After 58+ vehicles I finally became a Honda owner.
Just picked up a 1989 Honda Accord LXi coupe for $600.
Told it had sat for about four years but it seems to start and run fine (with a new battery of course).
No rust, no smoke, no funny noises. Really happy at this point.
Anything I should know about this car or the 2.0 engine or automatic transmission that I should look out for?

 

When was the last time the belts were changed?

 

change oil, trans fluid, radiator fluid, also timing belt it has one.and welcome to the forum.

 

I'll be getting a factory shop manual for this thing but right now I don't even have an owner's manual so that's why all the questions.
Hoping to have all this stuff sorted out by May 3rd when I get to go to the DMV and throw money at them for the privilege of driving something I already own outright.
I plan for this to be my daily driver.
@avisitor - given that the car sat for a few years and before that was driven by the deceased father of the person I bought it from I would say it's been at least 4 years if that recent.
More likely longer.
The A/C belt was in the trunk, the power steering belt looks pretty worn out. The main belt looks ok for now but who knows how old the timing belt is.
Regardless, the upper radiator hose is soft and a little swollen so I plan on replacing most of the hoses.
I let it idle for about 15 minutes or so and it never got warm enough to turn on the cooling fan. The temp gauge stayed in the lower range and the engine never smelled or acted hot. Was that not long enough?
I'm thinking the thermostat is missing or stuck open. I'll check that when I do the hoses. That will also take care of the coolant change.
They didn't take some strange coolant did they? I can use the normal green stuff right?
I was told this was a non-interference engine. Is that true? How much trouble is it to change the timing belt on this one? (I've always worked on my own cars but it helps to have an idea of what I'm getting into as far as special procedures/tools, etc)
I assume it would be a good idea to change the tensioner while I'm at it. Anything else while I'm there?
What kind of tranny fluid?
Engine oil and filter will definitely get changed since just sitting for that long isn't good on the oil.
Also think I'll flush the brake lines. Brakes feel good right now but since it's been sitting...

 

funny thing you mentioned, i used to always say are we having fun yet when we had broken planes to fix plus turn planes with low man power. and i've had over 90 vehicles buy trade,sell, gift to others. you have a good list of vehicles to work on. enjoy. one more thing on the 89 accord you have the pop up head lights, lube or check their operation, they have a tendency to get stuck down at night when you need them. also find out how to lock them up in the event they get stuck down. before night comes..

 

All but one of the vehicles that I've had with some kind of headlight door or pop up has had issues so I wasn't really expecting them to work.
It was nice to be surprised they worked just fine. For now.