Check out the “Mileage Impossible” Facebook page. High mileage vehicles from all over the world. It’s very interesting.
A long time if you unplug the injector.I wonder if that engine will make it to 1,000,000 miles...how long can you drive a car that has a dead cylinder?
K&N air filter for almost a million miles......how many times have we been warned on the forum against using a K&N?![]()
Here's What It Takes To Keep a 2003 Honda Accord Running for Nearly a Million Miles
This Honda Accord owner has advice for those looking to keep their cars on the road for a many years to come.www.thedrive.com
"I have learned (at least for this car) that some parts really need to be replaced with OEM parts," Kilmer told The Drive. "I've used OEM parts for: front lower ball joints, clutch master and slave cylinders, coil packs, wheel bearings, engine mounts. I've used other OEM parts here and there, but those are parts I'm not willing to compromise on this car. [I've heard] too many horror stories of people neglecting to replace the belt or using a cheap belt and having it snap usually causing engine destruction."
"Because he drives so much and changes oil so often, he switched to extended-life oil and filters, which he changes every 15,000 miles. (He still uses the recommended oil weight, though.) Kilmer also uses Redline transmission fluid (a well-regarded aftermarket brand), which he changes every 100,000 miles, and a serviceable K&N air filter serviced twice annually. They're buy-it-once items for most people, though Kilmer had to get a second at 686,000 miles."
"That said, the miles are still taking their toll. Kilmer has to add a quart of oil every 5,000 miles or so, and the V6 has recently developed a misfire. A compression test showed cylinder one is shot; its exhaust valve no longer seals properly."
Although we don't know when he started doing 15k changes. The articles saysSo, 15,000 mile oil changes, and it got to about a million miles. The exhaust valve failure has nothing to do with his choice on oil.
I think it bears repeating - 15,000 mile oil changes.
980,000 mile life.
Not all advice is good or accurate advice, no matter where it's from or who says it.K&N air filter for almost a million miles......how many times have we been warned on the forum against using a K&N?
Check that. I looked it up and I actually had the timing belt and a tensioner changed at 133,000 km (83,000 miles). The tensioner was said to be leaking.I changed the timing belt at 160,000 km (100,000 miles) because of a couple of very cold starts (close to -40). Probably not necessary as the belt looked perfect. Left the water pump alone.
Thanks. Yours is the really rare one. The only time the valve covers were off was for the new vlv cover gaskets at 606k. That's the only time they would've been checked.Hello @TX Accord. It's good to have you aboard.
I have a very similar Accord. Mine is a 2007 4Dr EX-L V6 6MT. Same colour even. It's been a very good car.
I changed the timing belt at 160,000 km (100,000 miles) because of a couple of very cold starts (close to -40). Probably not necessary as the belt looked perfect. Left the water pump alone.
I now have 190,000 km on it. Compared to yours it's a baby.
I've changed the transmission fluid a couple of times. What I haven't done is have the valves adjusted. There's no ticking but of course that has no bearing on too tight valves. How often did you have the valve lash checked/adjusted? Did you find too tight exhaust valves?
Now I'll only use the Aisin TKH002 kit. The shop I use installs Gates kits. They buy from a supplier and it is supposed to be better quality than what you get at parts stores. All of the Gates kits were fine except I had one where the hydraulic tensioner started failing around 80k. On a cold start, it would rattle for a couple of mins til the engine started warming up. Then the sound quit. My mechanic said the tensioner leaked out some fluid. As it heated up, the remaining fluid provided enough pressure to stop the rattle. After that kit, I started buying the Aisin kit and had them install it.Check that. I looked it up and I actually had the timing belt and a tensioner changed at 133,000 km (83,000 miles). The tensioner was said to be leaking.
Welcome to BITOG!!Hi. This is our car in the article. I've seen this site before, but this is my first post on here. I wanted to share some more info about the car and answer questions about it.
The car did hit a million miles on March 11, 2023. There are several articles about it online: The Drive, Jalopnik, Road and Track, MSN, Yahoo Autos, and more. There's also a TV interview from KRIS6 news I did a couple of days ago. Google million mile Honda to find them.
I've been writing about the car for over three years on driveaccord.net. I have a thread in the 7th gen forum in the Photo Gallery that has been my main place to share things about the car. Not sure if I can link here, but the thread is titled One Owner '03 Honda Accord EX V6 6-spd trying for one million miles.
Also @txaccord on YouTube and Instagram
There are several walk around videos on my YT channel.
This was the car my wife wanted when she bought it brand new in August 2003. I did not start doing courier work with it until fall of 2015 when it had approx 185k miles. I didn't start out with a goal of driving it a million miles. Each time it hit another hundred thousand milestone, I realized how special it was. I finally started writing about it when it had 589k on it and have documented the goods, bads, and others ever since.
I do all of my own maintenance and most of my own repairs. I'm not advocating or arguing what I've done is the best way. I just say what I've done, how long parts last, what I used.
I started out using Castrol GTX 5w-20 and changed it according to the recommended 3,750 mi oil chg interval. I used this oil til around 140k or so when I decided to switch to Mobil 1 5w-20 Extended Performance. It said on the jug "Protects up to 15,000 miles" so I decided to test that and ran that for 15k mile oil chg intervals. I used to be able to go around 4k before adding the first qt of oil. I've done the 15k intervals until around 900k. Now I'm doing 7,500 mile intervals and still using Mobil 1 5w-20. I've run extended performance oil mostly and later you could get extended performance and high mileage together.
For the transmission, I run Redline MTL and change it every 100k. My biggest mistake and lesson learned was not changing the fluid in the original transmission. That resulted in us putting in a used transmission when the car had 320k. The transmission we installed had 54k on it so it now has well over 700k on it.
Yes the car has needed some work over the years, but I don't think it's anything excessive considering the use it has had. Timing belts every 100k. Yeah, that's about a thousand dollars each time. I've had to re-do the suspension a few times. It's on the third clutch which was just replaced at 950k. So there have been a few times I've spent $2k ish in parts to get it back to right. The car makes me money from deliveries so even if some repairs sound expensive, it has been far more beneficial financially to keep using it than driving the value off of several other cars. There are also tax advantages to using your car for this type of work.
The engine has never had any internal work done. Valve cover gaskets were done after 600k. The shop checked the valves and said they were fine. The oil pan has been replaced.
Around 920k, it developed a bad misfire. Had my shop check it. #1 cyl had no compression. It's a problem with that cylinder's exhaust valve. Since I was so close to a million, we discussed it and decided to drive it as is. I've put over 80k miles on it with 5 cyls. I wanted Honda to finally have a v6 that hit a million. Otherwise, I would've addressed that issue already. It's using a qt of oil about every 1k miles these days. Because of that and the valve issue, I bought a low mile JDM engine to replace it. I'm driving the car to HDay in Maryland in April. After I return home, some friends and I will swap out the engine.
I did not start doing courier work with it until fall of 2015 when it had approx 185k miles.
I've been fussing about not having had the valve lash checked on mine. It requires a bit of disassembly so it's an expensive job. But it sounds like I have a ways to go (like another 3 to 500,000 miles) before it becomes "really necessary".The only time the valve covers were off was for the new vlv cover gaskets at 606k. That's the only time they would've been checked.
If I remember after we pull the engine and before we open it up, I'll try to check them. I still don't think my engine sounds noisy compared to some videos I've seen online of these engines.