[zeng]

Originally Posted by eccentric

Advice needed!

Since my Civic has crossed 50,000 KMs and is in due for a suspension overhaul, Iam procuring a mix of OEM parts as well as aftermarket components (TRW) to address the required.

The area of concern is the lower control arm bushes. While I was able to acquire the OEM bushes, my FNG guy is insisting to replace the whole lower arm stating the re-assembly of the bushes may result in the twist of the lower arm ultimately leading to wheel alignment issues and uneven tyre wear in the long-run.

Experts, kindly pitch in your thoughts on the same. Thanks.

It is quite a cultural shock for me seeing suspension overhaul, replacement of original LCA bushes etc at 50K km Odo on modern vehicles.

No flaming please.

[eccentric]

Originally Posted by zeng

It is quite a cultural shock for me seeing suspension overhaul, replacement of original LCA bushes etc at 50K km Odo on modern vehicles.

No flaming please.

I'd attribute the the crack in the bushes due to the age and quality of rubber, the nature of terrain and the harshness of climate. The quality of rubber used by Honda is so downtrodden that it couldn't withstand hot weather conditions at all. Say, the rubber used across door weather-strips, engine mounts, LCA bushes etc. perish way faster when compared with the manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki. The patchy roads too worsen the case further.

Also, the car is 15 years old and has been driven very less with respect to it's age. Which means the dampers would have been subjected to constant stress due to the static load exerted on stand-still, explaining the early demise of the valve-seals thereby leading to bouncy ride.

[CzechItaliaMoto]

Hello guys, just wanted to know your opinion on buying this Technix engine mount for the Civic. I have read about it somewhere in this very thread(i think @eccentric had said something about it) but I'm not able to find any reviews on it.

https://boodmo.com/catalog/part-tech...1001-53700694/

Thanks in advance

[CzechItaliaMoto]

Hi, we had given our car for a full service + makeover at our FNG a week ago. Here's how things unfolded-

The car was going for its 5k service, and had picked up a few scuffs and dings all over thanks to Bangalore traffic.(most panels are being repainted, definitely a delight to see!)
The mechanic also mentioned initially that the discs were completely gone and needed replacement. However, when I asked a few other Civic owners in our apartment complex, they said that they had never replaced the discs and had only skimmed them periodically.

Next visit to the mechanic, we were discussing what had to be done with the car, and we pitched the idea of skimming to him, he said he was fine with whatever we were fine with, and we agreed.

On the first day itself, he was insisting that the brake pads be changed. However, the previous owner had told us that he had already changed the pads before selling the car to us.(He cannot be trusted, those are for separate reasons related to buying this car).

I am attaching pictures of the front brake pads below, both sides have around half cm of pads left before it touches the bare metal, please let me know if they really needed any changes or were they completely fine-

Left side-


Right side-


Thanks in advance

[eccentric]

Suspension overhaul update

Originally Posted by eccentric

Advice needed!
Since my Civic has crossed 50,000 KMs and is in due for a suspension overhaul, ....

I'll just list the components that were introduced into the assembly,

1. Front struts and rear dampers - Make: TRW
2. Front strut bearings, strut mounts and bump stops - Make: Honda
3. Front stabilizer links, tie rod ends and ball joints - Make: TRW
4. Lower control arm bushes and front stabilizer arm bushes - Make: Honda

Only during the disassembly of the struts from the spring, I discovered the bump stops were perished, left strut bearing was disintegrated and the struts rods had no rebound when subjected to load! Since my car treads only on smooth highways, the non-functioning of these components weren't so evident earlier. Thereby, I strongly insist every civic owner to check the condition of the strut assembly.

The OEM LCA bushes are manufactured in Japan and have ovality, meaning they are not exactly circular. This ovality helps in having a strong interference fit in the hole-shaft assembly, IMHO.

Post-installation observations
Though the suspension was overhauled, the front-end was making a clunking noise during acceleration from stand-still, going over bumps and coming to a halt! I suspected the drive shaft but the mechanic suspected a loose chassis member.

