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Honda Civic: Problems & Solutions
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You need to re-post your question here:
Pontiac Grand Am Topic
My current solution: turn up the volume on the radio.
My long-term solution: keep taking it to Honda until my extended warranty runs out in January 06.
My keyless entry stopped working. I replaced the battery. Then I had to reprogram the keyless entry. If you still have the factory radio, its easy to do so. Turn your ignition switch, with your key, to ON/II. Then, there is a button between the AM/FM button and the CD/TAPE button. Press and hold it in until you hear the locks cycle. Release. Then press either LOCK or UNLOCK (doesn't matter which one) on the keyless entry until you hear the locks cycle. You should be good to go!
mahjijan
Symptoms: When pulling off from a stop, car feels like it is sliding on ice. Last week check engine light came on.
What i've done: (midfeb - march) when i first noticed slipping took it to the dealership & he said it could be my transmission going bad. (april) check engine light came on one day after adding new type of oil in car (10w-30 usually 5w-30) . I took it back to the honda dealership and they said i need a new transmission, oil pan gasket, rear trailing arms & a wheel alignment...total costs $5,000. I though that was too much so I took it to another shop & the said that my gear selector switch (installed for $300) needed to be replaced... he couldn't gurantee how long it would fix the problem.
My Question: is it worth it to spend $5000 on a ten year old car w/ 163,000 miles????
Do what I had to do, I had an 87 Toyota Corolla, that ran well, and it failed the air quality test, so what should I do? I decided to repair at $600 but wife overruled so I had no choice as she wanted a "new Honda 2006 Civic EX . I made a financially bad choice ( as cheaper to repair old vehicle), but now I have a happier wife.
CHEERS !!!
I test drove, and it seems like a nice commuter...
I have a 2003 Honda Civic.. I bought it brand new, I've done all it's maintenance, and it just hit 100k... I commute about 200 miles per day. At about 90k I had to replace my alternator, and shortly after that my battery. The only thing that changed in my car at those times that maybe could have been a sign was that my heater would be blowing & all of a sudden the hot air would turn cold.. the blowing wouldn't lessen, just be cold. When I explained this to Honda, they said this was not possible. Needless to say, my alternator & battery were they replaced just a couple weeks later, so I figured it had something to do with that (even though I've been told it doesn't) So... even after my alternator & battery were fixed it only took about 1 week before my heater started doing this again... it would happen most often when I would come to a stop light or if I put my car in park and let it continue to run. I asked Honda about it again, and still.. of course, nothing wrong. And did I mention that everytime I bring it in there, they are charging me $160 for a diagnostic test... so far I've paid for 4.. @ 3 different Honda dealers.. in the last 3 months.. I am getting very frustrated.
Well, here's where the real problem starts.. about 3 weeks ago, I was driving to work.. and I was already driving local (was no longer on the freeway) and my temperature thing just all of a sudden shot up to HOT... even though there was no difference in the way my car was driving, I immediately pulled over. Turned it off, and then looked @ my coolant (Surprisingly, I do know that much) I didn't see any problem.. the white plastic thing had coolant in it-- so I assumed it was not empty in the other part. So.. I turned it back on.. and it went down... Obviously I took it back to Honda.. and of course.. can you guess? STILL, they can't find anything wrong with it.. but they didn't have a problem charging me the $160 again.. so.. this weekend..similar problem, except this time I had the car in park, and I had ran into a gas station for directions, when I came back, the gauge thing was all the way @ HOT again... I turned my heater on full blast, like one of my friends had recommended-- and the temperature went back down to normal. So.. this was about 4 days ok.. no problems... Now...this morning.. again.. almost all the way to work, and it starts to overheat.. I turn the heater on, it goes down.. except then the heater starts blowing cool, and then it starts to overheat again... and it keeps doing this, the heater blows cold, the car goes to hot, the heater blows hot, and the car goes back to normal.. Anyone know what this is? I am in desperate need to get this fixed. Someone please help me?!?! Thank you!!
If your not loosing coolant, then there's no leak... that's def. good.
Other options inlucde a stuck thermostat. It's an inexpensive part, but labor will get you.
Instead of spending $150+ per visit, I would recommend you get your coolant flushed and replace the thermostat, water pump, hoses, etc. while your in there. This should save you on labor costs.
Good luck.
By the way, are you QUITE certain your electric cooling fan is running when it should? Usually, overheating at idle is a cooling issue and overheating at speed is a circulation issue.
