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Honda Civic: Problems & Solutions

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Comments

  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    aln1972 - Please don't pay a dime on exhaust related things until you figure out if you even want to keep the car. With the engine and cylinder head problems you're having because of the frequent overheats, you may not want to put any (more) money into the car. Even if you do, the exhaust system is hardly your first priority.
    :(
    elissa
  • aln1972aln1972 Member Posts: 9
    Thx for the timely replies elissa. I had been to a different mechanic (not dealer). He seems to be slightly on line with what you are saying.. He was mentioning there to be coolant mixed in oil and burning..a possible $1500-2500 repair. He was mentioning some thing to the sort of having cylinder head removed and resurfacing. I couldnt catch the entire terminology but for now had him do some thing small for the tune of 300 again. replacing fuel filter, fan sensor etc.. I am hoping that will help take care of it. I didnt drive too much on temp guage was on red.
    But it looks like you are the same person speaking at the repair shop. Looks like i have very little options. I only bought the car last year (used) for 7000 in MI, moved to CA(800 transport) and spent about 800 on this, and if i have to forego it.. its kind of difficult...
    Do you know any mechanics in the Orange County area that can do this kind of job??
    And Thanks again so so much for reading my msgs and responding..
  • aln1972aln1972 Member Posts: 9
    can u please email me at alnjs@yahoo.com . i would like to discuss further with you if ok, about the car.. you seem to be very knowledgeable..
    thx v much.
  • mike372mike372 Member Posts: 354
    Well...I took the car to Autozone and they read the code which was 1457 emissions problem. They then erased the code in the engine computer and the lite stayed off for two days but is on again. The car has 87,000 miles on the clock. I replaced the dist. cap and rotor with OEM parts about 5K miles ago. I doubt the wires are routed to wrong cap connections because I am very careful about this and the engine runs perfect. As far as the PCV valve is concerned I still have not found it. It usually is in a hose from the valve cover/cylinder head area to the intake manifold. I looked in a Chilton manual and the picture was not very clear.
    I am wondering if it has one at all. The gas cap is sometimes a suspected problem and I made sure it was on correctly. However, it could still be bad, I went to the inspection station to have it checked but they wanted to run the whole car through inspection so I went home. I am wondering if a bad head gasket could cause coolant to be burned and thus affect emissions. The exhaust looks OK and there is no sweet smell coming out of the tailpipe.
  • auburn63auburn63 Member Posts: 1,162
    The P1457 is an evaporative emissions control failure and in civics can be several components. One issue we had was with the fit of the line that goes uptp the top of the tank. Its a small vacuum line that doesnt fit tight, when thats not the problem the next common is the two way / bypass valve assymbly. There is a few other choices but those two are the most common..
  • mike372mike372 Member Posts: 354
    I will check the fit of the vacuum line to the gas tank today. But where is this two way bypass valve assembly you mentioned. I am sorry I dont have a Honda manual but since the car is getting older maybe I should buy one. By the way, are you a Honda technician.
  • mckennamckenna Member Posts: 2
    Just bought an 89 hatchback and am really going crazy! Please help me. Just had a compete tune-up (previous owner who is a dear friend - said it was running rough at idle when the AC was on and that it just needed a tune-up) BUT still yet: When the air conditioner is running the beast nearly shakes itself to death at idle. AND with no rhyme or reason the AC just quietly shuts itself off as I am driving along (LOL I confirm this by putting it in neutral and it doesn't shake)at cruising speeds. My only "fix" at that point is shut the AC off for a few minutes and then I can usually just punch it back into life.

    perhaps another clue???: the (ac?)belt squeals ALOT. And if during an idling session I rev the engine to try and stop the squealing, the car will usually die at the end of the rev cycle...hard to start again, so I don't use that method anymore. Now I just turn off the AC. BUT it is very HOT here...this is making me sweat bullets on several levels!

    Help - please. Mckenna
  • auburn63auburn63 Member Posts: 1,162
    Its in the area of the left rear corner of the gas tank, on the outside of the tank. It has a plastic cover, vacuum and electrcal lines going to it. A manual would be very helpful in the diag as well as the location if you could get your hands on one.

