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Honda Civic: Problems & Solutions
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Try running a bottle or two of isopropyl alcohol dry gas (brands vary ... and I don't think it matters) through your gas tank. You might be lucky and fix your car for $2-3.
I saw the same thing happen to an older Toyota and that was the solution.
--- Bror Jace
Car Specs - 38K miles, automatic, 98 EX Sedan.
1. Rattle near Sunroof - shouldn't think that would be very hard to fix - I can push near the light and it will stop.
2. Rear Suspension Creaks - noticeable when going over bumps and backing out of my garage (there's about a 1" drop in the concrete from my garage to driveway - when it goes over it bounces and creaks) - I think it's coming from the rear.
3. Loose Brake Petal - brakes work fine, however, if I place my foot on the petal (without depressing the brake) I can actually move the petal to the left and right maybe a 1/2" either way. Is this normal?
4. Engine (?) Area Rattle - I seem to be able to get it as I'm slowing down to make 90 degree turns in either direction. Doesn't always happen, but seems to happen most when I'm also on a slight decline. Any ideas here?
I appreciate any help. Thanks!
I would appreciate any advice or comments.
I noticed a significant increase after my first oil change at 8000km.
The first visit to Buena Park Honda, they reset the SRS light test drove the vehicle and stated the brakes were operating properly blaming the vibration on metallic pads. They could not duplicate psycho CD player problem and stated they have not had any other complaints about the units.
The second visit to this fine establishment they replaced the left front tire, and "ordered" the replacement CD player. The brake problem to them was "normal" even though the vibration has turned into a grinding which was duplicated during this visit. The shop reset the SRS light which was now coming on for no apparent reason and stated these systems are sensative. The shop will call us when the radio arrives.
Two days later tire was replaced again as the one they stuck on our poor vehicle had a hole in it and had not been balanced when mounted.
Two months later...Still no call for the radio. Guess its on Galactic backorder. So we called them not because of the radio, but because the car won't start. Battery died? In a new car? Is it possible? Took 2 days for them to find a 1.5 volt drain coming from somewhere. They need to order a special part (Hope it's not on Galactic backorder). They reset SRS system again but could not pull any codes. Car has intermittant stalling problem still. It's starting to feel like we purchased a 99 Toyota Corolla from Enterprise Rent A Car. Not a bad car. After a total of 7 days, they supposedly replaced the radio, replaced front pads and rotors, replaced the trim piece and hopefully fixed the stalling and battery drain. WOW 7 days to do these relatively minor things. I've replaced engines in less time. Guess cars are more sophisticated nowadays. We still need to take the car to the body shop which means more time in our soon to be favorite 99 Toyota Corolla. Still not a bad car.
As for the service at this dealership. We rate it poorly. The "Customer Service Manager" walked into the back area of the shop not knowing we trailed behind him as he snapped his fingers at a worker and said "get rid of them." That's appreciation for you when you buy a car from them. When we bought the vehicle they didn't want to get rid of us. They wanted us to fill out a customer survey because they care about customer satisfaction. What a gimmick!!!
I guess Honda just doesn't have the experience in dealing with poorly constructed vehicles. At least the posts in here tells us we're not alone. I thought Hondas are supposed to be reliable? What has happened? I browsed through the Honda Accord problems discussions. Scary. Hope Honda doesn't handle their problems like Ford.
My question is for those drivers who claim to get 44mpg. How do you do it? Do you always drive highway at 55mph?
Sounds like an incredibly bad dealer. Can you take the car to another Honda dealer for service? I'd look into that, as obviously those guys are incompetent and rude. I've had similarly involved work performed on my 01 EX and my dealer completed the work in a half day, and paid for a taxi to drive me to work.
Concerning some of the other problems, it behooves you to be really attentive to the car when it's still quite new. It seems to me that if indeed your tire had been worn down to wear indicators so soon, you would have noticed this in terms of the car drifting or pulling, as for a tire to wear down that quickly I'm assuming it had to be misaligned.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but also understand that brake rotors can become warped or misshaped as a result of hard braking. I personally think that many of these warped rotor problems come from the way drivers use the brakes. I could be wrong, of course, but "stabbing" the brakes should only occur in an emergency situation, not as part of routine driving (and actually not even then, if your model has ABS.)
