Tub's Civic Story
#1
07-06-2011, 03:32 PM
Tub's Civic Story
I’m starting this thread in the lounge because I really don’t know what is going to happen with it. Here is the story. =)
When I turned 16 I got my license. I loved Honda’s but my dad did not like them at all. I didn’t have a job or a car or anything. My mom got a new car and gave me her old van. 1993 mercury villager. I loved it, they got it a few months after I was born, it had 17 miles when they got it. I got it at over 200,000 miles and still going. I did a crappy paint job to cover the baby blue faded and rusted exterior. I love electronics so I put some underglow on it, along with some handmade interior and front lights. Put some subs in the back. All new speakers, new head unit. Basically this was my test car. I would install stuff for my friends and work on their cars. If they wanted something I would try it on my van first. If they liked it I would do it for them too. This is where my love for cars started.
At 17 my friends got newer cars. My friend Colin went from a POS Chrysler lebaron convertible to a 1996 Subaru impreza outback sport with about 100,000 miles on it. Another friend got a nicer Saab 93. But I still had the minivan. At this point I had a job and some decent money coming in. I was starting to charge for custom interior lights and sub installs. It was my turn to get a car. Honda was still my favorite. Three of my friends pulled together 600 dollars to get an old Honda CRX. I feel in love instantly. After a few weeks of working on it they crashed it. They didn't have a title or anything so they just walked away and left it. The cops towed it away. I have never seen it since.
Now I’m 18, in January I saved up a little money. I wanted a car to work on, something that was mine. I live in Wisconsin so I said it could not have rust. The motor could suck and the interior can be ripped up but no rust. I could only spend about 1000 dollars. Then I found it. Craigslist had a 1991 Honda civic. Not a crx but close enough. It’s literally my dream car, I’m 18 there's no way I can have my dream car. It was beat up, ripped up, and broken down, but no rust. It came from Texas. It was what I wanted so I got it. 550 dollars. I started it up; white smoke came pouring from the back. I started on my way home never having drove stick shift before. On the way home the car would just randomly turn off and I would have to put it in second and drop the clutch to get it started. About a mile from home it would not start anymore. I decided we would come back the next day and tow it with my friend’s impreza and get it home. The cops had a different story, they towed it that night. I had to pay 250 to get it out and towed back to my house. It was cold and snowy but I had my car. I would wake up and look at it every morning and just smile, my dream was here, in my driveway, it’s all mine.
1: the project started with a few searches. Blown head gasket ended up being the best guess. So I started taking parts off. spent all winter cleaning the head in my free time, cleaning the block and stuff if it was over 40 degrees outside, since no foreign cars or Chevy's were allowed in our garage. After a few months of working here and there it was ready, I re-installed the head with my brother and had to get a new radiator, since the old one was leaking. I believe that is what caused the head gasket to fail. So I replaced that with a shiny aluminum core radiator. I also got a new battery. I put some coolant in the radiator, changed the oil. By this time it was almost June. I was so excited. I put the key in and turned it.... I got nothing; it would just crank and nothing. More research...
2: I found out there was a light on the ecu that would tell you what was wrong. I had 16 flashes. It means injector problems or something like that. But it also could mean there was a main relay problem. Hoping it was electrical, the stuff I actually like, and I tore out the relay. Soldered it. Put it back in. turned the key.... nothing
3: maybe the spark plug wires were wrong. So I asked for the firing order on here and put the spark plug wires in the right spot. They were wrong before. Now I was excited. I had found out the problem. So I put the key in and turned it. It didn't start surprise. But it did backfire every now and again. A really quiet bang. Every 15 seconds of cranking or so.