    To answer your question, yes I am a Honda tech. The weather conditions in some areas create the issues with the bypass and two way valves so they will be an area to look at...
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    "As far as the PCV valve is concerned I still have not found it. It usually is in a hose from the valve cover/cylinder head area to the intake manifold."
    I can't find the PCV valve in my '86 civic either! :-) but I think it's buried under my air filter housing and I haven't had the time to dig under there yet. Don't know where it is on the '00s.

    "The gas cap is sometimes a suspected problem and I made sure it was on correctly."
    I had a car with a bad "evap" code that we spent $300 to diagnose. After screwing the gas on repeatedly tighter to make sure that wasn't it. It turned out to be a bad/cracked gas cap! For $5 you can try replacing that. *shrug*

    "I am wondering if a bad head gasket could cause coolant to be burned and thus affect emissions."
    Hard to know that without the requisite tests. Your search for white smoke out the tail pipe, sweet smell out the tail pipe, coolant in the oil and vise versa are all relevant but you should have a shop do some combination of:
    - coolant pressure test (only will indicate a large leak
    - engine compression test
    - leakdown test

    But your symptoms so far sound way to vague to make wild guesses or start throwing parts at it without a proper diagnosis. You'd be well advised to take the car to a modern repair shop with OBD 2 system software for your car - a dealer or someplace else. That is the only way to really know what's going on.

    GOod luck,
    elissa
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    You got a cool little car! I just got an 86 wagon myself. They are a handful at this age though, I hope you have the patience. You may have a couple things going on but it sounds like your A/C belt is dying for replacement. That may do it.

    Little story: when I got my civic, it idled high (1200 rpm) and the A/C worked fine. After the tune up, the idle was closer to spec (900) but the A/C would stall the engine when it was at idle. The shop suggested that the high idle was masking the problem and that it likely existed before - they suggested a full diagnostic for $160 and that it COULD be the idle-up solenoid or A/C solenoid. The part alone cost $35 wholesale and I wasn't sure what goes into the labor. Well, I got the car up on lifts and looked under it and noticed two vacuum hoses were dangling ad not plugged into a port. I looked at the vacuum hose routing diagram under the hood and noticed a part related to cars with A/C and sure enough, those were the two vacuum hoses that were dangling. I plugged them in per the diagram and my A/C no longer stalls the car. I saved myself over $160 and found the shop's error. And this is the best rated shop in the SF peninsula *sigh*. Check for loose vacuum hoses too :-)

    Elissa
  • sf24sf24 Member Posts: 18
    Hi, I'm an owner of a 99 civic ex coupe. sometimes i have 5 people in the car and needless to say, this will affect acceleration/power/handling of a civic. But i was wondering if this puts too much strain on a civic (ie. is it harmful for the car) especially going up the hills in san francisco. i know the car has 5 seats but i get paranoid that i'm overloading and killing the car, although i'm not too mechanically inclined and dont know what consequences it might have, which is why i'd like to hear from you guys.
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    Was a 1987 Civic Wagon. I bought it for $650 with a brick in the windshield and the valve covers in the cargo area.

    After a new windshield and a timing belt service that car took me all over the east coast from Florida all the way up to Canada. Ahh memories.
  • mike372mike372 Member Posts: 354
    How do you gain access to the top of the gas tank. Do you have to lower the tank or is there an access hole in the floor? I partially removed the plastic covers but didnt get very far. Also, once the problem is fixed will the lite go off or do you have to erase the code in the computer first.
  • auburn63auburn63 Member Posts: 1,162
    The book says you need to lower the tank but you can get to it by removing the tire on the left side and removing stuff in the way to make it easier. Yes you will have to reset the computer and I have only done this by scanner but you may be able to disconnect the battery but not for sure never have tried it..
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    I did email you, did you get it? Hope your car is doing ok. Is there an update?
    Elissa
  • mckennamckenna Member Posts: 2
    What a difference a day (or two) makes. Took it to my "backyard" mechanic (again) for the idling problem and he said he had "no idea" (although I told him that the AC shop guy that he recommended said it might be the "vacuum Actuator" (kinda fits with your story!) Mech said: I am not an AC person...and should take it to the AC shop. However - at some point in time while car was under his "investigation" the AC quit altogether...grrr...although my mech was completely unaware that he was returning a non-functioning AC. I drove away - discovered the dead AC and turned right around. He said: must be electrical...this is an old car. (again...grrr...)