He instructed me to accelerate the vehicle forward and stop abruptly within a metre and then reverse and repeat the same procedure. He observed the clunking noise from outside of the vehicle this time. And then, he raised the vehicle and tightened the nuts of the sub frame. Now, the round 2 of the test drive turned fruitful and the noise was completely eliminated.

Originally Posted by CzechItaliaMoto

I am attaching pictures of the front brake pads below, both sides have around half cm of pads left before it touches the bare metal, please let me know if they really needed any changes or were they completely fine-

My Civic's brake discs were skimmed but was done by a unprofessional. End result is that the discs still had the earlier scoring marks. Though the brake pads are sanded down to offer a even contact patch with the disc during the brake bite, it further aggravated the scoring of the disc!

Inferences
1. If hell bent on skimming, take it to a high end lathe shop where facing operation on both sides of the disc are performed at the same instance.
2. If re-using the brake pads, make sure the surface is even with no scoring marks! Normal rubbing with a sand paper isn't going to help here.

THE DRIVE
The front end has a slight firmness! The nose is slightly heavier than before. The expansion joints of the bridges are dismissed effortlessly but the undulations of the road could be felt on the front seats.

The rear bounciness/pitching during triple digit speeds is now non-existent. Yet, the car bottoms out whilst crossing ginormous speed bumps when the rear is loaded with 3 adults.

The next pit-stop
1. Engine oil switch to Mobil 1 5W30
2. Replace spark plugs; Mechanic wants to assess the condition before taking a final call
3. Wheel rotation
4. Fixing the mild dashboard rattle; Any pointers on this?
5. The ticking noise while turning the steering wheel. Earlier, I zeroed it to to the strut bearings but now, am clueless. Something to do with clock spring?


The one!

[CzechItaliaMoto]

Originally Posted by eccentric

Suspension overhaul update







My Civic's brake discs were skimmed but was done by a unprofessional. End result is that the discs still had the earlier scoring marks. Though the brake pads are sanded down to offer a even contact patch with the disc during the brake bite, it further aggravated the scoring of the disc!

Inferences
1. If hell bent on skimming, take it to a high end lathe shop where facing operation on both sides of the disc are performed at the same instance.
2. If re-using the brake pads, make sure the surface is even with no scoring marks! Normal rubbing with a sand paper isn't going to help here.

The mechanic was really insistent on changing the pads, so we're not going to interfere because at the end of the day if all goes well, these will last for at least another 30000 kms hopefully.

I also noticed that there weren't any reputable aftermarket replacements for brake pads on boodmo for the Civic. I was hoping to find something like Bosch or EBC but they weren't being sold, atleast not by Indian sellers.

[swageo]

Engine vibration has increased to a level that is bothering me now. Car has done 1L in odo and 14yrs old. Could this be due to engine mounts ?

[saket77]

Originally Posted by swageo

Engine vibration has increased to a level that is bothering me now. Car has done 1L in odo and 14yrs old. Could this be due to engine mounts ?

Yes, could be. More so if the mounts have never been changed in these 14 years. Currently the engine top mount costs around 11K while there is also a gearbox mount which is priced at around 7K.

But do get your car physically examined before plonking in the money on mounts to make sure they indeed are the problem.

Regards.

[CzechItaliaMoto]

Civic Service and Exterior Restoration @ 77k kms and 13 years old!

It has been around a year since we've bought this car, and we went to our old mechanic that my dad and his dad had been going to for the first checkup and service. He said that everything was fine, and didn't really bother changing the fluids, said a top-up was fine. Since we trusted him enough, we let it be and we decided to get it done in another 5k kms from another reliable mechanic as we noticed the oil was getting really dark and had a burnt smell, there were more vibrations and the car wasn't as tight as it was supposed to be. This was to be done in around Nov-Dec(I think I had posted about it earlier) but due to personal reasons the car was always occupied and we could not manage with only one car during that time of the year. Later, during the third wave, our whole family was down with COVID and the car wasn't touched for 2 whole weeks. That's when I noticed the problems that it had, after driving it for the first time in 2 weeks. The engine sounded really harsh, and the acceleration had taken a hit, this wasn't even due to the rev hang that most cars are known for.

