So I just had my Accord in for service. I reported the following issues to the mechanic:

• Bad vibration in front end at speeds over 50-55 MPH. Car pulls to left if you let the wheel go. Tires squeal if you take an exit ramp too fast (~40 MPH).
• Slow leak in right rear tire. Valve stem loses the cap a lot.
• A/C doesn't work well -- won't keep the car cool on sunny days.
• Front passenger door slightly out of line, door-open sensor trips when you make a hard left.

I got it back today with the following fixes:

• Replaced front two tires which were worn (I knew this) and front lower ball joints which were "about worn out" (I assume this was true)
• Resealed valve in tire
• Recharged A/C and added fluorescent dye to find leak. Note: "left front fan motor not working"
• Adjusted door

Now I'm suspicious of three things:

1. In discussing the ball joints, the CV joint boots were never mentioned, and I was under the impression the ball joints will last almost arbitrarily long if those aren't torn. (The car passed MD state safety inspection, which includes inspecting the ball joints and boots I believe, 13 months and about 32,000 miles ago.) Is this not the case? Should I crawl under there and check the boots myself?
   
   
2. Regarding the "non-working" fan motor, I got the impression the mechanic thought it was a second-but-equal fan to the right side fan and should be running all the time. I've always been told that except under very hot conditions (sitting in traffic on a hot day, or coolant loss), only one fan will operate and if the second fan is kicking on a lot during ordinary driving, it's something that needs to be checked out. But in talking to a friend today, he said some dual-fan cars are wired up so the second fan comes on if the temp goes over a threshold or immediately if the A/C is turned on. Which is it for mine, and if it's strictly temp-controlled, what's a good way to test that it's functional other than deliberately running the engine hot?
   
   I noticed the engine running a little warmer than it has been, but I don't know if that's due to the weather today being the hottest so far this summer or the A/C dumping more heat into the radiator because it's working better now. It runs about 2/3 of the way up from the bottom mark to the middle of the temp gauge normally; today it was a couple of needle-ticks above that for awhile (while I was sitting at the first long red light after the drive in; it was still below the middle mark on the gauge) and then went down a bit when I started moving steadily again.
   
   
3. When I picked up the car the check-engine light came on as soon as I started it (it was off when I dropped the car off on Friday). One of the techs came out with his OBDII tablet and said it was throwing a code that indicated a faulty secondary O2 sensor heating element. He cleared it, shut the engine off and I restarted it and drove to work; the light remained off during the drive. Is this something that is likely to have been a result of the maintenance? The owner agreed to do whatever is necessary to fix the problem if it reappears (presumably on his dime), but I'm wondering how hard it is to fix myself so I don't have to deal with leaving it there yet again.

Frankly I just don't know if I trust them with my car any more since they didn't tell me they hadn't done the alignment as promised on Friday until I arrived to pick up the car that afternoon (after which I left it over the weekend while I went out of town so they could do it this AM). Really, taking the car off the lift as "done" after replacing two tires and a set of ball joints but not doing the alignment you recommended and the customer agreed to strikes me as bad business.

And as long as I'm here... both of the knobs that control the vent fans (temperature and speed) have cracked off. The previous owner had glued them back, I cracked them and glued one back to working condition again. When I got my car back it had been twisted too hard by the mechanic and was cracked and loose yet again. Does anybody have a good suggestion for fixing them permanently, or something good to replace them completely with? Pliers work to turn the stems, but that's less than an ideal solution. Maybe zip ties? Metal bands? Hiring Voldemort to do some dark magic over them?

 

ur car is under the warranty for a free tuneup and that includes replacing both o2 sensors for free. my balljoint went bad around 90k miles I just replace both entire axle.
check out tasauto.com (theaccordstore) you will find everything you need there. my temp thinging broke off also recently and got it from tasauto.

 

Heh, I bet I'm not under warranty -- that inspection was 32,000 miles ago. The odometer currently reads 178,000-odd miles. (I put 30,000 miles on in a year -- my average daily commute is 45 miles one-way.)

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I confirmed that my mechanic is an idiot. Last night, when I started the car cold, neither fan spun up right away. I turned on the A/C and the main fan came on, and went off after I turned the A/C back off. After the drive into work today in the heat and midday traffic (it hit about 100 degrees here today), I popped the hood, and sure enough, both fans were spinning away (when I turned the A/C off, one went off with it).

 

You guys do realize that ball joints and CV joints (and corresponding boots) are completely separate items right? Ball joints are suspension components, CV joints are driveline components.

A ball joint does not have to have a ripped boot to go bad. I've only had to replace one upper ball joint on my 99 sedan, the boot was intact but there was excessive play in the joint itself (easily diagnosed by jacking up the car and trying to wobble the wheel back and forth and up and down).

The CV joint usually goes bad following a tear or crack in the CV boot, allowing the grease to escape and allowing debris into the joint, causing wear and failure.

 

Yeah, I said "CV joint boot" by mistake out of habit. Ball joint boots are something I don't have to talk about as much

 

u r correct one should come on anytime a\c is on this will be the condenser fan the other is for the radiator and it wont come on until the preset temp is met

 

What's the best way to check this "other" fan? my right side (passenger) fan comes on with the a/c, when i'm not using the a/c, the same fan comes on to cool the car down, and sometimes after i've turned my car off and it's just sitting after i've driven it... The drivers side (left) fan has never come on since i've had the car from 80K miles and I"m @ 160K now... is there an easy way to check it? Also my car has gotten pretty damn close to red a few times and it's never kicked on, so I don't think it's a "backup" fan or anything like that but i may be wrong... anyone know anymore about this?

 

Went outside to get in my car and decided I'd top off the a/c (very slow leak and I haven't had the money to get it fixed yet...) and when i popped the hood, both fans were running... car not even @ regular operating temp... my car never ceases to amaze me lately

 

sorry dude disregard the previous post i was thinking civic one small condenser and radiator side by side on your accord with the big radiator and big condenser the fans should both run with a\c on u can swap the relays over on the left hand side there will be a 10mm bolt holding the bracket they r attached to or u can put power and ground straight to the fan itself

 

hooked it up straigt to the battery last week to check it, and nothing... reversed the wires and nothing... but now, like i said, i went outside and popped the hood and AL B DAMN it was workin all of a sudden... all i've done is changed the oil so i don't know what happened with it...