benw123
Members
After several weeks of reading the guides here, and opinions of other owners around servicing, I decided to take the plunge and switch my Accord to the self-service route. A major service was due on my car and a combination of frankly shocking Honda dealer servicing costs (£427 anyone?) and no guarantees of getting the work completed satisfactorily (having to mark parts ahead of a dealer service) has helped my decision to take the servicing under my control.
I've worked on all the cars I've owned to various degrees and have tackled some larger repairs with success, so servicing should be straightforward. I like the fact that most of it is documented in the owner's manual! I had the idea of creating a thread to provide running documentary of all the work I've completed to supplement my notes in the service book. So here goes.
First up - parts. Again, TA has created some informed choices. I purchased a 25L drum of EXOL 0w30, as reviewed here on TA, delivered for £80 and Howards Honda on eBay supply an Accord service kit which includes an oil filter, sump plug washer, fuel filter, air filter and pollen filter delivered for £74.99. The good thing about this kit, apart from being genuine Honda parts, is that I got a proper Honda-branded receipt to prove I purchased the parts.
My Accord went into Chiswick Honda at the end of February to get its manifold changed under warranty (fumes in the cabin), and at the same time, for £60 labour, I had the fuel filter fitted. I didn't fancy this one; I know access to it is tricky and that mistakes can lead to starting problems, so I decided to stick to my strengths! Cut to this weekend and at 95109 miles, I got stuck into the oil change. I took some pictures and here's some notes on what happened.
First of all, I took the car for a 1/2 mile run to warm the oil a touch - this was from cold and the oil was lukewarm when I got back. Then the Accord was put on axle stands, the oil filler cap opened and using a 10mm socket to remove the small flap in the undertray, and a 17mm socket to undo the sump plug, out came the oil into a large container:
There's over 5 litres of oil in the engine, way more than I remember in older cars, so you will need a big container. And try not to drop the sump plug into it either... The oil was just shy of 12,000 miles old and while quite black wasn't full of sludge - it drained out easily.
Oil filter next, and you can use a permanent marker to record where it should be retightened to. I used a traditional oil filter removal tool - the one that tightens as you wrap round it - and it came off easily. Use some cloth to go around the filter in case of spillage. Oil runs out quickly so remove it away from the engine as soon as it is free to stop the old oil draining back into the engine. A tray works well for this:
The new oil filter consists of the element plus three thin rubber rings. Turn the element so that it can slide out and pull firmly to take it off. Use a small screwdriver to carefully prise off the rings and replace.
While you're waiting for all the oil to drain, now's a good time to change the filters - they're both very easy. The air filter is held in place by four 8mm bolts. Two are visible and two are further down which means a socket extension is needed:
Remove the two shown and the other two can be loosened and left in place. Open the air filter box enough to slide the air filter out. Mine wasn't too bad in comparison:
Refit and secure the bolts. If you thought that was easy, the pollen filter is barely 60 seconds' work. Open the glove box, push in the two tabs at the hinge so it opens right up, and in front of you is the pollen filter tray. Press in the two tabs either side and pull out - I had a bit of wiring in the way but this is easily pushed to one side. This time, the pollen filter was well-used:
Back to the oil. Once it has stopped draining, put the new washer on the bolt and retighten it to 29 lb/ft (according to the manual). Clean the area with a rag to make leak-spotting easier.
Refit the oil filter and tighten. Again, if you marked the parts with a marker, you'll know how much to tighten although it is marked 25 lb/ft. This isn't particularly tight but it doesn't need to be.
Finally, the oil. I know some EXOL owners here fitted a tap to the 25L drum and this is a good idea; trying to pour the first couple of litres out of the drum is difficult! I managed it by pouring quickly into another one-litre container - the oil starts running out of the drum almost immediately. Filling the engine using a funnel in one-litre stages means you can count the amount going in. I put in around 4 litres and waited, checked for leaks and then started the engine, before topping it up to the max mark on the dipstick.
I did a five-mile drive to make sure that there were no further leaks and then you're done. Two days later and all is well - it's worth constantly checking for any leaks obviously.
