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Honda Civic: Problems & Solutions
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Actually our balancer is a Bear and is about 14 years old. It still does a fine job so we keep it. It does two sided high speed balancing and has been good to us.
Sounds to me like someone needs to make a definate diag of this problem. One tells you one thing and the other tells you another. Well I say someone needs to put there money where their mouth is. By that I mean they need to prove it to you. If you were coming to our shop by now we would have taken you car and some other car on the lot (used or new) that had the same tire size and swapped rims and all to make vibration go away and if it didnt then now find out why.If it did go away now we would need to either trade out rims/tires or gaurantee you that if we replaced the item we think is the problem that it will be fixed. If they cant guarantee it then they are not to sure and should spend a little extra time to be sure..
So I would see if they would be willing to help get to the bottom of this. I will tell you my opinion, I think that if the tires are balancing out on the machines then the problem must be in the tires when they have the weight of the car on them.If rim is bent so bad that it is causing a bad vibration then it wouldnt change with the weight of the car and would take alot of weights on the machine to get balanced..So I think it is the tires..Good luck
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
Thanks for the suggestion but I am going to have a hard time convincing NTB (or even the dealer) since they took the tires off the wheel and ran it through the balancer and my rear rims wobble side-to-side. My front rim is not perfectly round and it shows but I do not think that it is a manufacturing defect.
One of the Honda dealers recommended that I take it to another tire shop for a high speed balance. I didn't mention that I have the car put on a lift and had someone actually drive the car and checked out the front tires. Shows that it is out of round. This guy then call the NTB store half a mile away and said that my front tires were out of round. Went to NTB, they decided to check the tires themselves and determined that it was the rims.
I had taken the car in a few weeks back for a creak coming from the right front wheel and had them also diagnose the road vibration. At this dealer, they couldn't recreate the problem so they had me test drive the car with the shop foreman. He then felt some of the vibration when I speed up to 80mph. Heard the creaking when we drove into the service bay.
So he took the car and tested it on a suspension machine both front and rear. That's when it show that the front right suspension was weak. Then the car was up the lift, looked at the repairs, checked the front struts, tightened the suspension system bolts and then took the tires off for balancing. I know that the machine that they use is new and is computer guided. Therefore, he did not visually check the tires on the balancer as it spun. The computer results were within specifications and all of the tires plus rim passed. His only comment is that I use Michelin's Energy MXV4 Plus and alloy wheels since there is a chance that the vibration will still occur.
That's the story and I believe what you are saying. The only thing to do is too just ignore it or buy the rims and see if the vibrations happens with the same tires new rims. If it does then it will be a tire issue which I can then purchase the Michelin's less the price of the old minus tread wear.
Sorry for the long story folks and thanks again Auburn. I wish you were the one I am dealing with here in Atlanta.
I think I am to the point of waiting until I can afford to purchase the Michelin's then prove to NTB that the Yokohama's are out of round since I am in a lose-lose situation until I can find a better tire shop.
A couple of follow-up questions:
Do you think this is something that only the dealer can/should fix (and charge me 3X the cost) or can I go to my local mechanic who specializes in Hondas and seems pretty fair when it comes to pricing?
Also, aside from the irritation of watching my speedometer dancing around and not knowing exactly how fast I'm going, is there an urgent reason to get this problem fixed?
In my 95 civic, the power lock is not working once the car is started or the driver side door is closed. If the driver side door is open (without the car started), then it works fine. If the car is started, then it never works.
This has been happening recently.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks
The rear drum brakes make a squawk sound moments before coming to a complete stop. I've cleaned out the brake dust, replaced the shoes (with non-Factory Honda brake shoes), then replaced the drums. Still have the sound. I'll bite the bullet if I should go with Factory Honda parts. I welcome your comments and wisdom.
Honda Civic which of course has a clear coat finish. Apparently, the garage
it
was parked in at the dealer was painted and there were many light, very
tiny white dots of paint that had misted on to the car from the paint
spray. I was reluctnat to accept the car, but the dealer said they
could
be detailed off -- however, now I find out that they had to send it to
a
body shop to be wet sanded. They say it looks perfect; but I'm upset
about the situation (the salesman was supposed to call me before doing
anything like this). I can not imagine how the clear coat would
withstand "wetsanding" of any form. Should I ask them to put another
layer of clear coat on that half of the car? (Is that even possible?) I
am at the point where I do not want to accept the car because of this.
The dealer says they will put a "free" sealant on it and that doing so
will return the car to normal. I've always heard that these sealants
are a waste of money; moreover, can a sealant truly replace a sanded
clear coat? Am I overreacting? Do you have an expert there on this
stuff or similar experiences. Need help ASAP. Thanks!
miles. At 38K, the current owner noticed the
headlights were dimming and had the alternator
replaced. Apparently the replacement was defective
and was replaced a second time. Is this car OK to
buy? The timing of this sale sounds fishy.
