Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Honda Civic: Problems & Solutions
This discussion has been closed.
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
You know your local Honda dealers have their own maintenance schedule. Typical they will do more than manufacturer's suggested. Selling car just part of their business, service is more of their business especially @ their rate. Also most of the time dealer's service department has to purchase parts from dealer's parts department. You can imagine their mark up.
Best is to follow Owner's manual, I think it has more detaisl than Honda owner's link website schedule.
Regards,
bjk
2000 Civic 5 speed, ~ 26k, regularly maintained. Problems:
1. Most troubling: Since I first bought my "old man" car, when accelerating, it feels like something is pushing on the car and holding it back, until something kicks in, and the car finally accerlerates like it should. I am not expecting the car to go 0-60 in 2 seconds, but the delayed acceleration is not normal. My sister's 12 y.o 110k Corolla has smoother pick-up than my Honda. Dealer could not find anything. Ideas?
2. Since I first bought the car, I infrequently encounter excessive engine churning when I try to start the car. Only seems to happen within 1-6 hours after the car has been driven, not after car has been sitting overnight. Again, dealer found nothing.
3. Lately, clutch is making ratchet-like sound after city driving for 8-10 miles. Happens when pedal is pushed down and released. Dealer oiled it; no change. Clutch performs ok, just noisy.
I plan to go to another dealer before warranty is up, but I would love to know where to tell the dealer to look to diagnose/cure the problems and recognize any dealer b.s. All help is greatly appreciated!
have no idea on other two problems without being able to check it out. Possibly a TW sensor on the hot restart but thats a long shot..
thinking of buying a 2002 LX auto w/a/c.
I'm a musician and will be transporting roughly 300 - 400lbs of cargo in the trunk and some in the back seat -- -- on a regular basis.
No, I don't want a truck or van.
Question: can the Civic 1.7 liter engine handle carrying this weight, or will it be constantly straining and thus could wear out fast?
I guess the weight is about the same as transporting 3 adult passengers in addition to the adult male driver, all the time.
Anybody have any experience to share?
thanks!!
My problem is on a cold start, a clacking noise (knock? ping? Not sure) comes from the engine for a few minutes until the engine warms up. Sometimes the noise is loud, sometimes soft; it speeds up with the RPM of the engine. It happens during idle as well as acceleration, although it can be louder during acceleration. When the engine warms up the noise disappears.
It happens only in cold or cool weather, mostly 55 degrees F or below. If it's 80-degree weather: no noise.
I thought it was maybe an oil problem, but I took it into the dealer last winter (left it overnight so they'd have a cold start) and they dismissed it as "normal fuel injector noise."
But the problem persists, and it's gradually getting worse each winter. It didn't happen at all for the car's first three years or so.
I've kept up with all scheduled maintenance. Oil is 5W30, as per owner's manual. Level is good.
Any ideas? Car is in fine shape otherwise. Should I have the fuel injectors cleaned?
Funny thing is, I looked up my receipt for my 60,000 maintenance from last summer (cost: $395) and sure enough "Adjust Engine Valve Clearance" is on the checklist. I bet they just never did it.
Is this something I should have done now to prevent damage to the engine, or should I wait until fall when the problem will become more evident?
My Integra (which had a valve adjustment within the last 3,000 miles) has pretty much the same symptoms as your car, slight knocking (not loud though) for the first 5 minutes or so on cool mornings and sometimes no knocking at all. I just attribute it to old age (my car has over 100,000 miles).
Still get it checked though. They may have not done it properly or just did not do it at all.
--Two months ago: My check engine light comes on. I don't think too much of it and promise myself to have it looked at in a couple of weeks...
--6 weeks ago: My check engine light is still on, and my speedometer quits. At this point I decide to bring her in.
--First Mechanic Work: My first mechanic tells me that I need new o2 sensors and a new alternator, so I get both.
--10 days after going to first mechanic: my check engine light comes back on, my speedometer quits (at same time) and lights in dash begin to blink. The next day, the car dies driving home from work (10 miles).
--Second Mechanic: I bring my car to a new mechanic who tells me the alternator that was placed in my car was no good and I need a new one. I go ahead and get a new alternator. 5 days later, the check engine light comes back on, the speedometer quits and the dash lights start blinking (same time). A couple of days later, the car is AGAIN dead.
--Second Mechanic, second time: I bring my car back to the mechanic. He charges up my battery, clears the check engine codes from the computer and touches the fuse with some tool ( I don't know what it is). The car will run perfectly for a couple of days, and then the same things will happen again.
This is were I am at now. I can't afford to keep putting money into this vehicle, but I love it and would like to fix it. I think that my mechanic is bewildered, but I am not sure. I am starting to think that the Fuse attached to the Alternator and Speedometer is broken or something, since both things quit at the same time.
Can anyone out there PLEASE give me some ideas???? I would be eternally grateful to you!!
Thanks in advance for any help!
Melissa
melissa
Any suggestions? Am I doing major damage by driving with this problem?
Even when the car is completely stopped, it makes an underlying whining noise, which only increases in pitch and volume as I accelerate. In addition, it becomes worse when I turn the wheel.
I took it to the local Honda dealer(unfortunately, the one from which I purchased it is more that 150 miles away) and a service advisor said it was normal--yeah right, of course it is.
So, I took it to my own very reliable and trustworthy mechanic who agreed the noise wasn't kosher and instantly checked the power steering fluid, which was nearly empty. We added the ps fluid a few days ago, but the noise has actually worsened.
I have an appointment to have it checked at the dealer again, but I want some outside opinions before I go back, as I'm sure the "perfectly normal" wall will go up as a first diagnosis.
Has anyone experienced a similar problem?
