jrc04444 said:
fresh gas wont cut it...i mean an additive that will clean the sludge out of the bottom of the tank...but sure fresh gas will help...but wont fix your problem
Could always drop the tank and drain it out too. Then all you have to worry about is the little bit that's in the lines that will be purged out fast enough anyway. Downside to that is if the lines or sending unit is rusted, you might have to deal with the hell of replacement if you screw them up.
If the battery is still under warranty, you could try to do a swap from the place it was bought at.
Don't touch the trans yet. You need the car running to do a proper trans flush and it might not need one anyway.
Definetly new plugs unless the old ones were new when put in. If they were new when put in, just clean them up. I love the newer hondas - coil on plug ignition so no wires to mess with. The downside is the plugs can be a little bit of a bitch if your extension doesn't fit into the spark plug socket tight enough. I know from experience, my gf has a 96 and I have an 03 and I've done plugs on both.
Check the air filter, air box, and the air intake piping. It's a nice place for rodents to chill out in when it gets cold.
If it stinks to high hell with 87 octane, bump up to 89. Gf's DX gives off a nasty rotten egg smell with 87 octane. With 89 it clears right up.
Check your exhaust pipes. 96-00 Honda exhausts rust like crazy. Her OEM muffler rusted out where the pipe was welded into the inlet side. Had to replace that, and the muffler I put on has rusted a hole in it in the past 2 years (went with an aftermarked NON-RICE muffler). The mid-pipe on hers also rusted out (pipe between cat and resonator pipe). If you go to Honda for this part, they're going to rape you silly. Honda wanted $160 + tax for the mid-pipe AND resonator pipe, claiming that they could not be sold separately. This was the price before any bolts and the big fat (i'm assuming) asbestos piece that sits between the midpipe and resonator pipe. I ended up spending $100 for the mid-pipe and everything else I needed by going to Napa and having them place the order.
Now, about the trans....
As I said, my gf has a 96, same "generation" as the 98. Hers is an automatic and it's clunky, which is typical of Honda automatics. The only thing I've found to help clear it up is a fluid change. No one else has offered me any other solution to the problem. I changed it about 35K miles ago and need to do so again. When it kicks down from 2nd to 1st under acceleration it can slam HARD. Scares the shit out of you the first few times because you think you're about to drop the trans.
They're good little cars. Gf has the underpowered DX which kept up with a late 90s V6 mustang from 65 to about 110mph with me driving. He couldn't pull away, but I couldn't gain any ground. I've maxxed her car out at 114-115mph. I've gotten the same out of my 03 EX. Havn't found enough road to get more out of either car. I've just done it for the hell of it.
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