There are other civic with low miles that are
several years old. Does age matter? Thanks for
any help!
The sealent is just a peace offering. The sealent will never replace the clear coat that was removed.Tecnicly you should never wet sand a water based airborn paint. Depending on the colour you'll have permanent swirl marks in the finish (the sealent will HIDE this not protect the finish) Sealents are a good idea if youre lasy and hate to wax your car every 2 months.
With the removal of the clear coat your paint will fade at diffrent rates (the clear coat acts like a uv filter)I repainted my CRX's hood now I have a yelloish hood and white car (was clearcoated a few years back)
I would not deal with this dealer EVER it doesnt sound like they care about thier customers cars or rights. They'll end up screwing you more down the road.
I found a smaller dealer in richer neighborhoods gives you better deals (on new not used)and better service. The big guys never care (if a sales man/woman only cares about selling. I.E. asking if they can prep a car for you or gives you ANY pressure leave! youll get bad service.
I passed up the Capitol honda dealer who has hundereds of cars for Los Gatos who only had one of what I was lookiing for Because the sales man only wanted to show off the hondas! He didnt care for a sale.
Ops kinda off topic huh?
Hope this helps some.......
FkdCRX
#73 of 77: Help! (hollywood11) Fri 19 May '00 (11:12 AM) SORRY!!!!
I would like to know if there has been any problems with the CVT transmission on the HX model of civic? anything hesatation, belt slippage (streching),sticking,ect.
Oh yea does anyone fint L useless at anything above 20mph? It revs to about 4,000 and hovers around 20~25mph an equivalent to a short first gear.
No, as of yet there has not been anyone complain of any problems with the CVT. The only common complaint is the noise it makes in reverse but that is normal and no big deal. So far they have been a great trans.Just remember to use the Honda fluid on it at service time.
I took it to another dealer and they could find nothing wrong.
I would appreciate any advice you can give.
Thanks
Thanks again
One other question have you had a check engine light on? Your year Civic has been known to cause a misfire code and if it has one you may be able to get a new computer.But if no light then you would not be able to.
The check engine light has never come on.
I have owned 7 Honda's since 1979 and have never had a valve adjustment done where it made any difference to the way the car ran.
Thanks again for your advice.
Thanks
I've lurked on many topics on this board and can say NOBODY offers more valuable advice than yourself.
TRANSMISSION REPLACED ON HER 98 CIVIC AT 35K. SHE
DID NOT PURCHASE THE EXTENEDED WARRANTY, SO SHE
WAS LUCKY THAT SHE JUST MADE IT UNDER 36K FOR THE
ORIG WARRANTY.
IS THIS COMMON WITH HONDA CIVIC AUTOMATICS? I
HAVE A 10 MONTH OLD 99 CIVIC AUTOMATIC,AND I DIDN'T
PURCHASE AN EXTENDED WARRANTY. THE CAR HAS 19K ON
IT NOW.
I WILL GO TO THE DEALERSHIP RIGHT NOW AND PURCHASE
THAT EXTENDED WARRANTY IF THE AUTOMATIC
TRANSMISSIONS IN THESE HONDAS HAVE A HABIT OF
CRAPPING OUT. I HAVE NOT HEARD OF SUCH A THING,
AND EVEN TRISH THINKS THAT HER TRANNY WAS JUST A
LEMON, BUT I'M NOT SURE I SHOULD TAKE THAT CHANCE.
ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE ANY THOUGHTS? I PLAN ON
DRIVING THIS CAR WELL INTO 300K.
IN OTHER WORDS, I'M KEEPING IT FOREVER!
While we are on the topic, I never cease to amaze the strange driving culture in the US. While automatic transmissions are rare in Europe (and elsewhere in the world), Americans still insist on auto transmission. Why? Does it have anything to do with the laziness in "spoiled-brats" attitudes among American drivers?
CITY DRIVING.
try communting in the morning for a few hours through Boston or New York with a manual....you'll hate all the clutch work - the incessant 1 to 2 stop, 1 to 2 stop.
in all other circumstance, a manual is great.
in heavy traffic, it sucks.
My 93 civic is very difficult to get started at hot days, especially in the afternoon or just stop after a long run. But after it cools down, all trouble gone.
Some one told me that all honda car (90-93) have this kind of problem and maybe there is something wrong with the main relay, is that correct?