Did the lack of ps fluid for the first 3000 miles harm the vehicle?
I bought a new Honda to avoid problems and don't want a lemon!
Thanks, David
Even when the car is completely stopped, it makes an underlying whining noise, which only increases in pitch and volume as I accelerate. In addition, it becomes worse when I turn the wheel.
I took it to the local Honda dealer(unfortunately, the one from which I purchased it is more that 150 miles away) and a service advisor said it was normal--yeah right, of course it is.
So, I took it to my own very reliable and trustworthy mechanic who agreed the noise wasn't kosher and instantly checked the power steering fluid, which was nearly empty. We added the ps fluid a few days ago, but the noise has actually worsened.
I have an appointment to have it checked at the dealer again, but I want some outside opinions before I go back, as I'm sure the "perfectly normal" wall will go up as a first diagnosis.
Has anyone experienced a similar problem?
Did the lack of ps fluid for the first 3000 miles harm the vehicle?
I bought a new Honda to avoid problems and don't want a lemon!
You can e-mail me directly at alwaysoverhead@yahoo.com
Thanks, David
hope you get it fixed. Hope i helped...
I know from my experience that dealing with Honda service leaves something to be desired, and in Canada, we are not able to view TSB's, and when I have spoken to the "Service Manager" at my local Honda dealership, aside from him changing his story everytime I asked a question, this was his basic stance:
They don't have copies of TSB's
You can't see the TSB's
You still have to pay for any work done that's under a TSB
I mentioned that Honda is supposed to cover the work under a "separate warranty" (I was basically just testing the water), then he said Honda pays for the part, but you pay for the labour.
Has anyone had any experiences that would give me ammo? I have posted previously about a check engine light that is giving me a primary 02 sensor fault, but I have done all the checks and it seems fine.
I don't want to take it into Honda and pay $500 for nothing!
Sorry to hear about your dealer not cooperate with customer. It's total different than my local Honda dealer I've been dealed with. Last year when I took my 01 Odyssey to my local dealer to get my first oil change ( I didn't purchase my Odyssey from them due to their price is higher than other dealer). I had a cracked spoiler and lots of other people had it and Honda replaced them all. I asked my service writer about my cracked spoiler, when he was writing my oil change paper work. Without saying a word, he pulled out one of the TSB binders (he had at lease a few TSB binders right next to him.) and turned to the TSB page regarding cracked Odyssey spoiler. It listed affected VIN serial number and MFG date. Mine was affected, he didn't even go out to look at my Odyssey, just added "Replace cracked spoiler per TSB ....) to the service order. Due to back order I had to take my Odyssey back to get it replaced. Too bad you are too far away from California or I could introduce you to my local Honda service dept.
American Honda has customer survey about car buying and service experience. All the sales I dealed with all asked me to put down the best survey I could give them. Not sure about Canada Honda.
regards,
bjk
My sister has a '94 Civic without a/c. She is thinking about installing a/c and would like to know if the cooling system is adequate enough to keep the engine from overheating when the outside climate temperature reaches 90 - over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (Sacramento, CA temperature). Any helpful response will be appreciated.
Thanks,
glenglen
It'll cost 1200.00 or so to add A/C.
Still...I guess if it's a nice car without a ton of miles it might work out.
And yes, the cooling system is up to the task.
Mid 70's here in Seattle today!
Thanks for the feedback.
The '94 Civic has about 80K miles on it. She's planning on buying a new Odyssey sometime in the future and wants to trade in an '89 Corolla and keep the Civic as a second vehicle.
I am new to the list and also a new Honda owner. I purchased a 2002 Honda Civic DX in May, 2002 and like the message posted in #509, I have noticed that when I remove the key from the ignition, the key is quite hot. I have taken it in to the dealer and they have not been able to replicate the problem and can find nothing wrong with the ignition.
I am not sure this is anything to worry about...but it does make me wonder what may be causing this problem.
Thanks for any help or advice.
I have a 97 DX HB with 70K miles and within the last several thousand miles I have noticed a similar noise on cold starts (more noticable this past winter when living outside of Chicago). I also thought that it may be a valve noise, but according to my manual the valve clearance does not need to be checked every 30K but only after the first 30K. I am wondering if it is worth the money to have them adjusted again. It seems as though it did not alleviate the problem with acuraowner's car. Maybe it is just a trait of the Honda engines after time. Is there any merit the the casecom2's dealer suggestion that it is the fuel injectors? Maybe I will try some fuel injector cleaner.
BTW, I just moved to Santa Fe NM and have been averaging 38-39 mpg during my commute and the car is running fine.
Take care
The key, unless in the sun should not be hot to the touch but warm could be possible. The lower end of the ignition switch does have current flowing through it and could transmit some of that into the mecanical part of the ignition creating a little heat transfer.
a/c noise
Without hearing it for my self it would be hard to say however I have heard a noise from that side of the cars and it is usally freon going through the expansion valve and tubing causing a similar sound. Other than that maybe check the vents and look for leaf or other debris caught in it.
I'm new on this stuff and know nothing about car. My wife's 98 Honda Civic EX has this problem, whenver i stepped on brake at 65+mph, the car made steering wheel shook violently. Any suggestions on what i need to do to correct this, thanks for all advices.
David.
My only complaint with the Civic is the lousy FM radio reception. I thought about replacing the antenna that's in the rear window for a regular whip, but I wanted someone else's take on this before I do so. And I certainly don't want to replace the radio/CD player if I don't have to. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what can be done?
So does my Civic need a new EPROM or not? Also, where is this chip located? Some say it's under the driver's seat, but would like to be sure.
It's actually the oem antenna that's the better of the system. Swapped my head early on with a Blau and I can still pull tunes inside a parking structure.
bit