Newspaper motor route car maintenance

If your Accord has a 4cylinder engine, it has a timing chain. No worries about changing it. Only the 6 cylinder has a timing belt in the 2006 model year.

Wow!! you guys are all so helpful - thank you.

I have an EX-L, 4-cylinder, 5 speed automatic, coup. I’m glad to hear about the timing, and am going to make an appointment for a 100k service. I had my trans. fluid changed at 70k, so I may wait another 25k to have that done.

I live in South Hero & our typical snow fall is closer to 50" per year - although 3 years ago we had a 100+" year.

I would be surprised if I will need breaks every month (mainly because it is flat & I will not be cruising very fast at any point, pretty much 25mph & less, so I think if I can budget for an oil change every 6 weeks, one complete set of tires each year (I think I can make snows last for 2 and only plan on doing this job for 2 yrs) quarterly breaks & alignment - given current costs it looks like roughly $350 per month. My 100k service should be done anyway, but I can still use it and all other expenses as tax deductions. I think I’m looking at $800-$900 per month - not too much but it will help me reach a short term goal.

I’ll let you know how it goes - and - thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Change the transmission fluid every 30,000 miles. Warm the car up, drain the transmission fluId, and replace it. Honda recommends repeating 2 more times, but you can get by with a single change if done every 30,000 miles.

I agree with others, If you factor in wear and tear it can’t pay much. Our newspaper gets delivered and the guy drives a late 90s cavalier. Not sure how he deals with maintenance but he always complains about losing money. I give him 15 a month tip and gave him 50 bucks last christmas. I feel bad for him but got tired of his phone calls looking for extra tip. I finally quit answering and they don’t call anymore. I feel bad for him but what you gonna do?

My friend is a mechanic in the small town where I live. He services the two mail trucks (those little square boxy things) and they make the same type of trip that you’re talking about every day but Sunday, and they almost never break down. I’ve seen them in his shop for routine stuff, oil changes and such, but it doesn’t appear to be a major issue driving the vehicles like that. Do the severe maintenance schedule and drive on. The $$ seems pretty tight to me though, not much pay for all that driving your own vehicle. Good luck! Rocketman

Back in the spring of 1969, my institution tried to force me to teach an off-campus class for overload pay that was 50 miles away. The highway was in terrible shape and I was expected to drive my own vehicle. I would get a mileage allowance, but when I did the calculation on the wear and tear on the car (possibly new tires shocks) plus the cost of gasoline, I decided I was losing money. Ironically, another faculty member who had more seniority thought it unfair that I had been offered the class and he wasn’t. That solved the problem. When he came to my office complaining that it was unfair that I was supposed to have the overload class and not him, I took him right down to the department head and I said, “It isn’t fair that my colleague doesn’t have first crack at this overload course. I think the opportunity should go to him”. I got out of teaching the course. What was interesting was that we were both headed back to graduate school in the fall. I had a 1965 Rambler and he had a 1965 Ford Falcon. Our cars had about the same number of miles. Yet, after the term of teaching the overload class, he felt it necessary to buy a new car. I soldiered on with my Rambler on through my next degree and a couple more years after that.
One other point–if a person uses his car as a part of his job and not just for transportation getting to the job, there may be an insurance issue. In the later years, my institution expanded its fleet. When I attended out of town conferences to present a paper and had the choice of driving an institution vehicle or getting mileage to take my own car, I opted for the institution’s vehicle.

Those postal delivery trucks are called LLV’s, Long Life Vehicles. They are specially designed for postal delivery service and they are built like a military vehicle…

Here’s what you need. Ease of service, no doors or window motors to wear out, and right hand drive for ease in reaching the mailboxes. The heater might be a bit iffy though… :slight_smile:

Around here the post office delivery vehicles have a Ford Explorer frame and running gear, with a different body mounted on it

I didn’t know that Caddyman, thanks for the info! Rocketman

Speaking of Postal vehicles, if a well maintained right had drive Postal DJ

with an AMC engine could be found they were great for such work and most parts are somewhat generic. A rural mail carrier continues to use one nearby and 2 are used delivering pizza. The Audi (VW) engine models were a pain but they are more than likely junked out by now. Of course a right had drive kit can be installed on a great many vehicles and seems worthwhile. But speaking of worthwhile, the OP’s proposition doesn’t really sound financially worthwhile to me either.

