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Honda Civic: Problems & Solutions
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Comments
I got a Civic EX 2001 5 Speed and I have noticed that the car require too much acceleration to reach specific speed, for example when I am at 72 mph in the 5th gear I am at 3500 RPM's while with a Toyota Corolla at the same speed and gear I am only at 2600 RPM's. Does anybody know if this is Normal on Civics ???
Other measurements are ( RPM-speed in mph):
3rd gear- (2500 RPM -32mph) ---(3000 - 38) -----(3500 - 44)
4th gear- (2500 RPM - 40mph)----( 3000 - 49 )---- (3500 - 57 )
5th gear- (2500 RPM - 52mph )---- (3000 - 62)
Another "issue" i found is vibration on the stering wheel when you are around 65mph +. According to the "certified" Honda technicians, it is normal to feel some vibrations. I already balanced the wheels but the vibration remains, Does anybody now something about this ???
Btw, I am new to this forum, but it appears to have some good information and quality members.
Instead of trying to guess at the cause I would get it checked ASAP by someone who knows what he/she is doing when it comes to Hondas.
If ignored this could lead to something very expensive!
My car gets this at start up ... especially on cool or cold mornings. Once the engine heats up and the metal expands the noise disappears completely.
If your's IS an actual rod knock, I'd go with one step thicker motor oil and see if that doesn't quiet it down some.
My car's a 95DX with 105,000 miles on it. I'm gonna drive the sucker till it explodes ... which will probably be a while since it's a Honda. >;^)
--- Bror Jace
I'm gonna make this simple:
It's a 97 EX, 2-door, 5-speed
When I turn right it clicks and will sometimes click when I go over large bumps but the noise always comes from the right side.
The car is still under warranty.
I have taken it in 3 times. They have replaced the bearings and both axles. It STILL clicks.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.
Jenn
Could it be more of a kncoking noise than a click?
Noises are hard to describe I know but there are several things that make noise and go bad in the front. It confuses me on why they replaced the wheel brgs for a click. I would think if it wasn't the axles that it may be the front strut, the sway bar link or the lower arm. But noises are so hard over the net...
clicking in turns is probably a CV-joint. going over bumpbs changes the angle and it makes noise in a CV joint that is not well lubed or out whack.
Too bad...it doesn't get as cold.
A load of R-134 in the face when the K-Mart valve fails wouldn't be a good thing.
Thanks,
Yort
I had a 91 300zx Turbo that did the same thing and needed the same part.
Oh...I don't know...I guess I would probably cave in and have it converted to R134.
I already posted a few previous messages. I have been really trying to fix my car with no luck. The car(92 civic lx 1.5L M/T) won't start. I have checked the main relay and it passed. I seem to be getting the voltage to the injectors, but don't know if they are getting their grounds. The fuel pump is not getting its power through the relay(solenoid energizes by ground from injector system). The pump operates when tested according to the book. I have tried to check for spark, but don't seem to be getting fire. The voltage is there at the distributor when key is on and drops from 12.5Vdc to 8.4Vdc when trying to start engine. Is this voltage drop normal? The plug wires Ohm out ok. I have changed the cap, rotor, and plugs so far. I tried a new distributor and took it back(didn't fix). The ignitor checks ok also.
I moved the engine to #1 tdc to check belt damage/slippage. The marks were lined up and tdc arrow was in line with mark on camshaft pulley. The rotor appeared to be just about dead on #1. Condition of the belt was good. How much play should I have in the Timing belt?(It has about 20k on it) I used an in line spark checker on all cylinders respectively and I didn't see spark. I checked the power at the fuel pump power pin 7 on the main relay as it was supposed to be energized during start. I did not get voltage. The pump operates when voltage is applied. The schematic in Chilton's shows power to the pump supplied after relay gets ground through Injector/ECM circuit. I do have voltage available to the injectors coming from the relay, but I don't have any ideas on how to check if they are getting a good ground. The schematic just shows them going to the ecm. I assume that the ecm governs grounding to each individual injector. I appreciate your responses. Any ideas? I hope it is not the ecm. (the check engine light remains constant on whether service check is jumpered or not) Also, how much would you think it would be to have Honda do a checkout? Thanks...
J_Eddy
I thought this may be strange, but do not know if this is normal for Civics or not. I do not think I am getting spark. THe plug wires ohmed within tolerance and I changed the plugs, cap, and rotor.
I have voltage to the injectors. I am not getting voltage to the pump.
This is my first car bought in Dec 2000. I have been experiencing the following problems :
I kept getting the humming noise whenever I turned my wheels. The service people found out that Power Steering Rack was leaking and replaced the whole steering gear box assembly.
I was thinking may be something was wrong with the way I drive (too much turning of steering
to extremes), still nagging doubt is the mechanism so fragile that it won't even take pressure from a new driver.
I learnt that it had happened to some of my friends who bought it around the same time. Is it a common problem in 2001 Civic LX, Any recalls so far ?
