George's Garage

[George]

From the thread about the Chevy Sonic I recently had as a rental car:

I loved the brakes. The first time I hit them my wife slammed forward in her seatbelt, as I am apparently used to stomping on the brakes in my car to get them to do anything. I quickly got used to the stop-on-a-dime brakes in the Sonic, and when we all piled into my old Accord at the airport yesterday, I was actually scared driving home because my brakes are so weak by comparison. I’m going to take my Accord to the shop for some LONG-overdue service and to get the brakes checked. That will happen this week. My brakes don’t feel spongy or make noise or anything, but they do take a long time to stop the car, and I’ve been driving it for so long I guess I haven’t noticed they have gotten so bad.

WRT the Accord, just do the brakes yourself. It's incredibly easy, and the money you'll save on labor you can funnel right back into higher quality components.

I know I should, but I'm just not ready to tackle a brake job at home, especially when the shop I've been using for years is a short walk from my office. It's a lack of free time more than anything else. I just called the shop to see if tomorrow's good for some maintenance I need done and will drop it off on the way in tomorrow.

This was unexpected, or maybe I just have a crappy memory: the lady who answered the phone pulled up my history to review notes for what they said would need doing next the last time I had the car in, and she told me this: "Okay, the last time your car was in, we flushed the brake lines and installed new brake pads..."

I had forgotten that, although to be fair, it was probably close to a year ago. Maybe the difference between the Sonic's brakes and my brakes is simply sixteen years of technology? Either way, I'll ask them to check the brakes tomorrow and I'll mention they feel a little weak to me. Maybe it's just a different feel in different cars. I haven't driven another car except my wife's in a long time.

Assuming the shop says I don't have lots of serious problems, I have decided to replace the very cracked windshield and drive this thing another year or two while I save up for whatever's next. The lady on the phone, while reviewing my file while I was on the phone, said, "it looks like the only problem we've identified with your car is an oil leak at the rear of the engine. It sounds like it's in pretty good shape." I'll keep feeding it its 5W-30 habit if it means I can $ave mo' money toward a car that doesn't need a piece of plywood underneath it on the garage floor.

If only my car looked a little nicer, I'd be a lot more excited about keeping it. Oh well, maybe I can make it into a rat rod someday, with dog-dish hubcaps and wide whitewalls. Either that, or just stick a ski/bike rack on the roof, which seems to make any old car look cooler.

What's funny about this to me is that you are my dad.

Now put away those tools, clean up that garage, and get busy with your homework!

[Godson]

Pad material is a huge factor in the feel and performance of the braking system

[thesameguy]

For realz, and typically "the shop down the street" doesn't use anything approaching high-end stuff. They mostly sell high markup stuff, low-end house-brand parts that leave big room for profit. Investing in some nice high-carbon rotors and reasonable Akebono et al (aka "good") ceramic pads would probably yield a very different daily driving experience. Brakes are a 30-minute per side engagement, something you can do instead of one TV show.

[George]

Anyone wanna play Guess That Problem?

1999 Honda Accord 4-cyl auto. 232,XXX miles. A couple months ago a ball joint broke and I had to have it towed to my regular shop, where they fixed that, the one on the other side, and both axles. There might have been some related items replaced also. I have all the paperwork, but I'm at work now and don't have it nor do I remember all the details right now.

A few days ago, once, when perhaps a mile from home, I hit the gas to pull out into traffic and the car hesitated. The engine revved as usual, but I almost felt a grinding noise in my foot on the gas pedal, if that makes sense.' For a split-second, I thought "flat tire!", but no, the tires are fine.

It happened again the next day, and the next, and I think every day since for perhaps a week now. It happens more often when cold than after the car has been running for a while. It's fine 95% of the time, but it is probably getting worse.

If this were an older car, I'd hope the answer was a carburetor rebuild, but I'm afraid what I'm feeling is the transmission slipping. I'm thinking this might be the old story of the two tired boxers who can keep fighting each other a long time, but as soon as a fresh fighter steps in the ring (new parts installed in old car), the one who's exhausted is going down, and fast.

I'll take it to the shop soon - hopefully under its own power - but just wondered if anyone had ideas, opinions, guesstimates, I-told-you-so's, etc. Could it be anything other than the trans? Can I just buy a $4.99 jug of Transmission Rebuild In A Can at Pep Boys or something like that?

Thanks as always.

