Sensible daily - Honda Civic

[TGPlayer1]

As I suspected, the jobsworth at Kwik Fit was telling porkies, as there was plenty of adjustment in the toe arms. So I did it the old fashioned way and now it's much better. The trailing arms are still definitely bent as I'm on full toe-out setting but it's toeing in a few degrees, which is not a problem as they're supposed to be 2deg in anyway, to combat oversteer. If everything was straight I'd have it at zero, but that's life, and can always be remedied with shiny new parts, when I win the lottery of course.

After that I changed the oil and filter. The last stamp in the book was about 12 months ago but the oil told a different story. I know older Honda engines need more regular oil changes than most, but this was like mud. Very dark brown and bitty, so generally not great.

Then a bit of fresh paint on the front wheels and I'm all set for my holiday in the sun (rain) :grin:

 

[TGPlayer1]

Not much has happened since the last update, just lots and lots of driving. Managed to curb two wheels (well I did one my mate did the other) which is annoying but hey ho.

The only major update is the exhaust system which I fitted tonight. Gone for a decat (no officer that's not going to be used on the road) and a Hornet back box, 3" round tip. It's a universal resonator style which I thought would be a pig to fit because everything I do seems to fall flat on its arse, but no it was easy and I had it done in about an hour. Went for a test drive and it's fucking well loud mate :lol:

So I was happy, then I ran out of fuel...

Luckily I carry a 5litre can in the boot after the last time I ran out and had to walk 45 minutes each way to get to a petty station. So I bunged that in and carried on tearing about the country roads. Then the EML came on. The same day as I was remarking about how Japanese cars seem to fix themselves and my EML hasn't been on for months. So I jinxed myself there huh.

And it's defo not the lambda because I have a cheater on it and I made sure it worked properly. It's probably the crank sensor again, I'll get it on the diagnostics tomorrow.

Anyway, all in it's cost me £26 so I can't complain at that eh.

 

[TGPlayer1]

Somebody once said this was a daily driver :lol:

Anyway my 40mm lowering springs came today, second hand obviously but they are only a few months old (allegedly, but are in good nick) and came with dampers for £45 posted k: So I hope to get them fitted tomorrow, shouldn't be a big deal as they're double wishbone so hardly anything to undo and it's apart, plus it's a Honda so everything is easy.

On Sunday I'm picking up some front seats out of an MG ZR, they are the half leather 'Monaco' style so have much more support and are basically a bucket, which is nice because the standard Civic seats are pretty much flat so you have to hold on for dear life :lol: At only £30 collected from a few miles away it's a steal so I'm happy with that.

Once I've got all that sorted I'll just continue to hoon about with the world's loudest exhaust (which I'm well happy with) and attempt to not spend any money for a bit :grin:

 

[moondustka]

Didn't know this thread existed!

Nice read k:

 

[TGPlayer1]

Thanks mate, it's about to get even better :lol:

As I mentioned I purchased some lowering springs, which came with dampers for £45 posted, which I was very happy about. I sling those on on Thursday evening, which took just over an hour as it's a Honda and everything is easy. The car has dropped a nice 35mm front and back so it looks much better but is still useable everyday, and they aren't cheapo Chinese springs so the ride is just as good as standard. The only drawback is contact between the exhaust and LCA when the back drops over undulations or if I have passengers. A little bit of foam will cure this until I get an adjustable exhaust hanger.

Before



After



It's hard to tell properly so I'll get a better photo of it in the daylight, but you can take my word for it about how much better it looks :grin:

So then I went off to the pub with my chums and everything was good. On the way back, at about 12.45AM, it conked out on the motorway. We eventually managed to breathe some life into it and got going, only to die again every 2 minutes and have to stop for a bit. I made it back to my hometown at 2am and went for a drink, letting my legs rest (lots of car pushing) and let the engine cool down, as at this point I had no idea what the problem was. By leaving time at 3.15 it was ok, had a little flutter but did about 15 minutes of driving no issue. Dropped off my chums and went home. That is I went about half way home and had to abandon the car and walk the rest. Some faffing, some borrowing of my mum's car and some recovering to work ensued and then the head scratching began.

The diagnostic scanner came up with codes for the crank sensor and pre-cat lambda sensor, but the nature of the breakdown seemed fuel related, as it would run ok then slowly die and pressing the gas would kill it instantly, as there was too much air. So I got it going by clearing the faults and putting a penny in the wishing well, and it worked. I drove home no problems, it started again this morning and got a good half mile before it died again :lol:

So we towed it back to work again and came up with a shortlist of issues; crank sensor, blocked fuel filter or dying fuel pump, or a combination of any of them. The easiest one to check is the pump, which was running ok, but it has shown signs of weakness in the past. I put in £25 of petrol and eureka! It's alive!

So there it is, all the stress, all the worries, and it was because the fuel pump was too weak to pick up enough fuel from the tank, as it was approaching empty. So from now on I'll make sure there's always more than a quarter of a tank and hope the pump doesn't give up completely. If they are available cheap enough I'll probably get one just in case.

So if one would be so kind as to put away that voodoo doll of me that would be great k:

 

[moondustka]

What a palava!! Glad you found the issue though

 

[TGPlayer1]

Not a great deal to report on in the last few months; the lil' ninja has driven me about with no complaints, taking me 160 miles to Sunderland without so much as a hiccup, so I'm happy.

The only update is a little bumper skirt that I had taken off a car at work, as it's slightly damaged, that I tried on for size, and it fits! 15 minutes and 11 rivets later it was all fitted up, so I threw the bumper back on (still amazed at how easy these cars are to take apart) and I think it sets off the front just right.





