Air filters

I never see air filter replacement in the maint. schedule or
itemized in the bills of my '94 Accord. What gives? Is the air filter a
non-replaceable item?

 

That would be as close to impossible as it could be. If your air
filter hasn't been changed since '94, there would probably be no
oxygen to support combustion!

 

Check the Maintenance Schedule again; it's in there!

The interval is probably 30K miles.

 

Every 30K miles? No wonder I missed it. It's not a frequent item.
But I did find it in the maintenance chart, right on the top, under the
column titles. I must have skipped that row, too.
By the way, searching for the downloadable service manuals for the
'94 Accord, I see such designations on the various web sites as Accord
1994 CD7 CD9 USDM JDM and CE1 CE2. What do they mean by those
abbreviations? I found one for just plain 1994 Accord but that turned
out to be for the Coupe. How do I find one for the LX model?

 

The manuals found on the Web tend to be for European models. There are
significant differences betwen US models and those meant for other parts of
the world, so it's not a good idea to rely on non-US manuals for
information. Honda's UK division posted some those manuals for free on
their Website for a while, which is why they're everywhere now.

As for the "CD", CE", etc., those are internal Honda designations for the
various Accord chassis. They are different from the EX, LX, etc., that
you'll find on the trunk lid.

"CA" was the gereration made from 1986 to 1989, "CB" was made from 1990 to
1993, "CD" from 1994 to 1997, etc. The numbers after the letter code refer
to the bodystyle (sedan, wagon...) and to the engine that was installed.

"EX", LX", etc., are the trim line designations that Honda used to denote
the models' retail price class.

The only really reliable source for US-specific Honda information is
American Honda itself, at:
https://techinfo.honda.com
It's $10 for a 3-day unlimited subscription.

 

Actually Ford sold Foci with a "lifetime" air filter (not really "lifetime",
but it didn't have a routine replacement interval). It is not impossible to
do. In fact most people probably change air filter too often. Here is a link
to the Visteon website where they discuss their long life filtration system
(300,000 miles - i.e., lifetime for most cars):

http://www.visteon.com/company/features/100103.html

Ideally vehicles should have a filter restriction indicator to prevent
chaning filters needlessly. My farm tractors all have these indicators, and
it is surprising how dirty a filter gets before it triggers the light.

http://news.carjunky.com/car_maintenance/replacing-your-air-filter-too-often-cdh802.shtml
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1610001
http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=21475

Ed

 

C. E. White, wrote the following at or about 1/31/2011 6:57 AM:

LOL! That still would not prevent the dildos working at Jiffy Screw,
er, Lube from trying to sell you one at twice the price within 3,000
miles of having changed yours.

 

That's all too true about Jiffy Lube. I usually do my own service. One
time a few years ago, I had done completed all service items but as I
went to crawl under the car to drain the oil, I wrenched my back out and
couldn't complete the job. So I asked my wife to take the car over to
the neighborhood garage for an oil and filter change only.

She called about a half hour later saying the garage was jammed up and
couldn't do it so she took it to a nearby JL instead. The slimeball
changing the oil informed her that the air filter was filthy and needed
to be changed.

I asked her to pop the trunk, tell the guy to look in there and let her
know if he saw an empty air filter box and a receipt dated a few days
previous-- and if that might change his opinion about how dirty the air
cleaner was.

I wrote a complaint letter to HQ on that one. They called, apologized
and also sent me a refund and a certificate for a free service-- which I
promptly sold on craigslist...

 

Remember seeing that sign in... "Six months ago, I couldn't spell
computer! Now I fix them!"

For Jiffy Lube folks: "Last week I couldn't spell asshole, but I still
are one!"

 

That's a variation of the old engineering-students' joke:
"Four years ago I couldn't even spell injuneer, and now I are one".

 

That reminds me of a Boston joke;

A guy gets in the express line at a Boston supermarket with an
overflowing cart. The cashier looks him over and asks him if he is a
student to which he answers "Yes". "So tell me", she asks, "are you
from Harvard and can't count or are you from MIT and can't read?"

