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Honda Civic Care and Maintenance
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Comments
1). How long should I wait before I wax my car? I have heard that you should wait 3 months before waxing a brand new car.
2.) What wax or car care products should I use (do you recomend)?
3.) Does anyone have a link to a website with a wealth of informaiton about care and maitenence for new cars?
Thanks
2. I would say what are your goals? Mine for example is a very high base line and a 10-14 year time horizon.
3. I have a few favorites but do a search for car care and car care products and some will pop up.
What are the common causes for the cracked manifold?
Thanks for your help.
Anyone know if/when Honda changed their Type 2 coolant? I know Honda coolant used to be green in color. Or was some other fluid substituted in?
Thanks!
the CV joints are not worn out. Second, about how much would one expect to pay
to have the CV joints replaced altogether?
I'm looking to find Honda clubs and folks in my geographic area who might be knowledgable about my 3rd generation civic. I know I need to do some repairs and maintenance, and I could use some advice about where to start.
I may have already posted this request here and just couldn't find it when I came back to look tonight, so if I'm repeating myself I apologize.
Thanks a bunch.
What are the common causes for the cracked manifold?
Thanks for your help.
I would check to see if it is still covered under the 8 year/80,000 miles emissions warranty. I don't see why it would not be covered. Manifold is part of emissions control, and shoudl be covered under that part fo the warranty. Of course unless you are over the miles. In which case, you can call Honda Corporate and have them split the cost with you.
Anyone know if/when Honda changed their Type 2 coolant? I know Honda coolant used to be green in color. Or was some other fluid substituted in?
Thanks!
This is new to me. I bought coolant from Honda last summer when doing maintenance on my car and it was Green. My new CR-V comes with green coolant. That is very interesting. I wonder if they are mixable?
Thanks. Sequoia3
I own an 04 civic VP. The mileage is about 11k. At this point I changed the engine oil at a local shop(This is the second lube service since I purchased this car). Now there is a few oil leaking underneath which never happened before. Since I don't know much about car, there is no conclusion I could make by myself. However I would assume that guy who changed the oil did something wrong, maybe the oil was over added. Could anyone give me some comments, and if this will eventually damage the engine?
thanks!
I would definitly check the oil level and if everything looks good, drive it back to the local shop and speak to someone other than the guy that changed the oil and have them verify where the oil is coming from. Better yet, take it to someone you know you can trust.
I own an 04 civic VP. The mileage is about 11k. At this point I changed the engine oil at a local shop(This is the second lube service since I purchased this car). Now there is a few oil leaking underneath which never happened before. Since I don't know much about car, there is no conclusion I could make by myself. However I would assume that guy who changed the oil did something wrong, maybe the oil was over added. Could anyone give me some comments, and if this will eventually damage the engine?
thanks!
Sounds like you went to a Non-Honda shop and they did not give you the new crush washer, but rather put the old one back and torqued it to the max. You better pray that they did not strip the thread in the alluminum pan. It is also possible that they did such a sloppy job and spilled oil all over.
I belive the timing light will only tell you about the ignition, and I think you are talking about Valves.
Timing belts better not stretch, or it will mess up the whole engine. IF yor timing is off, that could mean that when the belt was installed they did not align the markings correctly, or it is so old that it indeed stretched and has to be replaced IMMEDIATLEY!. If you want to get adjustability, you would probably need to get AEM adjustable sprokets.
I have a black 4-door 98 Civic LX and over the years, many stupid ppl have dinged my car doors with their car doors in parking lots (despite me being careful about where I park) leaving some significant (a) dings and (b) many paint scratches. Can anyone recommend how I can get these out without having to pay thousands to replace the doors?
Thanks!
I have a black 4-door 98 Civic LX and over the years, many stupid ppl have dinged my car doors with their car doors in parking lots (despite me being careful about where I park) leaving some significant (a) dings and (b) many paint scratches. Can anyone recommend how I can get these out without having to pay thousands to replace the doors?
Thanks!
You can call Paintless dent removal people, but if the paint is broken you would have to go to a body shop to have it painted. You could buy touch up paint at the dealer and touch it up your self. Another option is to find exactly the same color car at the junk yard that has no dents and swap the doors.
The mileage on this car is 78,000 miles.
The problem:
When I turn my key to the ON position, before starting the engine, all of the warning lights come on and then go OFF as they should. However, sometimes the red check engine light goes OFF and then immediately comes back ON for 3-4 secs. Is this a sign of some big problem waiting to happen?
Otherwise, the car runs nice and smooth( mileage is 25 MPG in city). There is no sign of an oil leak or anything that might cause reduced oil pressure.
About maintainance of the car: I always check the oil level monthly and get oil change every 3000 miles.
Any hints about what might be causing this ?
Thanks.
Paul
The mileage on this car is 78,000 miles.
The problem:
When I turn my key to the ON position, before starting the engine, all of the warning lights come on and then go OFF as they should. However, sometimes the red check engine light goes OFF and then immediately comes back ON for 3-4 secs. Is this a sign of some big problem waiting to happen?
Otherwise, the car runs nice and smooth( mileage is 25 MPG in city). There is no sign of an oil leak or anything that might cause reduced oil pressure.