Nothing better than free mods!

I decided to finally sort out the tracking issue as well, so I've ordered some adjustable toe arms for the back and will get a four wheel alignment when they're fitted. I felt it was time as the outer edge of my rear tyres are just on the good side of legality, or should I say inner edge after a quick flip

Also if anybody has any cuddly toys they want to donate to my front bumper that would be smashing k:

 

[TGPlayer1]

The toe arms arrived this morning, taking about 20 hours from purchase to delivery, which was very nice indeed. I went for purple because JDM

 

[TGPlayer1]

Tracking shot

It turned out to be toeing out at the front a lot too, so now I've got a lovely straight car that won't find me a comfortable ditch any time soon.

One thing I discovered is the rear camber is a bit uneven, as the passenger side has -2.1 deg and the drivers is only -1.5. Visually not a huge difference and it's not exactly a super car but I'm a little unsure as to how it can be so different. It's lowered so obviously the negative camber is increased but the car is level. Anyway no biggie as the front is bang on and now all the tracking is sorted so I shouldn't ruin any more tyres.

 

[TGPlayer1]

A couple of updates; firstly I managed to fix the crank sensor issue that's been plaguing me for about a year, intermittently coming on. About 2 months ago it came on to stay so I needed to do something about it. I found that the issue was the wire for the sensor; it had come out of it's securing clip and was resting against the alternator belt and had completely worn through! So armed with a soldering iron and some extra wire I struggled with the enclosed space and fixed it k: So a nice, free fix just how I like it, and now it idles much more comfortably as well.

Secondly I picked up some winter wheels and tyres, as I discovered last winter Gina isn't best suited to the cold and wet days we get, and the summer tyres (meant to be all season - yeah right!) don't help at all. Never one to miss a bargain I got some genuine OZ alloys in 15x7 for only £50 and some nearly new Minerva (me neither) 185/55/15 winter tyres, which set me back only £40. So I gave the wheels a quick tidy up the other night and they're ready to go on when it's consistently cold enough, so I'm keeping my eye on the thermometer every day.

 

[TGPlayer1]

So I've been plagued with a pretty serious water leak over the last couple of months (as it's been extra wet) and I've not been able to find it. This was a rather large inconvenience when the inside of the windscreen would be covered with ice in the morning. So the first job was to pull out the soaked carpet to get out the majority of the moisture, then I can try and find the leak.

After removing various bits of very difficult to remove trim, I concluded that the rear window wash pipe was the culprit (not the sunroof as I first thought) so I disconnected it from the reservoir and blanked the pipes.

Happy days!

Until I got in it about a week ago and the passenger footwell was about half an inch deep. I thought it was the door seals, but no. What it actually is, is this whopper of a hole



The after cat lambda sensor wires come into the cabin (as the cat is so far along the pipe) and the grommet had become dislodged. So I just need to re-lodge it and all will be well k:

Next up: MOT at the end of the month. Fingers crossed.

 

[XAF]

I love a simple fix!

 

[TGPlayer1]

Unsurprisingly the little beast passed it's MOT first time :grin:

Just advised on a ball joint but nothing major, so that's good

 

[TGPlayer1]

Here's to the next 100,000 (which she will eat up without fault I have no doubt)

 

[tuonokid]

I hope so Tom

 

[TGPlayer1]

Well the temperature has risen all of a sudden, so I had to fast-track the fitting of my summer wheels and tyres. I bought a set of 17" MG Straights last year for a measly £40, albeit in need of a serious repaint. So I set about doing the paint, and although this is something I do on a virtually daily basis at work, I humongously fucked it up and the finish is terrible. But, as I was in a hurry to get the tyres on I left it and will sort it out another day, or get them powder coated professionally.

Anyway, here's how it is, luckily being black you can't tell the finish is crap until you get close



And that's tyre fitting paste not curb rash!


P.S. As you may notice, I've fitted some bonnet raisers for the extra JDM look

 

[TGPlayer1]

It would seem things were going too well in my life and I had to be brought back down to earth, so Gina decided to blow her radiator :evil:





You can see how it's sprayed out of the front, it came through the grill and looked genuinely like it was doing a wee. Annoyed as I was I managed to nurse it home, with 6 litres of Tesco water (for 51p) and some slow driving and water refills along the way.

It's sort of a blessing in disguise as the rad was well in need of a replacement, as you shall see when I get it out of the car it had about half of the wiggly bits missing.

So anyway that's that. Hopefully I can get a rad today or tomorrow and find the right coolant - Hondas are very particular about being silica free - and be back on the road by the end of the week k:

 

[TGPlayer1]

So yesterday I set about getting the old rad out. Not put off by the rain and my general tiredness I managed to wrestle the thing out, battling rusted clips and seized pipes - I ended up cutting the pipes for the integrated gearbox oil cooler (which resulted in an oil fountain) and breaking the top hose off the rad, as it was very brittle.

As you can see the fan wasn't for budging and the rad itself was in less than good condition



From this point on it should be a fairly simple job, I just need to amass some new hose clips and a bit of ATF, and I'm considering mounting a standalone oil cooler for the box in place of the A/C system. Either way the car will be off the road for a couple of months (because of a change in personal circumstances) so I can make my plan properly.

Hopefully there won't be any more money evaporating problems in the near future.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

I am sorry about the radiator problem, but very nice read!

PS. You do frequent pubs :wink:

 

[XAF]

Fingers crossed it goes back together well Tom. What you do about the oil cooler hose?