The SRS light to me is a _major_ concern. Don't "live with" this problem. The airbag could save your life in an accident, but it won't if it's not working.
It sounds like at the very least you should try another dealer. Good luck.
thanks
-todd
Hopefully this lack of royal treatment does not discourage you from allowing your parents to continue buying new Hondas for you.
Something a seventeen year old can't comprehend, I guess...
I understand it's difficult to find electrical problems but we will be at ropes end soon. Thanks for the advice. We don't know if we want to get an attorney involved at this point, but will soon be considering it if the problems are not fixed.
We still need to take the car back to get the dents taken out of the roof which will require repaint of the roof.
It just seems like the Honda dealers now are more interested in regular maintenance than repair. They might as well be running a Jiffy Lube.
I am sure it is more lucrative for them to do a scheduled maintenance which cost $200-$300 and takes an experienced tech a half hour to perform than to charge $200-$300 to diagnose and repair a problem but actually spend the time that they are charging for.
As for the gas mileage, how long have you had the car? There have been numerous posts on this board regarding bad fuel gauges in early cars (as there have been with faulty stereo head units). I am regularly getting 37-38 mpg highway with my Civic ('01 EX Coupe). Keep in mind that looking at the gauge isn't the best way to determine mileage. When my gauge is on "E" and the low fuel light comes on, I still have 3+ gallons in the tank (based on how much fuel it takes at fill-up). Try calculating fuel economy by looking at miles driven and how much the tank will take at fill-up rather than basing it on what the gauge reads. Also keep in mind that revving the engine, when accelerating, to the point that VTEC kicks in (3500-4500 RPM, depending, I think) will decrease gas mileage, no matter what your top speed becomes after accelerating.
With the stalling, you have a bona fide complaint. If the dealer you go to isn't responsive, go to another.
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/saturday/metro_b36fb002844b70b60008.html
Regarding the 4 hour labor charge, my guess would be that it took that long for the dealer tech to locate and repair the cut/pinched/spliced/misrouted wiring or the disconnected/bent/pulled out terminal pin which your installer caused.
On the bright side, you probably saved 10 or 15 bucks having your "qualified professional" install the lights. That'll make a handy down payment for your lawyer.
The SRS system on all Civics (not just the newest ones) is VERY sensitive to spikes or disruptions in the electricla system. My '95's SRS light came on after I jump started the car and it had to be reset by the dealership. I was told that if the SRS light ever came on again, it meant I'd need a new electronic control modulator - $850!!
And people wonder why I like my cars with as few electronic doo-dads as possible!!
--- Bror Jace
Also, to hook up the foglights the guy would've had to work with some electrical wiring because you have to be able to turn them on and off with something (unless they are those rare cordless/wireless foglights that don't require any wires).
Yeah, I too have had troubles with my honda civic.
I feel your pain about the SRS unit. But you should not of paid for anything. The car was still under warranty. If the SRS was giving your problems it was up to the dealer to fix the car! It might be difficult for you to get your money. Write to Honda and make a formal complaint about the dealer. Look in your owner's manual for the address. Mail your receipts to Honda and demand and explanation as to why the dealer has charged you for a service that should still be under warranty.
I was in that predicament when the dealer wanted me to pay for an alignment when my caster angle was out of specs only after 1700 miles on my new Honda. I told the dealer is so many words to bleep...bleep...bleep off. The bottom line is that the service manager test drove the car with me and found out that I was telling the truth.
I would also recommend that you speak to the District manager and the General manager of the store. Remember you have to be aggressive and assertive. Don't let these people take advantage of you. They are getting paid no matter what. If something is covered under warranty they are still getting paid.
As long as you had a professional honda certified mechanic work on your car you should not be held responsible for any Warranty work.
