Hey there Honda Owners, My name's Dan and I'm an avid honda fanatic. I've owned around 3 honda accords in total. I've always stuck with the 1978 - 1983 honda accords (CVCC) , however, when moving back to British Columbia Canada, I bought myself a 1985 honda accord (1984 - 1987 are the same mechanicly with minor body changes, fuel injection etc..). I _did_ start it a few times while it was running once or twice because it was running so quietly after a new muffler job and I was in a parking lot not paying attention. Anyway, Much to my surprise I phoned a mechanic friend of ours who always does the big jobs I don't feel like doing myself on the car. He told me it was the flywheel or the flywheel ring gear and that If i could get one he'd surely replace it for me when he had time. SYMPTOMS: The sounds I was getting were sort of a scraping noise and a buz depending and then eventually it would start, and one day it just got to the point where it wouldn't start at all. And in fact, if you leaned on the car It would sound like a cows bell dinging (the plate the starter motor spins on had broken off inside). So, I phoned around everywhere and no one had heard of a flywheel or a ring gear for a 1985 accord LX. I phoned honda and they told me they did have one, however it was 00.00 CONCLUSION: There _IS_ no flywheel ring gear or flywheel for a 1984 - 1987 Honda Accord. They have a Torque Converter that has a "ring gear" welded to it. The Torque converter on the transmission has teeth for the starter to run on built on to it. The torque converter the part that had fallen off the side of the transmission is not replaceable either. Because It's welded on there, Wreckers won't even sell you the entire torque converter because they want to sell it WITH the transmission. ANSWER!: I had my mechanic buddy remove the starter and look at it. Indeed the part had fallen away from the tranny. He noticed that the plate with the teeth on it was held by "Tach" welds or "Spot" welds around the plate. There were 4 weld spots around the ring. He called a friend from the autobody bay behind "Eds Automotive" in Aldergrove B.C. and had him use his 220 Wirefeed Welder to put 4 new tach welds onto the plate. ** Note. The mechanic did say you had to use 220 because you can't weld for too many seconds. Last thing you want is an oil fire. 220 is the only weld that would work for this. With this solution there was no need for a 00.00 part or 4/8 HRs + of the mechanics time to remove the transmission to replace the Torque converter (welds can be done inside the starter hole easily by cranking the engine with the pulleys for each spot). The mechanic told me I owed him a case of beer!!! I gladly paid the .00 case of beer VS paying 00 + Shop Rate totalling a near 00.00 repair. (and this is a very honest mechanic BTW, friends with my family for _years_) SUMMARY: 1. 1984-1987 Accords don't have flywheels or ring-gears. 2. No need for new Torque Converters, welding fixes it easily. Hope this helps someone out there... I've heard quite a few with the issue.
