CarComplaints.com Notes: 1997 is the last model year in the 5th generation of Accord. Which means it's also the last model year before problems like widespread transmission failure, subframe rust and peeling paint took over.
Does the 1997 have problems? Sure it does. Any car this old will. Some owners say their engine started to cut out around 147,000 miles. That's still not bad, and getting to 200,000+ miles isn't out of the question.
Does anyone believe a newer Accord will reach 200,000 miles?
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
0 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Consumer took vehicle to the dealer due to smoke coming from the exhaust during acceleration, the dealer could not find any problems, the vehicle was taken back a second time in which the dealer removed the heads and found that there was excessive sludge in the engine in which the engine would need replaced, the dealer would not make repairs under warranty.
Oil seal blown out at very low mileage; garage informs that problem is occurring at high frequency among Honda of similar age, although not mileage, and that Honda is avoiding or delaying sending out notices of defect.
While backing out of the driveway, consumer saw black smoke coming from under the hood. Consumer stopped vehicle, looked underneath the car and saw that oil was pouring onto the ground. Dealer has not been contacted. The balance shaft seal was replaced along with a new retainer, balance belt and timing belt.
- New Albany, IN, USA
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While driving the car (approx. 50 mph) the balancer shaft oil seal backed out. The engine oil was pumped out. The warning lights came on and my wife pulled the car off the road. But it was too late the engine seized. Honda was willing to replace the seal but said they would not repair the engine. Honda knows that this seal is a problem and has sent a service bulletin out telling people so. (we did not receive a notice from Honda on this) instead of recalling the faulty part Honda has figured out that they can put the responsibility for their design mistakes on their customers by simply sending out a service bulletin. If you don't get a letter from Honda --oh well. Honda should replace the seals in all of the affected cars and Honda should be required to repair/replace any engines destroyed by the faulty seal.
While driving at 75mph vehicle stalled. Consumer pulled off, put vehicle in park, and restarted vehicle. Took to dealer on two occasions and dealer still couldn't correct the problem.
Oil seal blew, lost almost all of the oil. No warning. Honda dealer in alhambra, ca said that the engine had ceased, wanted over $8,000 to replace engine. Took it to another local mechanic who said that the engine had not ceased. He had 2 other Honda Accord there with the same problem.
I lost more than half of the oil on 2 mile drive to school- broken seal, with no warning whatsoever. My luck it did not happen on the interstate highway- the car would've been gone. A mechanic at Firestone service center was not surprised - he had seen this happen on many other Accord.
Same exact incident happened to another car I owned, Honda Accord LX 96, at the same mileage range (59K-60K). Only with Accord 96, I was fortunate enough to stop on time, and was able to save the engine. Whereas, in this car - Accord 97 situation, I was too late, all of the oil came out, and engine was irreparably damaged. According to the Honda Accord manuals, maintenance (change of timing belts, etc.) on the car should be done at around 90K miles, excluding the regular oil changes. Therefore, both incidents were not related to a delayed maintenance, but to an irregular failure of the oil pump and the oil seal. Both cases are identical on similar cars and deserve to be investigated.
Have taken my car in 4 times and they just reset it. They keep on telling that there's no solution to the problem yet. They contacted the headquarters, and they didn't do anything to satisfy me. I do not feel confortable about my car because I have to miss work and school so much for this problem, and yet they do not do anything. They don't seem to care about this problem. I think I have a lemon and I don't like the way they are treating this situation.
Cruise control failed to turn off when brake pedal was depressed, cruise control button turned off. Braking system failed to slow or stop vehicle. Only when parking brake was applied did vehicle slow.
While starting vehicle engine check light remains on. Also, while driving problem has occurred five times. Engine misfires, but dealer cannot correct problem.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Baton Rouge, LA, USA