    So now what??? Any ideas how to steer the controls on the next phase? Going to the AC shop my mech recommended today, but really feeling kicked in the gut by this mystery that eveyone keeps pushing off to someone else. And let me add: My climate REQUIRES working AC.

    really getting nowhere fast and worried about the money I am investing in a 15 year old car!

    Mckenna
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    No ideas other than those I already mentioned. Just make sure when you take it to the A/C place that you give them all of the symptoms even wrt to idling issues to the extent that you think it's relevant. Good luck! - elissa
  • blueiedgodblueiedgod Member Posts: 2,798
    From the original post it seemed like your A/C pump bearings were going. What might have happened is that they would seize up on you once in a while and cause the belt to make noise. Bad bearings would most definately mean bad seal and you have been losing the refrigerant. Honda has a fool proof system that disables the a/c pump clutch when the refrigerant is low because it would also be low on lubricant oil.

    Just for the heck of it, buy one of those conversion kits from walmart and recharge the system, the a/c should spring back to life for a day or two, until the refrigerant escapes.

    You can get R134 with flourecent dye and get UV light to see where the leak is. Most likeley it is at the front of the a/c pump, but there is chance the system has holes elsewhere. If you are not up to DIY work, then you are in for a big repair bill. You need someone knowledgeable to diagnose. Anyone can replace a part, but diagnosis is 3/4th the job. You don't want to be replacing part after part only to find out that it was not the cause.

    You may want to get a definite answer from a knowledgable shop on whether it is the pump. If it is, then you would need to replace it with a refab one and have a professional shop evacuate the system and refill with new R134 freon.

    Replacing the A/c pump is not too difficult, but plan on spending the better part of a saturday morning. Then it still needs to be evacuated and filled. Although you can fill your self, with a kit from a store, there is no DIY way to pull vacuum on the system.
  • demoniclizarddemoniclizard Member Posts: 8
    I have a 2000 civic ex, bought used in april. Sometimes when I am trying to get into reverse (manual tran) I have trouble getting the gear to go in all the way. It doesn't make any noise when putting it in reverse, but when I release the clutch it will make a sort of grinding sound, but the car will not stall with the clutch fully released and the car not moving.

    At this point I can tell by the feel of when im putting into gear wether or not I have it in "all the way" im still curious as to why this happens and if the problem could get worse...
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    That should help.
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    I was going to suggest shifting into second before going into reverse. It's a synchro-meshed tranny I think that reverse is not meshed with any other gears but it's speed most closely matches 2nd gear I'm told. Maybe first is better... judgment call I guess. On all of my cars to go into reverse, I first go from neutral to second then right into reverse. If it doesn't go into reverse on the first pass, I repeat - into neutral, foot off clutch, foot on clutch into second then into reverse. Never takes more than 1-3 tries. If you start hearing actual grinding noises in a particular gear, that means the gear's synchro is going... but I don't think reverse has a synchro...? So you need to speed match it as described.
    elissa
  • jabatajabata Member Posts: 14
    I am torn between 03 Civic and 02 Nissan Altima 2.5 S. Wife wants Honda, I want to give Nissan a try. We had 92 Civic - great car, traded it last year (on 210,000 miles) for 97 Nissan Altima.
    Now we want newer car, but can't make up our mind.
    Any opinions out there.
  • ronaldcrossronaldcross Member Posts: 13
    My nephew has a 1999 Honda Civic LX that can't pass emissions. He has error codes P1336 and P1337. Can anybody tell us what the codes are and what part needs to be replaced, or what maintenance needs to be performed? Thank you.
  • uofm360uofm360 Member Posts: 13
    I have a 94 Civic DX 5 Speed manual with 115,000 miles on it. When I turn to the left their is a knocking/clunking noise coming from the front of the car. This only happens when the car is moving and as soon as I straighten the wheel out it stops. It sounds like to me it has something possibly to do with the steering gear? I also DO NOT have power steering.
            Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
  • bd21bd21 Member Posts: 437
    It's most likely a bad CV joint. You can buy a lifetime replacement complete assembly from any major auto parts store for about $80, but you would need a mechanic to install it for you. You are probably looking at a $150 to $200 repair. Good luck!
  • oldmansioldmansi Member Posts: 40
    00 honda civic si w/37K miles. bought new and well maintained. recently noticed a noise coming from engine. my mechanic seems to think it might be a pulley going bad. just over warranty , but hope Honda will help out...anyone else had this problem?? any ideas of what this could be if not a pulley?? hard to describe sound. thanks
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    I suppose anything is possible but it's also possible a more qualified mechanic would be able to pinpoint the problem instead of thinking about what it "might" be.