John

--
\\\||///
------------------o000----(o)(o)----000o----------------
----------------------------()--------------------------
'' Madness takes its toll - Please have exact change. ''

John Dulak - 40.4888ºN,79.899ºW - http://tinyurl.com/2qs6o6

 

Just my experience: I found the UK site manuals to be fine for repair
procedures for years for my Civics. The maintenance schedules are a
little different for the UK compared to the U.S.

Not sure how much Do-It-Yourself inclined the OP is, but for others, a
94 Accord manual may be had at
http://media.honda.co.uk/car/owner/media/manuals/Accord93/index.html?flv=9

Factory service manuals and their excerpts are online free one way or
another more and more these days. www.honda-tech.com is a good
resource for finding factory service manuals and excerpts.

www.autozone.com has what appear to be Chilton manuals free online.
The Chilton procedures are often identical to the factory service
manuals. The 94 Accord's maintenance schedule is published for free
there. The air cleaner is supposed to be replaced every 30k miles of
two years, whichever comes first. People will scoff at some of this,
but I think the truth is it depends on what one's budget is. I have
never purchased a factory service manual and instead have used the
resources above. I do brakes, timing belts, suspension work, valve
adjustment everything but alignments, and always having a procedure on
my workbench.

OP: The LX coupe, LX sedan, DX coupe and DX sedan all use the same
engine. Hence the engine maintenance for these two sub-models will be
the same.

 

Oh, I don't know ... Just checking one major maintenance item in the '94
Coupe maint. schedule, the timing belt replacement, shows a big
difference compared to my Owner's Manual: the Coupe manual specifies
every 60 K miles, my OM says 90 K. Big difference!

 

The primary differences between US/non-US are in electrical, engines,
engine controls, and fuel/emissions setups.

Other stuff is likely to be the same as US models.

 

Engines, belts, and pulleys are mechanically identical the world-over. A
Unitta timing belt installed in a SOHC F-series engine doesn't care if the
engine resides in England or in North Carolina.

Some years ago, Honda suffered a couple of class-action lawsuits, for two
things:
1) originally /not/ mentioning timing-belt replacement in their Owner
Manuals, and then
2) specifying a too-conservative replacement interval of 60K when they
finally /did/ mention it.

These had the result of forcing Honda to stretch US maintenance intervals
as far as they dared. Honda never changed the maintenance intervals for
non-US models. America's idiotic tort system is therefore ultimately
responsible for the differences you see.

 

Even the oil change interval is different in the '94 Coupe shop manual:
6,000 miles, which translates the real world severe condition as 3,000
miles. The respective figures in my LX owner manuals are 7,500 and 3,750
miles. As most maint. items are tied to the oil change intervals in the
schedule, it indeed looks like the maintenance interval of other items
of the coupe are compressed by the same ratio the oil change intervals
are, compared to the LX.

 

I meant that the UK manuals will have the same timing belt replacement
interval for both the Accord Coupe LX and the Accord Coupe DX (along
with sedan versions): All are 60k for these cars when driven in the UK
(= United Kingdom). I think it is more frequent in the UK because of
the weather etc. there. Canada likewise has more severe weather, so if
memory serves, going to the Canadian Honda site will turn up a 60k
interval, too. The Autozone site shows the figures to use in the U.S.
for both the DX and LX, either coupe or sedan in "normal" conditions:
90k or six years, whichever comes first, and the same as your owners'
manual. Both the Autozone site and your Owners' manual have a 60k mile
interval for "severe" conditions.

 

A D15B2 engine in the UK manuals is going to have almost or exactly
identical procedures (e.g timing belt replacement) as a D15B2 in the
U.S. shop manual. Among other likenesses.

 

As I said the other day, "Engines, belts, and pulleys are mechanically
identical the world-over."

When I also said "engines" in the message you quoted above, I really meant
"controls", which I also listed. So my first mention of "engines" was
redundant and confusing.

I revise my list to, "...electrical, engine controls, and fuel/emissions
setups."

 

I've never heard the normal/severe distinction for timing belt
replacement intervals before. Are you sure about that?