About maintainance of the car: I always check the oil level monthly and get oil change every 3000 miles.
Any hints about what might be causing this ?
Thanks.
Paul
"Check engine light" should be orange, "low oil pressure light" is red. Which is it?
Thanks.
I know it's a bit dorky--but I like knowing. I can hear and feel what gear I should be in, but I just want to be anal. If anyone has access to the manual and could tell me, I would be really happy!! Thanks!!
Shift up---- Normal acceleration (Cruise from acceleration)
1st to 2nd----- 15 mph ( 9 mph)
2nd to 3rd---- 27 mph (20 mph)
3rd to 4th ---- 39 mph (33 mph)
4th to 5th---- 53 mph (48 mph)
Before downshifting, make sure the vehicle will not exceed the maximum speed in the chart in the lower gear:
Gear --- Maximum Speed
1st --- 35 mph
2nd --- 64 mph
3rd --- 100 mph
Thanks.
Momentary oil light coming on may be a sign of low oil, but you said you check the oil regularly. When checking oil level make sure the car is level and cool. If it has been driven recently, wait 30 minutes or more. What grade of oil are you using? Thicker than recommended oils may cause oil starvation on start up.
The service division of honda dealers I have called either claim they don't know or want me to bring it in. Last place I called said that sometimes these places that pull the code don't really know what they are doing and wanted me to bring it in saying that they "evaluate everything on a case by case basis." I know some of these rip-offs charge $70+ just to pull the code and tell you what it is claiming that it is "system diagnostics."
Sorry for the long post but I have already spent a tidy sum changing brakes (which I don't want to skimp on) and exhaust. I have a long road trip coming up and my mpg has dropped to < 30. How do proceed on getting this repaired as cheaply as possible.
Thanks
The service division of honda dealers I have called either claim they don't know or want me to bring it in. Last place I called said that sometimes these places that pull the code don't really know what they are doing and wanted me to bring it in saying that they "evaluate everything on a case by case basis." I know some of these rip-offs charge $70+ just to pull the code and tell you what it is claiming that it is "system diagnostics."
Sorry for the long post but I have already spent a tidy sum changing brakes (which I don't want to skimp on) and exhaust. I have a long road trip coming up and my mpg has dropped to
Emissions warranty is 8 years and 80,000 miles.
Buy a BOSCH replacement O2 sensor from Autozone or Pepboys. The OEM is probably made by Bocsh anyway.
The "cracked manifold" IS a common problem with Civics (regardless of what Honda may tell you). I had the same problem with a 2002 Civic & the estimate was $1200 + tax form Honda Canada to fix the problem. Check out the link for the full story.
http://www.freewebs.com/hondacanadasucks/
I never changed one, but you will need a special socket with a cut out for the wire, and lot and lots of WD-40 to losen up the rusted up threads. You will be working under the car on jack stands, so be careful not to let it drop on you, as well wear goggles to stop the particles from flying into your eyes.
So, they came back and said it was cracked and that it wasn't under warranty. Funny that. I'm waiting now to talk to their manager, so we'll see.
:mad:
Bottom line is this IS a rampant problem with Honda manifolds, at the very least they should cover half the cost (even though I strongly believe they should cover 100% of the cost).
http://www.freewebs.com/hondacanadasucks/
So, they came back and said it was cracked and that it wasn't under warranty. Funny that. I'm waiting now to talk to their manager, so we'll see.
Emissions warranty is 8 years/80,000 miles.
This just happened to me. Out of the blue the engine light came and got stuck on.
I figured, if this is a persistent problem then after a reset (done by disconnecting the
negative battery terminal) it would go away. If it is indeed a recurring problem after
the reset it wil come back on and then I'll take it to the dealership.
I did reset and so far it has stayed off. We shall see if indeed the problem persist.
By the way, a while back there was a similar problem with the SRS light for which I had to reset it with the clip (protected by some tape so that you do not accidently short-circuit anything) and
so far things have been working fine.
Hope this helps.
Pedro
have you figured it out yet?
I have a 99 civic EX... and when it's in neutral, it idles at around 300 sometimes which is WAY too low. And sometimes the car just dies... which is really unsafe when i put my car into neutral before coming to a stop and making turns.
One of my friends had a similar problem with his 98 integra, and he said he reset this chip somehow with this long process... but I'm not sure how he did it and he doesn't remember. (it's not just pulling out the battery to let it reset or anything) Hopefully you solved this problem already and can help me! thanks!!
mishael
I have a 2002 Honda Civic LX with 107,000 miles on it. The "malfunction" light came on yesterday and so I read the manual about possible problems. Of course, it wasn't a loose gas tank cap. But anyways, I've talked with a few people and they seem to suggest that it's probably the O2 sensor. Today, while driving home from work, I was at a stop sign, upon accelerating the car felt as if it was going to choke and die. Did you experience the same kind of "symptom"? Just thought I'd ask to try to get more information and see if everything leads to the O2 sensor problem. I too am not a big mechanic but with the economy these days, i'd be willing to put in some hours to try and fix it myself. Did you end up doing it yourself Plasdom? Thanks for your time and discussion!