I would be surprised if I will need breaks every month

First off it’s BRAKES…not breaks…And you probably won’t need them every month…but you’ll be changing them more then once a year. With my wifes accords we were able to get about 80k miles on a set of brakes. Speed is only part of the reason. It’s the constant braking along with the added few hundred lbs of weight that will cause the brakes to wear out quickly. I’d be surprised if you can get 20k miles on a set of pads.

@MikeInNH wrote: “you’ll be changing them more then once a year”

As long as we’re being corrective that should read “more THAN once a year”.

"As long as we’re being corrective that should read “more THAN once a year”.
I guess that’s the breaks (or is it brakes?).

I know a guy who delivers pizzas, and he inspects his brakes every 10,000 miles. How often you will need to replace them will depend on the quality of the parts.

On a related note, the last time I let a mechanic do a front brake job for me, I found out he intended to use expensive pads. Talking to him, I said, "I guess if you think they’ll prevent warping of the rotors, I’ll let you use the more expensive pads. My rotors are already warped. It took less time for them to warp this time than they did with the cheap pads. Therefore, my advice is to get the cheap pads and inspect them every 10,000 miles. Sometimes spending more doesn’t give you better quality.

BTW, inspecting brake pads should mean more than just pulling the wheel and looking at the outer pad. You need to remove the pads to inspect them, because sometimes that inside pad is hard to see, and the pads can wear unevenly.

I think the 1000 mile oil change is WAY overkill. If you want to treat your engine well, use a good synthetic and change it according to the several schedule as suggested. All that stop and go is hard on cars but I still think you should be able to do 3k oil changes no problems. I have been running oils meeting the ACEA European specs in all my vehicles. These are supposed to be much better for cleanliness of the engine internals and prevent sludging, etc. Their base oils also tend to be much better.

I would have the transmission fluid and filter changed now and every 30k from now on. Use the Honda fluid and procedure or just take it to the Honda garage. This type of driving is much harder on transmissions.

If this has a timing belt, CHANGE IT NOW! If a chain, don’t worry about it. Yes, definitely have the valves adjusted of this engine calls for it. Hondas often don’t use hydraulic lifters/lash adjusters for some reason so they need to be adjusted. This seems to work pretty well for them as long as you have it done. Otherwise you risk burning valves. Have it done at the suggested interval. More frequent is not required.

If you are mechanically inclined, buy the longest warranty rotors and lifetime brake pads from a parts store and do the job yourself. I have seen some brake places offer lifetime parts but suspect you have to pay for the labor.

Well, if we are being corrective, then it should also be, “my wife’s Accords”…

;-))

After I complained about brake fade and warped rotors on my 2002 Sienna in a place with a zillion speed bumps, my son-in-law ordered racing rotors on-line. I think they are called something like slotted and drilled. So far no fade, and no warping. Also, i use ceramic pads.

Look up the severe schedule for your Accord and use that. Use winter tires for sure. Your brakes will be okay if you drive reasonably between stops(eg coast).

Hopefully your Accord 2006 is a I4 not v6. The I4 has a maintenance free timing chain while v6 has a timing belt. I4 drive on, leave the water pump be and at some point(105k due) get your valve clearance inspected.

Shop around for winter tires for sure. Prices vary wildly on tires and mail order(tirerack) may be cheaper then paying locally with mounting. I found it was cheaper to get winter tires with steel wheels already mounted from tirerack.com shipped and ready to bolt on than use local places.