TIA
--- Bror Jace
Thanks,
Don Gillespie
the bumper, I believe is the poor paint job honda did with the bumper or is the bumper is scraping on with the rear lights since the spacing is minimal. Haven't brought back to the dealer yet,
I am expecting a lot of *%*&%##&&(%$& and headache from the dealer.
The second devasting thing that I've just found out this weekend while washing my car was seeing there're dents on the roof. There is a total of four dents like someone actually hitting the car with a baseball bat. Two is located symmetrically on both side of the roof(pass. and dr). The location of the dents are at the strong area of the roof near the side where the front windows are(not windshield). The funny thing is the dents do not have scratch or paint damage on it. After some thought or guess, I suspect it is due to the twisting force of the body doing sharp turns. I am trying to say it's a body structural issue and not the thin layer of sheet metal on the roof or the fender.
Sorry for such a long message! Does anyone have experience the same problem(s) that I am getting?
Note: the dents can only be seen at the side angle let say if you are looking at it from the front or rear but not perpendicular. On the next couple of days, I will bring it in to the dealer and demand for a new replacement(may sound silly to some of you).
Thanks for you comment!
As for the roof, I've not noticed any denting. BUT, I have noticed a persistent and annoying squeak/rattle coming from the moonroof when the car goes over an uneven bump, or when I am turning into a parking lot or driveway, and one front wheel or the other is pushed higher than the rest of the car. It reminds of the noises I used to hear from the T-tops on my '85 Camaro Z28. That car had the chassis stiffness of a wet rag. I really hope that is not the issue with the Civics, but with what you're describing, I'm afraid it may be.
makes a humming noise coming from the front between 55-65 mph and also during deceleration.
First I thought it is coming from the tires, so
I rotated them, but the problem is still there.
I changed the trnsmission fluid, the humming sound
is still there. Anybody have similar problem? How
did you get it fix?
The driver seat in my car also seems to move a little bit in it's tracks, when I brake. Anyone have that problem on new Civs?
I noticed that it would go away if I would put my finger in the gap between the headliner and the moonroof interior sliding cover (with it closed.) Basically it seemed like "pulling down" slightly on the headliner would stop the noise.
When I took my car in for the 10,000 mile maintenance (BTW the "check engine" light will illuminate and stay on when you hit 10,000 miles, techs will turn it off when you bring it in) I mentioned the problem to the service department. They "fixed" the problem by "lowering the liner by using felt inserts."
It's true, it doesn't rattle anymore, but I am a bit worried about "pulling down" on the headliner. I asked them specifically if these inserts would eventually cause the headliner to pull away from the roof of the car, and he said that it wouldn't.
This is my first post here, and I'm hoping someone can help me find out what we did wrong.
My brother in law has a 93 civic ex, 1.6litre that was running when he stopped by yesterday. He had been losing coolant little by little(very little), and someone recommended head gasket replacement. I suggested a compression test first, since the car seemed to be running well and wasn't blowing white smoke.
We pulled the plugs, ran the test, and now there seems to be no spark. We later read the haynes book, and it says to disable the fuel & ignition systems. Being the fools we are, we did neither. We bought a new ignition module, and this seemed to have no effect. The coil passed the ohm meter test, so we didn't try replacing that. A friend of his told us that if the tach bounces while cranking, the coil is bad, but if it didn't bounce, the module was at fault. The tach didn't bounce with the new module, nor does it with the original one reinstalled. I'm wondering if we didn't damage the pickup module somehow. That would seem to fit in, with having no bounce on the tach(even with a new module). We're not sure which direction to look in now.
Thanks in advance for any help offered by anyone!
My Civic had no problems in 4 years and 60k miles of ownership through the harsh winters of upstate NY. And it was definitely built better than my 1 year old Accord, which has clutch problems, terrible paint (nighthawk black), and woeful fuel mileage. It appears to me that Honda is becoming complacent, as the likes of VW/Audi play catch-up.
At the same time, Honda's cars (with minor exceptions) seem to be getting much more boring and mundane. Take the new Civics (minus the upcoming hot-hatch) and my Accord, for example.
Honestly, when I had my Civic I didn't think I'd ever own anything but a Honda. With my Accord experience (boring, too damn big, quality issues, etc) I'm not sure I'll ever buy a Honda again. Have they lost track of the target?
Does anyone else feel the same way?
I guess I've kind of had the opposite experience. I owned an '89 Accord 4DR for about 5 or 6 years, and finally sold it in 1997 when it had about 190,000 miles on it. It was still running beautifully, of course.
I then owned a 93 Buick LeSabre, which had a host of small niggling problems, even though when I got it it only had about 36,000 miles on it. It was a major gas hog and was very ugly.
This year as a result of an accident with that car, I was able to return to the Honda family and bought a new 2001 Civic. I've been more than happy with the overall quality of the car, taking into account that 2001 was a redesign year for that model. The gas mileage is great, and IMHO at least, the styling of the Civic is great. I'd much rather have a car with slightly more conservative styling so it looks good for many years, than a car like the Focus with more radical styling that I think will look tacky in a few years.