    Why not try your dealer? They work on these all of the time.
  • oldmansioldmansi Member Posts: 40
    Already have an appointent w/dealer to check it out. actually, my mechanic said it sounded like a defective bearing which can cause a pulley to break....also, note: service mgr at Honda dealership said they havent worked on many of these SI's as not many were made and his people have not worked on many for lack of problems with them. just hope Honda will cover some of the cost. legally, they dont have to, but its called doing the right thing for the customer.
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    I would think Honda would help you out.
  • oldmansioldmansi Member Posts: 40
    just hope Honda doesnt try to say that my cold air intake and aftermarket muffler caused the problem...because these things have absolutely NOTHING to do with the problem...I was born at night, but It wasn't last night...
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    ... interesting... first of all, I'm surprised that your dealer said they work on so few of the Si's: firstly because that inspires little confidence in the customer, and secondly because this forum is riddled with nothing but Si complaints!

    Also, it is not unheard of for the manufacturer to give a case-by-case basis warranty extension - there is a special name for it but I forget. Also speedometers and odometers I've heard are allowed a 2% margin of error - that would mean that there is a good chance that when your odometer reads 36,720 that you're really only at 36,000 miles. You may be able to use that to your advantage with the manufacturer. If you can't budge on the manufacturer, you will want to consider how good a customer of that particular dealer are you? Will they go to bat for you with Honda? Will they foot the bill for you? Have you paid for work there before? Did you bring them bagels that morning? :-) Good luck!

    Elissa
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    Let alone complaints. Not enough to call "riddled".
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    gee35coupe - what i meant was... for as few si's as there are out there, i see more problems and complaints on this board than i do on the other civic board, leading me to believe that the si has been a troublesome model for owners. sorry for the gross generalization and use of inappropriate expletive.
  • oldmansioldmansi Member Posts: 40
    no problem G35....I understand where you are coming from....will advise board of outcome of this problem....still, car runs fine and never had a problem with the si except for driver side window coming off track....thanks for your input.
  • snarkssnarks Member Posts: 207
    Unfotunately your around 1 year + or - over warranty since Honda's warranty 3 years/36k whichever comes first. Honda may still help out.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    I have seen cases where they make exceptions for loyal customers. If, on the other hand, the shop has never seen the car before because the buyer uses some other shop and go's to a quickie lube, it may be another story. Can't blame them if that's the case.

    And SI's aren't any more trouble then any other Honda although they do tend to get modified more and probably driven harder.
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    We service them all at the same dealership even though we only bought one of them there. We seem to get pretty good service though.
  • blueiedgodblueiedgod Member Posts: 2,798
    first of all, I'm surprised that your dealer said they work on so few of the Si's: firstly because that inspires little confidence in the customer, and secondly because this forum is riddled with nothing but Si complaints!

