Accord Questions

I'm in Canada and I've just replaced my 1992 Accord EX-R with a 2001 Accord
EX-L. The old car is probably going to the wrecker since I don't expect to
be able to sell it due to pretty bad rust.

Is there any way to tell if the rims from my old car will fit on the new car
without actually trying it? My mechanic told me that even though both are
4-bolt rims, the inside surface of the old car's rims may be different than
the inside surface of the rims on the new car and that the old rims may not
go onto the new car as a result. I don't particularly want to try that
because I have no garage and it is miserably cold outside and likely will be
until April....

Also are there any other parts you'd suggest scavenging from the old car to
possibly reuse with the newer car? I am *not* terribly handy with cars and
storage space is limited so I don't think scavenging the engine,
transmission, etc. are realistic options ;-)

 

They're "wheels", not "rims". Wheels HAVE rims, which is how the tire
stays put.

Chances are good that the overall wheel diameters and width are
different between the '92 and '01. What's the tire size indicated on
both sets?

The problem is primarily twofold:
1) the wheels themselves are probably a smaller diameter, which means
there would likely be insufficient room for the '01's brakes inside the
wheel.
2) the "offset" is probably different between the two. "Offset" is the
shift of the centerline between the two wheel rims relative to the hub
surface. Wrong offsets put unusual stress on your wheel bearings and
your steering system, leading to accelerated failure of both.

Basically, you need to measure three things:
1) overall wheel diameter (edge to edge) and width (rim to rim). The
wheel will have a notation somewhere on it, like "6JJ", or "5½JJ". This
tells you the width between the rims in inches. The diameter can be told
from the tire size.
2) Find or make a straightedge that goes from one edge to the other of
the outer rim, and measure the distance from the straightedge to the hub
surface. Remove one of the wheel nuts so you can stick a straightened
coat-hanger wire or such all the way through to the hub surface (as your
measuring gauge).
3) the distance between opposite wheel bolts.

If ANY of the three are different, it's unwise (or impossible in the
case of the bolt pattern) to use the old wheels on the new car if you're
interested in maximum reliability and durability.

Chances are excellent that not a single easily-salvageable part will be
reusable from the '92 to the '01.

 

They are exactly the same. Check for yourself.

www.adaptitusa.com/referencebook.htm

 

That page does not give diameter, rim width, or offset, only the dimensions
relating to the hub area.

From that page, you'd conclude that the wheels for the Civic and Integra
are the same, but they are not: The offset is different between the two.

 

I think he will be fine

http://www.discountedwheelwarehouse.com/Honda___Vehicle_Bolt_Pattern_Reference.cfm

 

Not so sure.

I see the '90-'96 is 14x6, and 98+ is 15x6. It's unlikely his '01's brakes
will fit inside a 14" wheel.

OP would be wisest to measure as I originally suggested.

 

The 92 EX which the OP had is 15x6.

 

Yep, you're right. I missed that. But unless the OP knows for certain that
the wheels are original to the car, he'd be wise to at least double-check
the diameter and width.

 

Hell, all he has to do is bundle up and jack up both cars and switch a
wheel to see if it fits...

Or are you Canadians too woosie for that?

<G>

JT

 

And work in the wet, messy, cold snow while the car drips all over you and
your tools. Ugh.

It's a major pain unless you have a garage, that's for sure.

I avoid any sort of work in the winter except for oil changes. Everything
gets done before the weather turns cold (it's a balmy 15F as I type).
Winter weather is the big reason I do so much preventive maintenance when
the weather is good. That way I'm reasonably assured that nothing will go
wrong while the weather is unpleasant.

 

Actually, I'm well aware of the difference between wheels, rims and tires:
the tires are those black rubber things, the rims are the metal parts that
the tires are mounted on and the wheel is the combination of the tire and
the rim. ;-)

I wasn't worried about the tires because I already know that they aren't
going to be a problem. However, I was cautioned that the rims might not be
compatible between the two cars. That's why my question was focused on the
rims.

According to the door panels for the two cars, the '92 is supposed to have
P195/60R15 87H tires and the '01 is supposed to have P195/65R15 89H tires.
My mechanic said that the differences between 60R and 65R are not
significant nor are the differences between 87H and 89H. If he's wrong about
that, please say so. I know that the '15' for each tire description
indicates that they are 15" rims.

Can you possibly point me to a picture online that shows me exactly where
I'm supposed to measure. I'm not clear from this description what I am
measuring.

Again, I'm not quite clear where exactly I am measuring. A picture that
shows the start and end points of what I am going to measure would be very
helpful here.

I should be able to manage that measurement ;-)

They both have a four bolt pattern. I asked the mechanic if the bolt hotes
on the two sets of rims might be at different distances from the center of
the rim but he said no. Again, if he is mistaken, that would be useful to
know. For the moment, I'll assume that the bolt holes are exact same
distance from the rim centers of both sets of rims and that the bolt holes
themselves are the exact same diameter.

I'm prepared for that. It would be a bonus if the wheels and the battery
were mutually compatible between the cars but I'm not holding my breath. I'm
going out to measure the batteries now to get their height, width, and depth
to see if they are both the same. I know they're both 12 Volt but that
doesn't make them interchangeable if the batteries have different physical
dimensions.

