yep! Thats right normal engine oil.

By Maestro (Maestro) (62.135.90.30) on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - 02:23 pm:

this is my first car i bought 1978 honda civic 1300 cc i dont know much about cars what i understood that i should not but gear oil in the gear box and i should but normal engine oil 10-40 is that right ?

By 79EK1 (63.195.80.15) on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - 08:46 am:

Tracy, I have a 79 Accord, but it should be similar to yours. Off the top of my head, you'll have to remove the air cleaner, valve cover, alternator and bracket (if it has AC), accessory drive belts, upper timing belt cover, left side motor mount, crank pulley, and the lower timing belt cover. The hard part is getting the crank pulley off. If you can't break the crank bolt loose first, then don't take the other stuff off. That way you can drive to a shop and get them to break it loose with an impact wrench.

As for parts, go to this website. They have diagrams with factory part numbers. Not everything is still available, but at least you can see what's what.

http://www.slhondaparts.com/

Dan

By Tracy (Rx7speed) (172.151.159.114) on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 09:20 pm:

will change the timing a little bit when I get my hands on a light
what should the timing be set to on these cars?

I plan on changing the belt and just asked about prices and it came to 15 bucks so no problem there. as far as how to do it I'm assuming it is remove the two bolts that are right next to the alt and any other bolts that hold that front cover on or am I mistaken?


with synthetic oil I wouldn't have a problem with running it as I have switch my rx7 from dino juice to synthetic at around 180k miles or so and no problems came no more leaks other then the ones already there, my 71 camaro also made the switch and she liked it as well. I'm assuming though for engine oil either 10w-30 or 20w-50 should be fine?

I think I might try some 10w-40 synthetic for the tranny for a while and see how it likes it and if it doesn't shift as well I will go ahead and take it out to replace with normal 10w-40 oil.


as far as the o-ring on the aux valve anyone have a part number? and how hard of a job would it be to replace one?

is there a site out there I can find that has this information on it you know like a FAQ page or something?


and once again guys thank you for the help and if anyone is near the boise,idaho area I would be glad to hear from you just be for warned my car is nothing pretty being it was a 500 junker ( no offence inteded to the style of car ) but I find myself wanting to try and work it out a little and convert to a reliable daily driver.

By bruce (4.159.56.36) on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 03:07 pm:

tracy...tweek your timing, 87 should be fine, mine runs worse on the higher octane, use regular 10/40 oil in the tranny, when and if you rebuild your motor you can run synthetic blend if you want, been told that 1) don't run sythetic in motor that has been running regular oil for a long time. and 2) once you do rebuild and start runnning a synthetic blend don't go back. true or not I don't know. I recommend changing your timing belt also, not hard to do...as always there is a wealth of info here on this board, ppl always willing to help, just let ppl know where you are located.

By Jonathan (12.98.156.194) on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 10:51 am:

Lowest octane you can run without pinging is best, anything higher is a waste of money, and promotes an incomplete burn in the combustion chamber, along with slightly decreased mileage.

If it's a CVCC motor, the Aux. valve O-rings tend to go, and let oil past. That'll cause a big puff of smoke on startup, but not much while running. You can replace them without removing the head.

For the synthetic oil in the gearbox, I've heard that it's too slick to let the synchros get a good bite, so the gearbox will act like the synchros aren't working at all. Gear oil will cause the gearbox to go out real quick, go with what Adrian says. 10-40 is what I'd use.

Timing belt can be harder if you have A/C, because of the alternator being mounted up high in front of the timing belt. You'll have to remove it to get better access to the belt. I always thought that Honda recommended replacement at 30k miles on CVCC's, but I could be wrong. I'll check when I get home tonight.

Why not drive in 5th at highway speeds? You may pick up a few more miles per gallon than in 4th.

Compression I'd expect to see in the 140's, but as long as it's even across all four cylinders I wouldn't worry.


Colza, how is octane measured in NZ? Is that 91 octane 91 R.O.N., or R+M/2?

By Sue (205.188.117.6) on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 10:03 am:

It would be best to change that timing belt now unless you know for sure that it's been done recently.

For future reference, Honda recomends that the timing belt on these older cars be replaced every 60,000 miles or 6 years - which ever comes first.

