Ask the Car People.SM


Older Civic Maintenance and Repair

401 messages,  Last post on Apr 10, 2013 at 10:15 PM

You are in the Honda Civic Forum.

What is this discussion about? Honda Civic, Coupe, Sedan

Messages Page 40 of 40

#391 of 401 Re: 1999 Honda Civic Coupe DX [brutella] by olddustoffer

Dec 18, 2012 (9:22 pm)

Replying to: brutella (Dec 18, 2012 6:30 pm)
Thanks for the info. I may need it for my 2001 Civic

#392 of 401 2003 Honda Civic Issues by abhip

Dec 20, 2012 (4:51 pm)

Hi All
 
I am really confused and would appreciate any answers / help you have to offer. So here is the issue:
 
I bought a 2003 Honda Civic Coupe EX for $5000 in August 2011. Then took it to 3 mechanics to get 3 different opinions, in order to get it completely fixed. My idea was to drive the car for atleast 5 yrs. So in order to fulfill that idea, I spent close to another $5000 on it.
 
The fixes included:
Replaced timing belt and 2 drive belts and valve cover gasket
Replaced both lower control arm units
New water pump
Replaced all front seals, cam and crank seals
Replaced thermostat and gasket
Replaced both front and rear struts
Replaced new spark plugs
Serviced Automatic transmission fluid flush
New battery
4 new Honda tires
replaced clock spring behind steering driving air bag
 
After 16 months of driving, it turns out that the engine has ceased on me because of a chipped camshaft and compression problems. It will cost another $2000 to get a 75k mile engine as replacement. This time as well I got 2 opinions and both stated the same problem.
 
Now the predicament is whether i should sell it or spend more to fix it? If I look at the numbers, I have already spent $10k on the car and if i sell it, the max i will get is around $2500. But if I chose to fix it by dumping another $2000 in it since majority of the parts in it are close to new, I am not sure how long the car is going to last w/o major issues and whats the guarantee that I wont have to spend more? I am really confused at this point.
 
Please advise.

#393 of 401 Re: 2003 Honda Civic Issues [abhip] by olddustoffer

Dec 20, 2012 (10:06 pm)

Replying to: abhip (Dec 20, 2012 4:51 pm)
Am I to understand that you bought it THEN took it to mechanics?
Never a good idea. Without a warrantee, you should Always have a Mechanic look at it.
 
Too late now. What I am seeing you had done was at least 30% overpriced at 5k More like 50% Timing Belt/Water pump $300, Struts $1200-1500 Seals <800. It's your call, but if you buy a 75K miles engine, you are looking at Timing belt/water pump(always do them together as it saves taking the front of the engine off again) at 110K engine miles, You didn't say how many miles on it, but a new Tranny is likely at 200k-250K miles if automatic. Personally, I would take the $2000-$2500 and buy one off the lot for 17k or less, depending on what you buy. For what your mechanics are charging, I'd find new mechs after the Warantee on the new one wears off. You either bought a rare Honda lemon, or one with a TON of HARD miles on it. Please Please take any used car to a trusted (prolly Factory) Mech BEFORE buying. If they won't let you, walk away. You cannot afford any deal you can't walk away from. BTW, I'd buy some cheap used tires and stick em on B4 selling as well. Save or sell the good ones. It's not going to affect the price on a broken engine car in my experience.

#394 of 401 What the...??? by bigfur

Jan 07, 2013 (8:24 pm)

Driving the wife to work nothing seemed wrong, took a right hand turn....car dies. I pop it into N and it restarted for about three seconds then died again (for good this time). Pulled it home to my garage and hooked up the OBD2 scanner and to which it read absolutly no problems. This car was my brothers wifes before i bought it and i know she isnt the brightest bulb but my brother says he has never had any issues with the car. Im stumped, its getting fuel, the battery is almost new and no trouble codes. Anyone have any ideas?

#395 of 401 Re: What the...??? [bigfur] by olddustoffer

Jan 08, 2013 (3:22 am)

Replying to: bigfur (Jan 07, 2013 8:24 pm)
You didn't say what year or how many miles on the car. without knowing that, I have no book to look at. Has it restarted since then? When did you last run Fuel System cleaner through it? If over 100k miles on it, has the timing belt been changed? If that is overdue, you may have a serious engine rebuild coming.

