Honda Element Owners Club banner

What did you do to your Element today?

576K views 3K replies 556 participants last post by  Rabbit212 
#1 ·
I replaced the front brakes, changed the cabin air filter, and washed her down.

-simpson
 
#2,710 ·
12" of snow... No problem!

Well, the last 2 days have been a blast w/ ZORG. A winter blast dumped 12" of snow & deeper drifts on Saturday. My trek out Sunday morning meant driving thru the deep stuff AND 12-18" of plow wake at the end of the drive. ZORG, w/ lift & Cooper ATs, didn't skip a beat. It did spin a bit at the beginning of the plow wake hurdle, but the 4x4 kicked in and pushed thru quickly! The rest of the drive was fun, too. Starting corners in a bit of a slide, 4x4 kicks in and straightens things right out. Haven't had this much fun winter driving since the x90!
 
#2,716 · (Edited)
E and me both gave thanks for the group 35 AGM battery and synthetic oil this morning. It was -30 degrees F on the hill here this AM and we're garage-less. Brrrrr! It's also been the first winter in the three I've owned the E where the AWD has been kicking in regularly on the city streets and nearby county roads. Usually our plow folks are on top of it but it's been partly timing and partly just regular heavy snow. In any event the E is in its, well, E:grin:
 
#2,719 ·
Bought her a present. -29F tonight and -34F tomorrow night... We lived by these in northern Minnesota. Big ones for tractors, small for cars. Everybody had at least one and they could be shuffled from car to car as needed. Haven't thought about it since we moved here in 1995 but -34 got my attention. Not a lot of heat but right on the oilpan and definitely helps.
 

Attachments

#2,720 ·
My E's odometer just rolled over to 120K miles. (I have put a little over 8K on it since I bought it last June.) So far I've been quite pleased! The few fixes I have had to do have been rather minor, and I expect to be with this one until I'm too old to drive anymore!

My only complaints have been:

1). The gas mileage has been less than I originally expected; but seems to be on par with what most everyone else here is getting (around 21 to 23 MPG). It's a little better than my mini vans, but no where near as good as what my 2011 Accord 2.4 gets (~26 - 32 depending).

2). The ride is pretty rough; even on the generally very smooth roads here in FL. A very thorough inspection on a lift by my mechanic when I first bought it showed there is really nothing wrong with it; just the nature of the beast I guess! I know Honda was trying to grab a piece of the Jeep Wrangler market when they introduced the Element, and yes it rides like a Jeep! I'm going to research this site and to try to find the smoothest riding springs, struts (from a CRV perhaps?), and tires to see if I can mellow out the ride a bit on this baby!

Otherwise, I'm hooked!
 
#2,721 · (Edited)
1). The gas mileage has been less than I originally expected; but seems to be on par with what most everyone else here is getting (around 21 to 23 MPG). It's a little better than my mini vans, but no where near as good as what my 2011 Accord 2.4 gets (~26 - 32 depending).
21 to 23 is great. Afterall, you're driving something around with the wind coefficient of a cardboard box. I struggle to keep my mileage over 20 but that's because I use every bit of the E's spirited driving ability. The damn thing eats gas like crazy at 85-90 mph on the highway.
 
#2,722 ·
Now that I have my 03 S2k the E is used for bike trips mostly and surprise my mileage has increased. When I was driving around town my mpg was 18-20, lead foot a given. But on the hwy, the turbo and 6th gear do 82 mph at 2800 rpm and mileage is 25-27. Best from denver to Moab , a 348 mile trip one way, is 28.3 mpg at 79.6 mph average. Might have hit over 100+ inn Utah. The E is a great vehicle, just love it.
 
#2,734 · (Edited)
Lower Ball Joints Replaced

I had the lower ball joints replaced. Discovered a cracked rubber boot and could start to hear one side rattle. - Believe it or not....my local Honda dealer had the lowest cost for the job. $625 to replace both lower ball joints with NAPA aftermarket parts plus 4-wheel alignment. Honda recommends replacing the complete knuckle assembly....but dealer was more than willing to press in aftermarket ball joints. A nice new loaner car, snack bar, car washed and vacuumed. Why would I fool around with local shops that quoted $200 to $250 more? Yup - could have done the job myself....but a big job that I just didn't want to fool around with in a cold garage.
 
#2,738 · (Edited)
Painted My Roof Panels

Today I finally repainted my Roof Panels.

They looked pretty rough! (See Before picture). The previous owner had sprayed them with some cheap clear coat (like $2 per rattle can at Walmart clear coat) and did a pretty awful job of it at that. They also sprayed the side panels; but strangely enough, the cheap clear all eventually flaked off of the side panels (hooray!) but adhered very well to the Roof panels! I have no idea why! (Maybe they are different material?????????????) I tried cleaning the roof panels with anything short of lacquer thinner to no avail. So, I really had no other choice than to repaint them.

Anyway, I did it with the panels still installed. I didn't sand them, but I did scuff them thoroughly with a dark red Scotch Brite pad to get good adhesion. I carefully masked off the panels (took over an hour) and spray painted them with Duplicolor Trim and Bumper paint in the Dark Charcoal color and in an aerosol can. I gave them 2 medium / wet coats and that pretty well used up the whole spray can!

And as you can see in the After pictures, it turned out very well! The color is very close (maybe a tiny bit darker) to the original and has a nice satin like finish. And even though I scuffed them quite a bit, you can still see the texture on the panels.

I'm glad that's over with! I even had ideas of painting the panels same as the body color (SOP); until I realized how badly the original roof paint had faded! I do live in very sunny FL after all! Oh well!

But, all's well that ends well!
 

Attachments

#2,744 · (Edited)
Replaced the original head unit this weekend with a Pioneer MVH-1400NEX (radio or streaming-no discs) and added a new USB port in the small dash cubby between the steering wheel and the center console for the phone cable.
I managed to drill into the dash to mount the USB plug without destroying anything. That was the only difficult part. I used a Metra wiring harness which simplified everything and let me kept the stock sub. I’d replaced the in-door speakers and the A-pillar tweeters back in 2011.
Planning for the little Toaster to last as long as possible. (It only has 53K, so hoping for a lot longer).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top