So before you replace anything, you should have a mechanic make sure your electric cooling fan is kicking in when it should.
I have a 1988 DX hatchback. It failed inspection for a few things, one being a cracked amber turn signal lense cover. I have searched the internet for a replacement, but am finding that I cannot buy just the lense for this particular model. Seems I have to buy the whole unit. Has any one had to replace this part themselves? Is it any easy, "just unscrew a few screws, pull the old one out and put the new one in" job?
It also has a leaky exhuast and I was told I need to replace the front pipe. Can someone give me an idea on cost? The mechanic who looked at it said it woudl be about $300. Seems like alot.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Did I fry the electrical system when I killed my car? Do I simply need to reconnect the wires that turned the alarm off? If so why did the alarm fail to turn off from the remote (the remotes light responded to button pushing) I get the feeling a new battery is no longer the solution (perhaps it never was). Can anybody tell me what's going on and perhaps give me some idea what it will take to fix my car?
~Mandi
$300 seems high for fixing a "pipe." You need to find out what exactly is wrong with you exhaust system. Is it just the pipe, the cat. converter, ??? For about that much money, you could by a whole new cat-back exhaust.
If it's just a hole from rust or something like that, take it to a muffler shop and they should be able to patch it up for <$100.
But it could be from a bad alternator or battery as well. Electrical components can be finnicky and at up when the supplied power is too low/high. Get a multimeter and check your battery's voltage (+12.0) or take it to a free test location like at Autozone. Then start your car and check the supplied voltage to see if your alt. is producing enough power (+14.0v)
An update on my car..I did get my car back in time yesterday to drive it home, it seems to be fine now, the temperature is even lower then it was initially.. not much, but a bit, since they replaced the thermostat. I will bring it back to the shop this morning to check to see if there is a leak or not in the radiator. It's hard to tell if it's fixed or not, because my car didn't start driving any differently in the 1st place. But, it didn't overheat.. so I guess that is a big difference.
Oh.. and about the independent shop... I wouldn't mind taking it to an independent shop, but there's not really any shop I trust.. so at least with Honda, I know whatever they break further... they will have to fix, and Honda Corp. will back that up. So I guess I just feel more comfortable for the time being.
Since I got it in February...I've put 6000 miles on it. (I commute 200 miles a day)
Issues though...
1) The rattling noises at low speeds/idle which quite a few of you have described.
2) Cosmetic stuff - like the drivers side trim that connects the door handles outer edge the the "suede" (is that really suede?) constantly comes loose and has to be clicked back into place...I'm also having issues with what appear to be cigarette burns in the headrest...i do not and will not smoke in my car...so I'm not sure what the deal is with that...and the dealerships I've spoken with have actually told me it's a fabric tear (no way no how, it's burned, obviously). I could care less...and want them replaced with ones that don't have burn marks in them, but they have yet to do that for me. The sun visors fall out of the clip regularly.
3) RPM sticks and won't back down. I got up to about 93 mph (for the fun of it) and the RPM stuck at around 3500 and would not back down, feeling like it wouldn't shift gears until the speed got down to around 60 mph...I cannot get confirmation of a Governor on the car so I'm not sure if that's what's causing it. Anyone know about that?
4) a rattling from what sounds like under the car itself...loud at low speeds.
5) the idle is extremely loud...even without the rattling noise.
6) the seatbelts...no flexibility what so ever. once it's clicked in, it's almost impossible to even move to reach the stereo.
I have a massive laundry list of issues that the dealerships thus far are saying "huh...haven't heard that one." and not willing to look at it saying "it's a new car, you need to break it in and that stuff will go away". This is three dealerships in Southern California (SD and LA area).
I'm wondering if anyone else has had any of the same issues and if they have, what you've done to convince the dealerships to look at it!? I'm frustrated with this. I'm about ready to hand in the keys and get an older model again.
Help anyone?
Is your car often parked in direct sunlight? I'm thinking the sun is burning your headrests through that gigantic horizontal windshield!
Unless you're lunging toward the radio the seatbelt shouldn't be restricting you. I have short arms so have to lean a bit to get to it and have no problem.
I would insist your dealer fix the interior and, while it's there, let you take another LX home for the night. What is it with all these reports of Honda dealers blowing people off anyway? Don't take it.
