The car is nearing 110K miles so it needed some work, the gas mileage was very poor (~22MPG) and not typical of a 1.8L 4cyl.
Some of the problems that needed to be fixed:
-Car never got to the normal operating temperature. The thermostat was probably stuck open.
-Automatic transmission shifted very violently when cold, and didnt really improve as it got warmer.
-Brake pads needed replacement (looked like it looking from afar).
So I went to the local parts store and sourced the following:
-4 x NGK Iridium spark plugs
-1 x Thermostat (OEM)
-3 x Honda Genuine ATF fluid (1 quart container)
-1 x Prestone 50/50 coolant
-1 x Front Brake Pad set (ceramic)
-1 x Rear Brake Pad set (ceramic)
The spark plug change was elementary of course so no need to elaborate on that. The old plugs had evidence of lean combustion, hopefully the Iridium plugs aren't too hot and they improve efficiency.
The thermostat change was challenging due to the location of the thermostat housing, there is no easy way to get that 10mm bolt out that is nearest to the engine block. Expect lots of bloody knuckles to get this off. The car now gets to normal operating temperature, hopefully this increases the efficiency of the car.
I decided to drain and refill the transmission, I had done this a couple months ago, but the fluid was dirty and milky when I removed it. After the drain and refill the car shifted much better, but not perfect. Perhaps one more try at the drain/refill will get the shifts smooth again, will check in a couple hundred miles.
The brakes on the car ended up being OK, so I just returned those pads.
Lessons learned:
-Tighten the brake caliper bracket bolt (ALL BOLTS) to proper specs, I didn't and one of the bolts backed out which caused a lot of noise and headache to reattach.
-Make sure you have the radio code before you disconnect the battery. I didn't and had to remove radio to give S/N to dealer to get code.
-The internet knows everything, use Google to your advantage.
What's next?:
-Monitor fuel consumption. If it remains poor, replace fuel filter and primary O2 sensor.
-Monitor transmission performance. If it remains poor, or reverts. Drain and refill again.
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