I am still having problems with the stalling and hesitation. My dealer is giving me the run-around about the problem. So I am going to video tape my car stalling and the idle speed dropping. I am also going to mail the video to honda and ask them why do I have to go through this extreme measure to prove to the dealership I purchased the car from that my car stalls.
There have been a significant amount of complaints about stalling on www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
I can be perfectly honest and say, if I only knew what I know now, I would of never purchased this car.
I hope this helps you daveyd.
I have seen a few bad distributor caps and rotors lately. Was it at all damp outside when it failed to start? I would start there because it is cheaper. Igniters usally fail once they get hot
but could be a possibilty as well as a main fuel relay but the best start would be the cap and rotor..Good luck..
The reason I ask- My drivers side power window has become very slow to roll up. The first half of roll up takes about 7 seconds. Would this be covered? If not, is it easy to replace the motor?
I have a little over 40k on the vehicle.
Thanks
Chris
The loose seats were a bit of an issue. At first, the service dept didn't know what to do to fix the problem. They changed the seat and floor rails on both front seats which helped for a while but they soon came loose as well. A service advisory was issued by Honda indicating premature wear on the front seat bushings. I'm not sure what part of the seat that is, but the seats have operated perfectly after they were changed.
To date, I have almost 28,000 kms on this vehicle and I am quite pleased with it (it's hard for me to admit this after being a loyal Camry owner for so many years). I accepted the fact this new model would have some "bugs" in it, however I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who happens to have an excellent service department (West City Honda in Belleville, Ontario) who are concerned about my product loyalty. I believe the vast majority of Generation 7 Civic owners are quite happy with their rides. Unfortunately there are a small percentage that have more "bugs" in their vehicles than others and there are other folks out there who have the misfortune of dealing with "braindead" service depts. We still need to hear about all of the Civic problems out there and how you managed to resolve them. So for those of you who are having problems - don't give up and let us know how you made out by continuing to post to this, and other forums.
I've heard a lot of gripes about the CD players on the 2001 Civics and mine is acting up a bit too. It seems to ruin any CD-R's that I play in it. It plays them well for the first time or so but then it starts to put LOTS of scratches all over it and starts to skip and produce so much static you can't hear the song. I took that CD out and put it in my 9 YEAR OLD cd player at home and it worked fine. It read right over those scratches. I thought the newer lasers in CD-Players could all play CD-R's fine, especially if my old one can.
Anyone else have problems with the CD player ruining CD's? Also, I've heard some people say there's a recall on these CD players but the NHTSA doesn't post one like that. Any ideas?
Thanks everyone.
This is very disconcerting as I think I have plenty of gas and the low fuel warning light is on! Anyone else with this problem?
Thanks guys!
RONALDWATSON - I've heard a lot of gripes about the CD players on the 2001 Civics and mine is acting up a bit too. It seems to ruin any CD-R's that I play in it. It plays them well for the first time or so but then it starts to put LOTS of scratches all over it and starts to skip and produce so much static you can't hear the song. I took that CD out and put it in my 9 YEAR OLD cd player at home and it worked fine. It read right over those scratches. I thought the newer lasers in CD-Players could all play CD-R's fine, especially if my old one can.
Anyone else have problems with the CD player ruining CD's? Also, I've heard some people say there's aRECALLl on these CD players but the NHTSA doesn't post one like that. Any ideas?
Also, my fuel gauge is not as erratic as yours JJSNOWY, but it stays on FULL for a long time and then pretty quickly goes down to half full, and then below that, it goes fast until empty. It should be a gradual process so you can judge when you need to fill up but mine stays on full too long and then drops fastish and scares me because I don't realize I'm that low already! Could they fix this or is this just another wonderful design flaw?
Thanks guys!!
Thanks everyone.
Could be a Honda thing.
twist
The needle stays on "full" for about a hundred miles and then it drops fairly rapidly.
Also, Honda fuel guages tend to be a bit pessimistic. They say you're about empty when you still have a couple gallons in the tank.
--- Bror Jace