I am parked in direct sunlight quite a bit...good point, but these burns are on the underside of the headrest where the sun doesn't hit them. Good thought though...note to self to buy sun visors quickly.
I'm not lunging at all...but I get no give from the seatbelt. They've checked it and they say that's normal, which confuses me since it has no give as I said before.
I'm working with a new (to me) dealership in the LA area that appears to be more than willing to take a look at least. Hopefully they'll help out. If not, I'm more than happy to turn in the keys and walk away. I too have heard many people say the same thing about the dealerships I've visited (only after i've visited unfortunately) and many more comments about other dealerships I've considered going to that match fairly the same in that they just pawn you off saying things are "normal". Myself being female, I'm if that has something to do with it. Perhaps they just pawn us ladies off as "loose nuts behind the wheel". Might just have to send the man in with the car to see if that takes care of it.
Thanks for your thoughts
I took the car in for an oil change yesterday afternoon (my goodness...has it already been time for an oil change?!) and much to my dismay, was told "the headrest will be such and such a charge, we can't account for the handles coming loose, it looks fine to us and the "noise" is "normal" and if you really want us to look at it, we'll need it for A WEEK". No can do. Especially since they seem to have done away with loaner vehicles at most dealerships. Renting a car doesn't seem like something I should have to do given it's a leased vehicle and well under factory warranty (7K miles, here we come!).
Funny thing...they couldn't figure out how to reset the computer after they were done with the oil change to have it stop flashing "15% oil life". A honda dealership...unfamiliar with this? So I reset it when I got back in and drove away. Me. The person that bought the car. Am I wrong to be a tad frightened by that? (Thankfully, a very good friend used to work for Honda and taught me quite a bit about how to do the small things...he's since quit and wants nothing more than to never speak of Honda Service again in his lifetime - for the same reasons I don't want to return to his dealership...poor attitude towards customers..."rake in the money, ignore the possibility that it just needs new wipers")
Anyone know any dealerships that actually care about their customers' happiness? Los Angeles and San Diego area if you do! I'd be happy to give a list of the dealerships i've been to thus far, but I don't want to break any rules by posting them here. I make no objection to driving up to 100 miles as long as the dealership actually shows genuine interest in having my "issues" looked at...and my cars issues as well.
If it runs normally for 10 minutes, then loses power, that would likely be the culprit.
Marleneb, you are living on borrowed time with that vehicle. Sheesh, it's 11 yrs old, has 110K miles and waaaay behind on maintenance. And you're wondering why it won't stay running?
My advice, come up with a grand and take it to a trusted mechanic and bring it up to date on maintenance. The timing belt alone along with the water pump and acc. belts will be 5-6 hundred. If you don't have a trusted mechanic, find one through the yellow pages and better business bureau.
Thanks to those of you that know what you are talking about and answering some of our questions.
My Questions are as follows:
My 05 civic LX (48k mi) makes a weird squeaking noise in reverse (I am assuming brakes..??)
I am changing the brake pads very soon and would like to know if I need that brake pad softener that they sell at autozone..?
Also, Does anyone know where besides the dealership I can buy the pollen filter?
Will changing the brakes be difficult? I have yet to do it on this vehicle and dont want to end up towing it to a shop.
THANKS!
At the minimum we're getting a tune up and oil change and that will help us eliminate the cheap stuff. Then on to that more expensive path.
Anyway, we'll be taking it in soon. I spoke with a dealer and they said if it does keep running (eventually) it's likely not the timing belt. And they said for us to see how the panel lights display, dim or normal or not at all, when this happens and that will help with a diagnosis.
We have a mechanic but I wanted some input from the dealer too. Thanks.
Although replacing pads are cheap, especially if you do it yourself, you may want to make sure that it is in need of replacement. I believe you may have rear drum brakes. Search the internet for how-to's. There are tons of articles. Basics garage tools required...
As for your filter, you don't need a honda one. Pleces like Autozone, Advanced Auto, Pep Boys and Napa should carry it. Check your local yellow pages.
I usually order from places like www.importeccatalog.com or www.bimmerparts.com, etc. They all have simiilar prices. You can order everything from the same place to save on shipping.
This isn't an easy problem to diagnose over the internet. You're going to have to look around and take things apart. I'd start with the plastic cover where you poured water down. The hole is probably on the passenger side and is trickling down to teh driver side.
Also try looking at night, use a flash light to try to find the hole/crack.