#396 of 401 Re: Oxygen sensor problems--Civic 2000 [rwerdinger] by olddustoffer

Jan 08, 2013 (3:39 am)

Replying to: rwerdinger (Jun 15, 2012 11:44 am)
Yes on the mechanic. at 108k miles, you are due for a Timing Belt change at 110K, so if they have to dig into the car at all, that should probably be done. I always have them replace the Water Pump at Timing Belt time as they already have the front of the engine torn off, and it may save some serious money later. Since your shop has to bring in an Import Specialist, it would seem unlikely that they have the required Diagnostic computer as well. The shaking most likely is at least 1 cylinder misfiring, and may be solvable by running Fuel Injector cleaner through it. I recommend doing that about every 7-10 fill-ups, but others may well disagree. it depends upon what grade/type of fuel you buy. Some already have additives, but cheap "convenience store" types do not. Please keep me updated, so I can add the results to my knowledge.

#397 of 401 Re: 1995 Honda acceleration problem (93,000 miles) [hondalady13] by olddustoffer

Jan 08, 2013 (4:26 am)

Replying to: hondalady13 (Sep 21, 2010 3:10 pm)
At that low a mileage, you shouldn't have to baby it on uphills at all. Is it Automatic or Standard transmission? My 2001 with 185k miles (Standard) pulls serious hills with only going down to 4th (there is a hill on I-25 between Albuquerque and Santa Fe where you go up 3k or more feet in 4 miles, which I do in 4th). IMO you may have a fuel Pump issue. Most Hondas have 2 fuel pumps, one inside the fuel tank and another up at the engine, both electric.
  As for the noise, is it constant rumbling like a bad muffler would be? or is it intermittent? Does it pop loudly on deceleration? If so, you either have a bad muffler or exhaust leak somewhere. Does the sound come from underneath or from the engine box? If underneath, may well be the muffler, especially if you live in an area where they use a lot of salt in the winters. Any noise coming out of the engine box is more serious.
 IMO, while a dealer is more expensive, unless you have a mechanic that specializes in Imports, you may have to go to a dealership. You have 2 problems at least in my experience. The slowing down is the most serious. It is possible that the noise could be caused by an exhaust manifold leak (which could also cause power loss) but you say it has always been weak uphill so I doubt that the 2 are related.
 The first thing I do when I buy a (used) car, is have a few little things fixed by a mechanic, so I know if he is honest, then I establish a "Rapport" with him so I can trust him with bigger items as they come up. I still view even the dealership Mechanics with a wary eye, and frequently get second opinions. I suggest that on any high dollar item, that you also get a second opinion/estimate. Even my regular mechanic occasionally tries to add a few "less than necessary" items to my bill if I don't pay attention. Unless you are carrying a heavy load, a civic should never slow down more than 2 gears on most (highway) hills.
 If it is slowing down to 30 on level ground, it is certainly no exhaust problem. It could be anything from a bad fuel pump to a dropped valve or worse.

#398 of 401 Re: What the...??? [olddustoffer] by bigfur

Jan 08, 2013 (7:02 am)

Replying to: olddustoffer (Jan 08, 2013 3:22 am)
Its a 2001 with about 130K on it. Have to ask my brother about the timing belt but my best guess would be no. It has not restarted since but the fuel pump is coming on. When trying to start now it sounds as if the starter isnt engaging, but i dont see how that would stop a car that was already running. If it was a timing belt i would expect a trouble code, or am i wrong on that? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

#399 of 401 civic93 1.5 engine problem by keriazy4

Feb 19, 2013 (8:21 am)

#400 of 401 civic93 1.5 engine problem by keriazy4

Feb 19, 2013 (8:21 am)

hi everyone if someone can tell what problem i have in my car
started in a day when it was -30c and i was on the hightway runing about 110km/h then one time i felt the shifting knob is shaking ,the same feeling like there is a spark plug not working and the car going on 3 spark plugs, so i check them and i found oil on 2nd and 3rd spark plug, i cleaned everything even changed the joint-set of the head gasket installed every thing back in place but still doing the same thing .
not all time only when i reach 70km/h on 4th and 5th depend specially when im going on a bridge ,at 80km/h it return no shaking again
1st.2nd.3rd has no problem at all with smooth shifting or burning and the engine gives good power also
so what is that and why exactly at 70km/h ?????
my car has 256000 km
thank you

Messages Page 40 of 40

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement