughezee said:

If you have a blockage in the valve body you are much better off doing a couple of ATF-U changes separated by 2000 miles no less? This will aid cleaning and then trying AMSOIL as it will have a better chance of successfully smoothing out all the niggles. 🤞

Thanks 😁

[Laird_Scooby]

Welcome aboard Dan! For engine oil try NAPA 10W40 semi-synth, it is the same oil as we previously knew as Tradetec 10W40 semi-synth. Also adding ~0.5L of ATF-U to the engine will help free sticky tappets, revive oil seals, free sticky piston rings etc.

A thought about when you start it as you mentioned you'd had a couple of sticky starts - when you start it, do you turn the key to position 2 and wait for the PGM-Fi light to go out before turning to position 3 to start? If not, give it a try!

Another ATF worth a look is NAPA MV, i've sort of mentioned it before on here but not tried it in either of my beasts yet. Again it's a Z1 compatible fluid and like ATF-U may not be the same as AMSOil but is more pocket-friendly.

[Dan]

On 10/20/2021 at 11:11 PM, Laird_Scooby said:

Welcome aboard Dan! For engine oil try NAPA 10W40 semi-synth, it is the same oil as we previously knew as Tradetec 10W40 semi-synth. Also adding ~0.5L of ATF-U to the engine will help free sticky tappets, revive oil seals, free sticky piston rings etc.

A thought about when you start it as you mentioned you'd had a couple of sticky starts - when you start it, do you turn the key to position 2 and wait for the PGM-Fi light to go out before turning to position 3 to start? If not, give it a try!

Another ATF worth a look is NAPA MV, i've sort of mentioned it before on here but not tried it in either of my beasts yet. Again it's a Z1 compatible fluid and like ATF-U may not be the same as AMSOil but is more pocket-friendly.

Thank you very much. 

[Cryistic]

Not sure about putting ATF in engine oil myself, a good quality oil for diesels will clean the engine out just as well due to the extra detergents and additive's required to keep oil burners clean.

 

Welcome along, I'm sure you will enjoy the Coupe immensely, I still have a soft spot for mine and it's been gone for almost 5 years.

[Laird_Scooby]

12 minutes ago, Cryistic said:

Not sure about putting ATF in engine oil myself, a good quality oil for diesels will clean the engine out just as well

Maybe it will but it won't revive oil seals or help free sticking piston rings. I have the proof it works from much reduced HC figures on both cars at MoT time. Also using an oil designed for diesels can end up cleaning too much from a petrol engine and create oil leaks and oil burning that the ATF doesn't. Also it can be used completely as engine oil although not recommended. Further proof of improved compression by freeing sticking piston rings is in this video :

 

 

As already mentioned, it's a "fix" for sticky hydraulic tappets that's been known about in the motor trade for decades. These days when i do an oil/filter change, after draining the sump and putting the new filter on, the first 0.5L of oil is ATF topped up with the normal 10W40 semi-synth.

Best improvement to sticking tappets and oil leaks was on my Jeep, it had 3 tappets that sounded like pile drivers when cold and the (rubber) rocker cover gasket leaked like a sieve when i first got it. Did an oil/filter change and added a litre of ATF-U plus 6L of 10W40 semi to the engine afterwards. Less than 1000 miles later the rocker cover was leak-free and it started on all 6 pots without the hammering from the sticking tappets and went much better. I was also getting 24mpg on LPG out of it so i was definitely doing something right with it.

[Cryistic]

I'd suggest that recommending something that's been a fix for decades for old worn out engines doesn't take into consideration modern oil technology or modern engine design tolerances.

 

The J series doesn't have tappets as it was designed within the last 30 years unlike a OHV jeep engine, it's a SOHC with rocker arms with a roller that acts straight off the cam profile with a VTEC solenoid that works on oil pressure, so chucking in ATF might not be the best idea as you don't know what effect it will have on a modern engine top end and the engagement of VTEC might be impaired by having the wrong viscosity oil in the engine.

 

Unless the J series has been massively abused it's not going to be really sludged up anyway, if you don't want to use diesel oil just use a good quality Semi synth or synth oil that meets the manufacturers specification and change it after a few thousand, it's what I did to mine and the oil was always clean between services, they all have similar detergents in them, just diesel has a higher level due to the fact is designed for dirty oil burners.

 

Hughzee used to recommend a couple of oil additives that I also used that seemed to work well in my coupe, I'm not sure what his latest recommendations are.