4: OK so it wasn't the main relay wasn't the spark plug wires. Maybe it was the injectors, well I was bored on the fourth of July so I decided to take every part of the intake off and clean it. When I was done I put the intake and everything back together and tried again... nothing
5: by this time I was mad, my brother is a mechanic and had been helping me quite a bit. He called his friend who said most people mess up the timing. We looked again and we had it mechanically timed to where you’re supposed to use the timing light for the spark plugs. So we’re did the timing. Once again that excitement came back. This had to be it. It had to start now, everything is perfect. So I put the key in and turned it. VROOOOOOOOMMMMMMM it started right away. I was so excited. 7 months in the work and it runs again. I reset the battery and checked codes, the 16 code is gone. I just get one flash to tell me the car is on, that's it. I ordered some new parts for it already, a new water pump, timing belt, and thermostat. I need a new windshield and some other stuff yet. But I guess the story stops here for now. Where should I go from here? It’s a 1991 Honda civic hatch, DX, 4 speed manual d16a1 74 HP I think =) but I love it.
Current plans as of July 6 2011
Timing belt
Water pump
Thermostat
New hood (current one dented and bent)
Windshield
new head lights (current ones have bb shots in them)
Custom interior lighting (it’s what I do)
Distributor cap, spark plugs, wires
Sound system
When I turned 16 I got my license. I loved Honda’s but my dad did not like them at all. I didn’t have a job or a car or anything. My mom got a new car and gave me her old van. 1993 mercury villager. I loved it, they got it a few months after I was born, it had 17 miles when they got it. I got it at over 200,000 miles and still going. I did a crappy paint job to cover the baby blue faded and rusted exterior. I love electronics so I put some underglow on it, along with some handmade interior and front lights. Put some subs in the back. All new speakers, new head unit. Basically this was my test car. I would install stuff for my friends and work on their cars. If they wanted something I would try it on my van first. If they liked it I would do it for them too. This is where my love for cars started.
At 17 my friends got newer cars. My friend Colin went from a POS Chrysler lebaron convertible to a 1996 Subaru impreza outback sport with about 100,000 miles on it. Another friend got a nicer Saab 93. But I still had the minivan. At this point I had a job and some decent money coming in. I was starting to charge for custom interior lights and sub installs. It was my turn to get a car. Honda was still my favorite. Three of my friends pulled together 600 dollars to get an old Honda CRX. I feel in love instantly. After a few weeks of working on it they crashed it. They didn't have a title or anything so they just walked away and left it. The cops towed it away. I have never seen it since.
Now I’m 18, in January I saved up a little money. I wanted a car to work on, something that was mine. I live in Wisconsin so I said it could not have rust. The motor could suck and the interior can be ripped up but no rust. I could only spend about 1000 dollars. Then I found it. Craigslist had a 1991 Honda civic. Not a crx but close enough. It’s literally my dream car, I’m 18 there's no way I can have my dream car. It was beat up, ripped up, and broken down, but no rust. It came from Texas. It was what I wanted so I got it. 550 dollars. I started it up; white smoke came pouring from the back. I started on my way home never having drove stick shift before. On the way home the car would just randomly turn off and I would have to put it in second and drop the clutch to get it started. About a mile from home it would not start anymore. I decided we would come back the next day and tow it with my friend’s impreza and get it home. The cops had a different story, they towed it that night. I had to pay 250 to get it out and towed back to my house. It was cold and snowy but I had my car. I would wake up and look at it every morning and just smile, my dream was here, in my driveway, it’s all mine.
1: the project started with a few searches. Blown head gasket ended up being the best guess. So I started taking parts off. spent all winter cleaning the head in my free time, cleaning the block and stuff if it was over 40 degrees outside, since no foreign cars or Chevy's were allowed in our garage. After a few months of working here and there it was ready, I re-installed the head with my brother and had to get a new radiator, since the old one was leaking. I believe that is what caused the head gasket to fail. So I replaced that with a shiny aluminum core radiator. I also got a new battery. I put some coolant in the radiator, changed the oil. By this time it was almost June. I was so excited. I put the key in and turned it.... I got nothing; it would just crank and nothing. More research...