Overall, I'm really pleased I took this route; it's saved a heap of cash but you have the confidence that the work has been done properly. It's probably the placebo effect but I swear the engine is a tad quieter and smoother too!
I've worked on all the cars I've owned to various degrees and have tackled some larger repairs with success, so servicing should be straightforward. I like the fact that most of it is documented in the owner's manual! I had the idea of creating a thread to provide running documentary of all the work I've completed to supplement my notes in the service book. So here goes.
First up - parts. Again, TA has created some informed choices. I purchased a 25L drum of EXOL 0w30, as reviewed here on TA, delivered for £80 and Howards Honda on eBay supply an Accord service kit which includes an oil filter, sump plug washer, fuel filter, air filter and pollen filter delivered for £74.99. The good thing about this kit, apart from being genuine Honda parts, is that I got a proper Honda-branded receipt to prove I purchased the parts.
My Accord went into Chiswick Honda at the end of February to get its manifold changed under warranty (fumes in the cabin), and at the same time, for £60 labour, I had the fuel filter fitted. I didn't fancy this one; I know access to it is tricky and that mistakes can lead to starting problems, so I decided to stick to my strengths! Cut to this weekend and at 95109 miles, I got stuck into the oil change. I took some pictures and here's some notes on what happened.
First of all, I took the car for a 1/2 mile run to warm the oil a touch - this was from cold and the oil was lukewarm when I got back. Then the Accord was put on axle stands, the oil filler cap opened and using a 10mm socket to remove the small flap in the undertray, and a 17mm socket to undo the sump plug, out came the oil into a large container:
There's over 5 litres of oil in the engine, way more than I remember in older cars, so you will need a big container. And try not to drop the sump plug into it either... The oil was just shy of 12,000 miles old and while quite black wasn't full of sludge - it drained out easily.
Oil filter next, and you can use a permanent marker to record where it should be retightened to. I used a traditional oil filter removal tool - the one that tightens as you wrap round it - and it came off easily. Use some cloth to go around the filter in case of spillage. Oil runs out quickly so remove it away from the engine as soon as it is free to stop the old oil draining back into the engine. A tray works well for this:
The new oil filter consists of the element plus three thin rubber rings. Turn the element so that it can slide out and pull firmly to take it off. Use a small screwdriver to carefully prise off the rings and replace.
While you're waiting for all the oil to drain, now's a good time to change the filters - they're both very easy. The air filter is held in place by four 8mm bolts. Two are visible and two are further down which means a socket extension is needed:
Remove the two shown and the other two can be loosened and left in place. Open the air filter box enough to slide the air filter out. Mine wasn't too bad in comparison:
Refit and secure the bolts. If you thought that was easy, the pollen filter is barely 60 seconds' work. Open the glove box, push in the two tabs at the hinge so it opens right up, and in front of you is the pollen filter tray. Press in the two tabs either side and pull out - I had a bit of wiring in the way but this is easily pushed to one side. This time, the pollen filter was well-used:
Back to the oil. Once it has stopped draining, put the new washer on the bolt and retighten it to 29 lb/ft (according to the manual). Clean the area with a rag to make leak-spotting easier.
Refit the oil filter and tighten. Again, if you marked the parts with a marker, you'll know how much to tighten although it is marked 25 lb/ft. This isn't particularly tight but it doesn't need to be.
Finally, the oil. I know some EXOL owners here fitted a tap to the 25L drum and this is a good idea; trying to pour the first couple of litres out of the drum is difficult! I managed it by pouring quickly into another one-litre container - the oil starts running out of the drum almost immediately. Filling the engine using a funnel in one-litre stages means you can count the amount going in. I put in around 4 litres and waited, checked for leaks and then started the engine, before topping it up to the max mark on the dipstick.
I did a five-mile drive to make sure that there were no further leaks and then you're done. Two days later and all is well - it's worth constantly checking for any leaks obviously.
Overall, I'm really pleased I took this route; it's saved a heap of cash but you have the confidence that the work has been done properly. It's probably the placebo effect but I swear the engine is a tad quieter and smoother too!