10th Jul 2006, 21:27

I recently purchased a 2000 Accord coupe V6 from my sister in law. She had a 60,000 mile check and service done at the same dealership of purchase and everything checked out OK. Now at 68,000 miles I am having starting issues. If the car sits out in the sun for a few hours it won't start. The battery works just fine and the alternator turns over, just no ignition. Once it cools down outside it starts and runs perfect. When I took it in to get the SRS light fixed the dealer told me they "think" it could be the main relay. Any ideas? And what is a main relay? Should the dealer who did the 60,000 mile inspection have to pay for this?

25th Jul 2006, 15:40

I decided to buy a new 2000 Honda Accord because of Honda's reputation for reliability. Boy was I wrong! I had nothing but problems since the week I bought it. During the first week, on a very humid day, the engine would crank, but would not start. This has been a recuring problem, even now, after 75K miles. The SRS light has been on for the last 3 years! Recently, several lights on the dash turned on simultaneously- brake, door open, ABS, and battery. After reading everyone else's comments, I suspect that the alternator needs to be replaced. Now there is a deep humming noise coming from someplace beneath the car. I have a feeling it's the transmission. Never again will I buy another Honda. I hope Honda realizes that they are selling junk and decides to issue some recalls otherwise they are going to lose a lot of business!

29th Jul 2006, 22:48

I have a 2000 Accord SE 2.3L. I have a little over 100K on it.

I had the transmission replaced around 56K when I took it in for an oil change, and the dealer noticed a leak from it. It wasn't giving me any problems, but they replaced it for free anyway.

I had the SRS light problem too. Took it in, they fixed it by replacing the seatbelt sensor.

I am pleased with the car except for a few problems. Both the front brake calipers broke. One after 60K and the other after 90K. I replace brake pads according to the maintenance schedule, so I don't know why they both needed to be replaced. Since then the brake seems really soft.

Another issue is the gas pedal. When starting the car cold, or even after parked for 15 minutes, the gas pedal will be very hard to press on initially. It gets very stiff and I have to really step on it. But after that, it's fine. It's weird, but I can live with it.

Another issue was the battery. One day I was making a turn at a stop sign. In the middle of making the turn, the car died and I wasn't able to turn the steering wheel. But I was able to start it up again and keep going. I suspected it was the battery. Bought a new one from Costco, put it in myself, and everything is fine. I never ran into any problem with the alternator though.

Finally, the steering wheel seems really stiff (compared to my new Nissan Versa or any other car I have driven). I haven't looked into it, maybe the power steering fluid needs changing?? Anyone know? Since it is out of warranty now, I can't go in and get these problems fixed.

Overall, I am pleased with the car, it was very dependable. I am trying to sell the car now since I got a new one. Not too many takers when it's over 100K. But I figure it's still a great car (especially after I put in an MP3 player).

16th Nov 2006, 12:28

I have a 2000 Accord V6 -- my SRS light comes on all the time, but it's normal. If you have something in the passenger seat that weighs less than an adult, like a bag of groceries, a purse, a child, a basketball, a six-pack, a child with a six pack -- whatever, the car will disable the passenger side airbag on the assumption that there is a child in the seat. And it will turn on the SRS light to let you know that it did so. If this is the SRS light issue anyone is worried about, don't be -- it's absolutely normal.

25th Nov 2006, 13:33

I have a 2000 Accord V6. Bought it used about 3 years ago. No real problems until the SRS light came on. Took it to my mechanic who "reset" it. that lasted about a week. So then I had to replace the unit. that cost $518.

Within 2 week the stupid light was coming on intermittently - no rhyme or reason (nothing in the passenger seat). Happened more often 1st thing when I left for work vs. coming home from work???

Anyway, what comes in the mail, but a "recall" from Honda. So after going back to my mechanic one more time to have him check everything - nothing he can do. I decide to send in my invoice for the $518 work to replace the SRS unit. Honda wrote back sorry, but your work is not under the recall. Something about the "passenger restraint system" had to be messed up, not the SRS unit???

In the meantime (since my mechanic can't fix the SRS), I take the car to a Honda dealer who does their computer magic and says it's not the SRS unit, it's the alternator. Well I've already had the alternator replaced once, so back to my mechanic who replaced the alternator (still under warranty).

Then that alternator went bad in a week and I started having not just the SRS light on all the time, but all the background lights (in the dash) flickered constantly. Back to my mechanic who replaced the alternator (again) (obviously under warranty).

Finally, no SRS, no flickering dash/radio light - whoopee!

Until last week when the *&^% SRS light came back on! It's been about two and a half months since the final alternator replacement. My mechanic stated that the "new" cars have so much computer stuff that alternators can't keep up and burn out easily. That doesn't seem "right" to me somehow; but it also seems as good an explanation as anyone else has given.

I guess I'll just keep replacing alternators?

Good luck everyone with your 2000 Honda Accords. Wouldn't you think Honda would "do" something?

21st Dec 2006, 09:48

Thanks to all for your comments. It's nice to know my problems with my wife's, yes you guessed it, 2000 accord v-6, are shared. The SRS thing was on the recall list and the recall seemed to fix the problem. I will note that Honda Service Dpt neglected to tell us that until I asked about it. It still flashes when ever my wife (aka lead foot) takes a sharp turn and I go flying into the door, but I think that's what it's supposed to do. And I've seen a lot of ALTERNATOR comments. I replaced ours myself somewhere in the mid-60k mile range. Cost me a little over $100 for a new part from AutoZone and maybe 1.5 hours to put in. Of course a new battery almost always accompanies a new alternator.

Here's my beef: that EGR (exhaust gas regulator) inlet tube. Evidentally Honda failed to make the inlet tube large enough. What this device does is it allows your exhaust gas to get used in the cylinders a second time. This is a very good thing for fuel efficiency and clean emissions. However, with the tube too small, carbon builds up rapidly. My wife insists that her Honda can burn anything, so she puts the cheapest crappy gasoline she can find (hence more carbon) and that EGR seems to clog every 40-45k miles. Honda paid for it the first time as a recall, but now they want $180 to do it again. Listen, if the recall version didn't last any longer than the original version that was recalled, why do I have to pay for it!? I may attempt this repair myself, but I've found very little literature on "how to". It seems you have to pull off the intake manifold cover (which means breaking a gasket so you later have to clean the surfaces for a new one; i.e. labor intensive) and you have to use a drill to actually drill out the carbon, which is basically a rock that has formed attached to the intake manifold. Sounds like fun for an entire day for an amature like me. But now that I'm properly vented myself, maybe I can go figure out how to get the engine breathing right too. God bless.