    The 1999-2000 Si's were less troublesome than the current 2002-2004 Si's.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    I'm just curious because I haven't heard of any unusual problems with either model.
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    But that question was on my mind too. I've owned 3 02-04's and 2 00's. I didn't see that much difference. But even if there were, you could probably chalk it up to the 99-00's built on a 3 year old design.
  • edunnettedunnett Member Posts: 553
    I'm only comparing what I read for complaints about the new si's on this forum relative to the real complaints about all other civic models in this forum. While there are clearly more posts for Problems and SOlutions for generic Civics, few of the posts are real problems/complaints with manufacturing on a newer model. Seem to be a whole lot more real defect type complaints on the very new si's: strange noises, gear problems, steering problems, squeeky clutches, wheel bearings, more front end noise...

    However, I just checked alldata and there are actually fewer TSBs on the Si's than the other Civics for 2003 and 2004 model years.

    Clearly, this forum and my perception are not scientific research. ;-) But I get the feeling there are lots of disgruntled Si owners out there? It would make me think twice, reading over the comments here.

    Elissa
  • oldmansioldmansi Member Posts: 40
    you are correct....still love my 2000 SI. only known problem with the 96-00 civic in general is the driver's side window comes off the track...I know as least 6 people with same problem...other than that no real known problems.. 99-00 si used same engine as 94-97 del sol. besides, 99-00 looks so much better than 02-04 si, w/out question. hope my problem is not major. will find out tomorrow.
  • blueiedgodblueiedgod Member Posts: 2,798
    However, I just checked alldata and there are actually fewer TSBs on the Si's than the other Civics for 2003 and 2004 model years.

    There is alot fewer Si's sold than regular Civic's. I think the 2002 proection was 15,000, with less than that actually finding homes, and 2003 and 2004 were projected to sell even less. At most there are 30,000 new generation Si's out there. Compare than to 1.5 million (assuming Honda sells 400,000 Civic's a year) 2001-2004 Civics.
    Statistically, Si is more troublesome than regular Civic.
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    I mean I haven't seen it broken down by model anywhere. And the SI room on Edmunds is DOA.
  • oldmansioldmansi Member Posts: 40
    no pulley problem with my 00 SI.. come to find out according to my Honda dealer. its a bad power steering pump...however, good news, even tho car is 4 years old and mileage of 37,420 they are goin to replace pump with no charge for the part or labor..thanks Honda. they came through for me and I wont forget it....I am back on the Honda bandwagon, (not that I was ever off)...that 05 Accord coupe V6 ex is looking pretty good right now.
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    There's a post in a couple of Accord forum claiming Hondas are crap.
  • blueiedgodblueiedgod Member Posts: 2,798
    There's a post in a couple of Accord forum claiming Hondas are crap.

    I have only driven the new accord for a day when they first came out. And I was impressed. It is a nice car, but way too big for my tastes. I wish Honda Sold the Euro/Japan Accord, but not loaded to the gills like TSX. I really like the TSX, for the size and perfomance, but I could care less for the leather seats in fact I HATE leather seats), dual HID's and climate control. I would gladly pay the US Accord 4 cyl EX price for the similarly equipped TSX.
  • jimmy3jimmy3 Member Posts: 3
    We are having a problem with the drivers power window - it wouldn't go up until we manually pulled - still having problems and dealership said $400. repair job. Wondered if others are experiencing same problem. The light bulb telling you what gear you are in went out also. The dealership said $120. to replace bulb but after they looked at it and quoted the repair price - it now lights up.
  • gee35coupegee35coupe Member Posts: 3,387
    for a 4 cylinder G35. But I can understand why they don't sell them that way. The same can be said for the US Accord in the way they package the different trim levels.
  • kirk2kirk2 Member Posts: 2
    I recently bought a 1999 Honda Civic DX. It is a five speed manual, runs great on highway driving, but at lower speeds (1st or 2nd gear) when I take my foot off of the accelerator or just back off of it a little, the car decelerates quickly down to a really slow idle. What this causes is that when you accelerate again it kind of jumps or lurches forward on you. I should also mention that from a stop it frequently stumbles on acceleration. Because I use the car on a rural delivery route (close deliveries done at low speeds) I end up overusing the clutch to compensate for this. I saw a post a while back that was similar to this, but cannot find the responses. I have begun by cleaning out the throttle plate and bore. Would this possibly be an Idle Control Valve or do I need to look somewhere else? Thanks so much for the help!
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