How much it will cost if I have my car repaired by mechincal. A mechinal here ask for $300 for it, but i think it is kind of unreseanable
Please help me out
thanks
cdt
I have a 2000 Civic VP that my parents bought on May 6. The car had a tedency to pull to the right when I got it, so like a month later, after finals ended, I took it the dealer(Mount Vernon Honda in VA). I called the previous day to schedule an appointment and made sure to ask if it would be repaired under warranty, and was assured by the service advisor that I would not be charged. After they were done with the car, the same service advisor came to me showing me a reciept that said I owed them $59.99 for a 4 wheel alignment. I reminded him that he said that I would not be charged since it would be under warranty. Then he told me to wait while he talked to his supervisor. After about 15 minutes of waiting, he came back to apologize for his error since he was "new", and that I would recieve the reciept over the mail along with a customer service survey or something. When I drove the car out of the dealership, I noticed that it still had the pulling to the right.
It's almost a month now, and I still haven't gotten the reciept. I think that they didn't mail me the reciept because they didn't repair it. What do you guys think?
never ever believe anything they say when they talk "rebate".
go back there and raise holy hell.
I pull into the gravelly and slightly bumpy driveway, going in and out of paved drives, driving over uneven road surfaces, slight bumps in
the road, or even taking turns. It is fine and quiet on smooth road. I had the mechanic take a look and he said the bushings are worn and the job really isn't worth doing. The car has 123,000. miles and is is good shape. My question are: what are bushings, where are they, what do they do, and can they cause all this chirping I'm hearing, and is something really wrong just waiting to happen?
Also I would like to know how hard it is to change
the oil filter on this car without a lift. Can I
jack it up and get to the filter safely? The
clearance on these cars doesn't leave much room
for sliding under.
One more: The mechanic also told me that I'm about
a pound short on freon in the AC system, and it is
possible that my compressor is going because I can
hear a clicking sound that gets louder the longer
the AC runs. It doesn't happen right away, the car
has to be running for about 15-20 minutes before
the chatter starts.
And. . .where can I find a book/service manual that would help me out with minor repair and diagnostic stuff. This is the first Honda I have owned and I would love to be able to help this car last another 100K.
I also have a bit of rust happening on the outside of the rear wheel fender/panel. It has not gone through to the other side. I want to either fix this myself or find someone who won't charge an arm and a leg.
Any suggestions or advice on these issues would be
much appreciated. I like to do the simple stuff
myself, and also know what I am talking about when
I speak with the mechanic.
Thanks!
It seems slightly worse when the fuel level is low, or the weather wet (this is rare in Colorado so my data is sparse). In reading other postings I saw several which discussed overheating causing warping of the head and subsequent mechanical difficulties - when the car was newer and driven by the late owner it would run hot in stop-and-go traffic. As far as I know the car never had an overheated radiator incident as he would stop until it cooled down. I later discovered that the fan fuse had blown when the car did overheat in the mountains, replaced the fuse and the car has never run hot again.
Two questions: Could the skipping be due to engine damage due to running hot and if so what type of damage should I suspect? If not related to engine damage (please, please be the case!) what other likely possibilities are there for the source of the problem?
Thank you for any help.
in the TSB board and someone there referred me to
this page and told me to ask AUBURN63 my question.
If he's here, or if anyone else can help me, I'd be
eternally grateful!!!! ( Iknow it's not a Civic question, but it relates to all Hondas, from what I've been reading)
Here's my question:
Last summer I paid around $500 to have the
condenser replaced on my 95 Prelude VTEC. I
recently discovered that there are 2 TSB's
pertaining to the condenser failing on 95
Preludes(both dated 1997). (I'm original owner,
BTW.)
Do I have any recourse? My mechanic (a Honda
trained technician with many years of experience
on
Hondas) mentioned that he has had to replace many
condensers on 95 Hondas (all models) because
that's
the year the freon changed. But mine was the first
Prelude he'd had to replace, so perhaps he didn't
know about the TSB?
Anyway, I was just wondering what my next step
should be, or if I even have any grounds to try to
get reimbursement.
Also, does anyone know about the TSB's on the
stereo system in the Preludes? I'm having problems
with mine and there were several references on
AllData.com about TSB's for the stereo.
Despite these two problems, the car has been great
overall and I will remain loyal to my Honda's
(after 12 years of driving them).
Any advice appreciated! Thanks
(Follow up--I've been running my a/c regularly
because of the heat and humidity, but it's been
actually leaking large amounts of water
(condensation, not antifreeze, fortunately!). I've
recently read MANY psts from people with similar
problems, and this seems to be a problem with
Hondas, especially. But now I've got MOLD growing
on and under my floor mats, and I fear it may be
growing inside the cooling system, too! Any insight
about this?)