2: I found out there was a light on the ecu that would tell you what was wrong. I had 16 flashes. It means injector problems or something like that. But it also could mean there was a main relay problem. Hoping it was electrical, the stuff I actually like, and I tore out the relay. Soldered it. Put it back in. turned the key.... nothing
3: maybe the spark plug wires were wrong. So I asked for the firing order on here and put the spark plug wires in the right spot. They were wrong before. Now I was excited. I had found out the problem. So I put the key in and turned it. It didn't start surprise. But it did backfire every now and again. A really quiet bang. Every 15 seconds of cranking or so.
4: OK so it wasn't the main relay wasn't the spark plug wires. Maybe it was the injectors, well I was bored on the fourth of July so I decided to take every part of the intake off and clean it. When I was done I put the intake and everything back together and tried again... nothing
5: by this time I was mad, my brother is a mechanic and had been helping me quite a bit. He called his friend who said most people mess up the timing. We looked again and we had it mechanically timed to where you’re supposed to use the timing light for the spark plugs. So we’re did the timing. Once again that excitement came back. This had to be it. It had to start now, everything is perfect. So I put the key in and turned it. VROOOOOOOOMMMMMMM it started right away. I was so excited. 7 months in the work and it runs again. I reset the battery and checked codes, the 16 code is gone. I just get one flash to tell me the car is on, that's it. I ordered some new parts for it already, a new water pump, timing belt, and thermostat. I need a new windshield and some other stuff yet. But I guess the story stops here for now. Where should I go from here? It’s a 1991 Honda civic hatch, DX, 4 speed manual d16a1 74 HP I think =) but I love it.
Current plans as of July 6 2011
Timing belt
Water pump
Thermostat
New hood (current one dented and bent)
Windshield
new head lights (current ones have bb shots in them)
Custom interior lighting (it’s what I do)
Distributor cap, spark plugs, wires
Sound system
#3
07-06-2011, 04:53 PM
the van
1993 mercury villager (the buffalo)
V6 automatic
151 HP Front wheel drive
0-60 12.1 seconds
basically shes a beast and i love her
these will have to do for now i have to take some good ones or find the good ones i had before.
V6 automatic
151 HP Front wheel drive
0-60 12.1 seconds
basically shes a beast and i love her
these will have to do for now i have to take some good ones or find the good ones i had before.
#4
07-07-2011, 08:30 AM
so back on the civic. i put coolant in it today to let it run a bit. it started right up. the idle was a little up and down and the throttle would stick. gotta fix that, don't wanna end up like a Toyota. I decided it would be nice to drive around the neighborhood. so i put the clutch in and tried to shift into first. It wouldn't let me. i tried second and i herd a grinding noise so i stopped. i think this means my clutch is shot. time to replace that. i have an extra one laying in my garage, i just need to find out how to replace it. if someone knows what else it could be please tell me so i dont have to replace the clutch. also i need to drain my coolant, there are lots of chunks in it already, i assume from the old coolant drying or something, no big deal though.
#5
07-07-2011, 08:57 AM
The up and down idle could be the FITV or IACV. Those are issues in 92-00 Civics, but I'm not sure about older ones.
Check your clutch fluid level. It could just be low and can't get enough pressure to move the shift fork.
Check your clutch fluid level. It could just be low and can't get enough pressure to move the shift fork.
#8
07-07-2011, 11:55 AM
now there is still transmission fluid... but could that cause the problem. when i jack it up and hold the clutch in, i can shift into first, even with the clutch all the way down the tires spin. if that makes a difference. and when i hold the throttle in a little the up down in revs stops. or when i force the throttle lower than it normally sits. could my throttle spring just be old? i did clean my IACV and it still has the problem. the other thing it could be is spark plugs or distributor timing. im still using the same plugs from the head gasket blowing, and i have not used a timing light on the firing yet. so that could fix it. also im replacing the distributor cap soon, i already did the rotor. we will have to see what happens in the next week or so.