I don't expect it's worth the bother to salvage fuses or water pumps or
whatever from the older car because the parts on the old car are generally
old and worn out anyway; fuses and other small parts are presumably too
inexpensive to bother with.

 

I assume that <G> is a grin ;-)

I can't speak for all Canadians but this Canadian is not too eager to mess
with bumper jacks in snowy parking lots in frigid temperatures. It's -10
(Celsius) with the wind chill as I write this, which is 14 F and this is the
warmest it's been in weeks ;-) That's why I'm trying to "work smarter, not
harder" by posting this to the newsgroup ;-)

 

Bravo! We have a winner here.

 

I've measured the distance between the centers of the opposing bolts that
hold the wheels on both cars and both sets seem to be exactly 4.5 inches,
measured with a decent steel ruler.

I've looked for information about the rims and found 15 x 51/2 JJ on the old
car very easily. I had to do a *lot* of hunting on the rims of the '01 but
finally found a designation on one of the new rims that possibly says 15 X 6
JJ. Unfortunately, all of the new rims have so much crud/corrosion on them
that I can't read that latter number with any certainty on ANY of the 4
rims. It might be "15 X 6 JJ", "15 x 8 JJ", or even "15 x B JJ" or "15 X G
JJ". I'm guessing that some sort of solvent or cleanser would clean up the
metal enough so that it would be easier to read but I have no idea what
product would be best to accomplish that. (I tried water and a kitchen
sponge but that didn't accomplish anything.) Does it matter? Or does the
fact that the second number is *not* 5 1/2 mean that the rims are
sufficiently different that they are not switchable from one car to the
other? I'm guessing that the first number in the designation is the wheel
diameter and the second is the width of the rim but feel free to correct me
if I'm wrong.

Considering all the incremental improvements made to the Accord between '92
and '01, I'm surprised that they moved the rim designation from the visible
side of the rim in '92 to the back side in '01; the back side was far
dirtier than the visible side making it MUCH harder to read the stuff
stamped on the '01 rims. By the way, both sets of rims had "Honda" or "Honda
Motor Company" stamped on them so they appear to be original equipment, not
after-market.

 

Not quite.

Tire: the black rubber part
Wheel: the assembly of both wheel rim and wheel center, steel wheels being
comprised of those two parts
Wheel Rim: the part of the wheel that the tire is mounted on
Wheel Center: the part that the rim is welded to, and which has the holes
for hub and wheel bolts.

Aluminum and magnesium wheels are normally one-piece, with rim and center
in a single casting. There have been hybrids over the years, a notable one
being BBS's 3-piece wheels from the '80s. Those had a cast center and a
rolled 2-piece rim. They were held together with about a hundred little
bolts and lots of adhesive.

So what's the complete wheel/tire assembly called? Properly it's just that:
the "wheel/tire assembly". It's also referred to by Honda as the
"road wheel".

 

The 195/65s have about a 3% greater circumference than the 195/60s.

Putting the '92's tires on the '01 will result in a speedometer error of
3% slow, so an indicated 60mph will actually be 62.

They're 15" wheels, yes.

Don't worry about it now. With the links Clete posted, I'm guessing the
offsets are likely the same between the two sets of wheels. In short,
it's quite likely they're fully interchangeable.

I'm assuming you've indeed got actual Honda wheels on both cars, not the
very-similar-looking Canadian Tire wheels.

Skip the battery.

The wheels and tires are definitely interchangeable.

Skip the water pump as well, even if it might fit. New OEM is about
$100, and used OEM is a VERY bad idea.

Hondas never blow fuses unless somebody's monkeyed with the wiring. I am
running all-original fuses on my 20-year-old, 358,000 miles Integra.
And yeah, fuses are too cheap to want to salvage.

What you /might/ want to do, now that I think of it, is to pull the
dashboard apart and salvage all those teeny-tiny light bulbs that
illuminate the instruments, shift quadrant and other things. You can get
them at the wrecker's easily enough, but they're awfully expensive from
the dealer. If they fit the '01, you've saved a trip to the wrecker's.
If they don't fit, they're small enough to toss in the trash without a
second thought.

Or better yet, try selling the heap to the wreckers for its scrap value.
You might clear $100, more than enough for light bulbs /and/ a case of
beer.

 

Take a measuring tape across the tread. It will be close enough to the
rim width that you should be able to rule out the 8" guess.

The designation will be a diameter in inches, then a width in inches,
then a rim profile.

Rim diameter (also overall wheel diameter): 15"
Rim Width : 6"
Rim-shape designation : JJ

Summary: 15x6JJ

They should be interchangeable. The tires are the same width between new
and old (195), so Honda evidently just spread the beads apart a bit
further with the new car. Since the new car's tires are taller (65-
section versus the old car's 60-section), that would allow the 1/2"
spread.

That's correct.

Good news for you. OEM is always best.


Funny, but mine don't say "Honda" anywhere on them. All I can find is a
logo next to the size designation that looks like a letter "Y" inside a
diamond shape.

 

That's BACKWARDS, sorry!

Correct:
Putting the '92's tires on the '01 will result in a speedometer error
of 3% FAST, so an indicated 60mph will actually be 58.

 

Sorry Tegger, I meant it as a joke and thought I could dispense with the
smiley.

 

That's why I'm bald: too many jokes going over my head...