[thesameguy]

Hmmm... hard to correlate your foot feeling to mechanical situation, but it's good information. Couple questions:

1. When you say "hesitated but revved as usual" do you mean your foot turned into engine speed but not road speed, or something else?
2. Does the behavior change depending on how quickly you move the pedal or the angle of the steering wheel?

FWIW, generally speaking, automatic transmission issues will present themselves more often when hot than cold so it doesn't immediately sound like a transmission problem. That said, if it feels like a transmission problem to you one possible explanation would be that when the shop changed the axles they lost fluid from the axle seals and did not fully replace the loss - the result would be low fluid and weird behavior when cold that is alleviated as the transmission warms up and the fluid expands. Could also be they damaged the seals (or did not replace them as they should) and you have lost a small amount of fluid. I think '99s would still have a dip stick - have you checked the fluid for color/smell/fill?

[George]

1. When you say "hesitated but revved as usual" do you mean your foot turned into engine speed but not road speed, or something else?

Yes. Car revved, but didn't move...or moved more slowly than expected for X amount of foot pressing down on pedal. It seems like there was some "roughness" in sound and feel each time, too. I can't tell if that's transmission or engine, however.

2. Does the behavior change depending on how quickly you move the pedal or the angle of the steering wheel?

Both are possible, but I haven't noticed this.

I think '99s would still have a dip stick - have you checked the fluid for color/smell/fill?

No, and shame on me. I kept meaning to this weekend but here I am back at work on Monday. I'll check it tonight.

[thesameguy]

Definitely check the fluid - a lot of what you describe sounds like fluid level. However, it could be something on the engine side - off idle hesitation or lack of power could be a engine issue - bad A:F or ignition. If you're feeling it through the pedal that suggests engine side (vs. transmission) but it's certainly not conclusive. Are there any other signs like poor idle quality or fuel economy? Do you have a maintenance history on plugs/wires/coil/cap/rotor? Maybe just a tank of bad gas?

Remember transmission fluid gets checked hot, with the engine running. If it's dark or smells burnt or is low or high you may have an explanation.

[George]

Thanks TSG. I don't think I've checked automatic transmission fluid since auto mechanics class in high school.

Edited to add this for my own future reference: https://www.carcarekiosk.com/video/2...ck_fluid_level

If you are having problems with the transmission in your Accord, such as clunky shifting or hesitation, check the fluid level first - it is amazing how many drivers pay thousands of dollars for transmission work when a half quart of transmission fluid would have fixed the problem.

[George]

2. Does the behavior change depending on how quickly you move the pedal or the angle of the steering wheel?

No. It also happens in reverse, which I didn't know until recently.

Are there any other signs like poor idle quality or fuel economy?

No, it runs fine other than this. Well, except for something it has done since I've owned it, and my wife's two 4-cyl Accords have done also - sometimes at a red light while stopped in Drive with a foot on the brake, the car will hum and vibrate a bit more than seems normal. Shifting to Neutral or Park quiets things down, but this hasn't gotten any worse lately than it has ever been. I mention it only because it could be related, maybe?

Do you have a maintenance history on plugs/wires/coil/cap/rotor?

Nope. I don't think they've been changed since I've owned the car. Now that is work I know how to do without having to consult Chilton or YouTube.

Maybe just a tank of bad gas?

I finally ran out since my last post and filled up again. No change. I realize that doesn't entirely rule out bad gas, but it's at the bottom of my suspect list.

Remember transmission fluid gets checked hot, with the engine running. If it's dark or smells burnt or is low or high you may have an explanation.

It doesn't look or smell burned. It looks pinkish-clear (as it should, IIRC what Dexron II was like from high school days), and if anything there's too much rather than too little. I assume my shop keeps the fluids topped off when it's in a couple times a year for routine stuff.

Remember transmission fluid gets checked hot, with the engine running. If it's dark or smells burnt or is low or high you may have an explanation.

I also bought a small bottle of transmission fix-it fluid, which, among other things, claims to eliminate "torque converter shudder". However, the fluid level seems high enough that I don't think I want to pour more in when I don't know what I'm doing.

I'm tempted to change plugs, wires, etc., but I'm also thinking if it is the transmission and this is going to cost $$$$ to fix, this might be the time to move along to the next vehicle.

[thesameguy]

That fluid looks great. I really doubt you have a transmission problem - the core symptom would be a very unusual early sign of failure, and the fact the fluid looks good means it's more than likely a-ok.

I would definitely look at a general tuneup - plugs wires cap rotor and if you don't have a service history on the fuel filter, that too. It's probably $100 or less in parts, all doable from the comfort of a cold concrete slab under foot.