1987 Honda Accord

I changed the oil and filter Saturday. I went back with the High Mileage Pennzoil 10w-30. My car seems to burn/leak less oil with the High Mileage formula.
I also replaced my headlights. I tried to clean up the harness contact points, and I actually cut off the old butt connectors on the wires, and crimped on new ones. The old ones were showing some corrosion. I bought a pair of GE High Output bulbs from Wal-Mart. So far they seem brighter than my old headlights which were getting dangerously dim.
My radiator is leaking a little where the plastic top tank meets the metal body. The radiator is 2 years old. I guess this is what I get for buying a cheap radiator. It does have a lifetime warranty though. But for now, the leak is very minor, so I’m going to let it go a while.

Today I replaced the torn ball joint boot on my front left upper ball joint. I probably should have replaced the ball joint, but if there was any play in the joint it was virtually undetectable. Besides, you have to buy the whole control arm, and it’s almost $100.

While driving on the highway at night on Saturday (something I don’t often do) I became aware that on an unlight road like that, my headlights are barely adequate. The bulbs are both less than 2 years old. I’m wondering if the wiring might be inadequate after all these years. Maybe I should look into getting a brighter bulb. Although I’m unclear how they claim to offer different brightnesses of bulbs rated at the same wattage.

Oh, and I’m already at 161,000 miles! Time for my next oil change. That’ll be next week.

The rear bolts to adjust the toe angles are frozen in my car. I went to the Honda dealer to buy new bolts so we could just forcibly remove the old bolts. But the 2 bolts, 2 bushings, and 2 nuts were going to cost me nearly $80. I passed. We aligned the front though.

Once we had the car up on a lift I got a good look at the underside. Things look pretty good considering its age. Everything is rusted together. I’ve got a couple pretty big dents in the gas tank, and some frame rot in a few locations. There is fluid on the bottom of the transmission. I think it might be PS fluid though from the speed sensor, but it could be transmission oil. My rear tires still have a lot of tread, but the sidewalls are pretty cracked. And I read the date code today, I think the tires are from 1997. I should replace those soon.

Lastly, I’ve found that using less gas while letting the clutch out minimizes the chance that 1st gear will grind. It does cause a vibration, I think from a rough flywheel however, that’s why I usually hold the revs about 2000 while letting the clutch out. But I’d rather go with about 1500 and try and spare 1st gear.