.

By Colza (Colza) (219.88.30.84) on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 02:30 am:

Timing belt id say about 30min job if you have previous automotive experience? Just be prepared to have to replace the tensioner as well.

87 octane =O the lowest we can get in NZ is 91!

By Tracy (Rx7speed) (172.162.165.25) on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 01:47 am:

I'm cheap so I would prefer to run the lowest I can and I'm running 87 now but it does seem to knock a little under high load going up hill other then that no knock at all. what is it these cars are designed to run?

Might I ask why people say don't run synthetic oil in a manual gear box? I can understand the gl-5 rated oils in a car using brass synchro... part of the reason I have mobil 1 sitting around is my rx7 already has a weak synchro or two and brass ones to boot. but what other problem? by the way thank you for warning me before I did the oil change on the tranny.

what weight of motor oil is recomended? have some 10w-30 or 5w-20 castrol gtx and some 20w-50, 5w-20 5w-30 mobil 1 sitting around.


How much work is it to change the timing belt (thank you for the correction with the chain part)

By Colza (Colza) (219.88.30.84) on Monday, March 14, 2005 - 12:18 am:

Replace the timing belt now. It is much better to spend $20 now and then know where things are at, than to hope for the best and then wish you hadn't =P

Highest octane you can afford to run?

By Adrian (Evocivic) (203.42.97.141) on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 11:57 pm:

first thing I noticed is on the steering wheel if I shimmy it back and forth a little I hear a clunk comming from the steering shaft

If the Accords are anything like the Civics (most likely almost the same) it's probably the universal joint at the bottom of the steering column. The connection to the rack can be a tiny bit loose and the bottom uni joint tends to wear. Easy to replace but no idea of cost.


another thing is I notice is it does smoke on startup and a little while running nothing bad but a little at least. what would you think is more likely the cause here piston rings or valve guides?

I'd be inclined to say both to some extent. Smoke at start-up usually says valve guides but smoke while running is rings.


another thing I'm curious about is the timing chain on these car how often do you need to replace them and are there any early signs come to replace them?

Belt, not chain. Can't remember what the change interval is but it's probably overdue (they always are).


last few questions I have is what octane should be run in these cars.

Whatever it doesn't ping on.


do these cars have brass synchros in the tranny cause I'm thinking of replacing tranny fluid with mobile 1 75w-80 synthetic since I have some laying around and don't want problems with the sulfates eating the synchros out. what weight of oil is recomended on these cars.

DON'T EVER PUT GEAR OIL IN A HONDA GEARBOX ... it's the fastest way to destroy it. They use 10-40 or similar engine oil or auto tranny fluid (yes, auto fluid in a manual). I've used 10-40 semi-synthetic oils with no problems in the past but many people say don't use synthetic. Personally I think that applies more to newer boxes.

By Tracy (Rx7speed) (172.162.165.25) on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 11:13 pm:

just bought myself a 76 honda accord with the 5spd and I'm curious about a few questions with some things on it.

first thing I noticed is on the steering wheel if I shimmy it back and forth a little I hear a clunk comming from the steering shaft and it looks a little loose. how much would one of those cost me and about how hard are they to replace?


another thing is I notice is it does smoke on startup and a little while running nothing bad but a little at least. what would you think is more likely the cause here piston rings or valve guides? it still runs nice and smooth and getting around 33mpg so far when I was driving mostly in 4th around 45-50 (not used to this car being so quite since I just came from an 87 rx7 with header and rusted out mufflers). how hard would it be to rering it or replace the valve guides if needed?


another thing I'm curious about is the timing chain on these car how often do you need to replace them and are there any early signs come to replace them? another thing is are these interferance motors that way if cow dung hits the fan I just want to make sure that the valves don't hit the pistons. and how much are they just to be safe?


last few questions I have is what octane should be run in these cars.
do these cars have brass synchros in the tranny cause I'm thinking of replacing tranny fluid with mobile 1 75w-80 synthetic since I have some laying around and don't want problems with the sulfates eating the synchros out. what weight of oil is recomended on these cars.

and last question I can think of right now is what compression numbers should I pull in psi when at roughly cranking speed? and do you guys test WOT or closed throttle?


thank you guys