Over the past year, our car has picked up a long list of scratches and dings thanks to Bangalore traffic and tight parking spaces in our apartment. One of them was a careless mistake, my brother managed to back into a pillar and this led to a dent on the boot lid. As our car was covered in scratches and dings, we knew that we needed to get it repaired ASAP to prevent rusting and cover up the exposed metal. We decided to give it for service and denting + painting at Automechs, Jakkasandra-

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/banga...bangalore.html (Automotive Garage - Automechs (Koramangala, Bangalore))

Upon inspection, we got a quote for painting the affected panels + both bumpers for around 25k.
On the mechanical side, the owner(Naveen) noticed that the radiator hose was leaking, and the rubber boot of the CV joint was torn. These things were replaced and in addition to it, regular service was carried out which included changing all fluids, checking electricals + the brakes. The battery was pretty old and was supposed to be replaced, but I'm guessing he probably did not write it down and forgot about it, he said it was fine for now.(We haven't had any major problems with it, it is just old)

Coming to the brakes- He said that the discs were completely gone and was insistent on replacing them the first time we went there, but when we went to drop the car off he said that it was upto us. We decided to skim it for now, as we did not have any major problems with braking. He was also insistent on replacing all four pads which we agreed to, but we were pretty surprised when we found out how much they actually cost!
<br>
In conclusion, things that were done- denting and painting, regular service, skimming the discs and replacing the brake pads. The brake pads cost 7600 for the front and 7400 for the rear. The entire thing took around 16 days to finish, which was a long time but was understandable considering painting and everything else. Attaching few pics below-

Work in progress-

Painting-


Skimmed discs-


Job's all done!









Thanks

[Masterprocrasti]

Hi Civic fans,

3 years ago, I bought a 2010 Civic MT which has only done 42k kms to date.

I live in Cochin, Kerala and the weather has keeps swinging from blistering heat to cool temperatures with the onset of the monsoon season. When its particularly cool after fresh rains (FYI the car is parked in a covered garage) and I start the car, from the ignition itself, everything soungs significantly different i.e the starting engine note to the exhaust note. Then the revs keep varying, erratically climbing a few hundred revs from idle and dropping on its own. This goes on for a few minutes till I've driven around 2-4 kms and once the engine warms up, its back to its buttery smooth, almost non existent NVH levels.

What could be the problem ? Be advised, as early as Jan 2022, I had it fully serviced at the Cochin HASS centre (usually I hand it over to my trusted mechanic and decided to try HASS this time), and I believe all the necessary liquids/lubricants have been changed.

What I do not understand is that this is the first time this is happening repeatedly in 3 years of ownership at Cochin itself. And its not like the temp drops drastically. From blistering heat of 35-36 C to maybe 24-26 C at best. But the after effects to my Civic have been quite audible.

Please help/guide !

Thank you.

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by Masterprocrasti

Hi Civic fans,

3 years ago, I bought a 2010 Civic MT which has only done 42k kms to date.

I live in Cochin, Kerala and the weather has keeps swinging from blistering heat to cool temperatures with the onset of the monsoon season. When its particularly cool after fresh rains (FYI the car is parked in a covered garage) and I start the car, from the ignition itself, everything soungs significantly different i.e the starting engine note to the exhaust note. Then the revs keep varying, erratically climbing a few hundred revs from idle and dropping on its own. This goes on for a few minutes till I've driven around 2-4 kms and once the engine warms up, its back to its buttery smooth, almost non existent NVH levels.

What could be the problem ? Be advised, as early as Jan 2022, I had it fully serviced at the Cochin HASS centre (usually I hand it over to my trusted mechanic and decided to try HASS this time), and I believe all the necessary liquids/lubricants have been changed.

What I do not understand is that this is the first time this is happening repeatedly in 3 years of ownership at Cochin itself. And its not like the temp drops drastically. From blistering heat of 35-36 C to maybe 24-26 C at best. But the after effects to my Civic have been quite audible.

Please help/guide !

Thank you.

How is your engine mount holding?
During the last stage of the engine mount, I have had this issue. During cold start the engine will be working that extra bit until it warms up. If the mount is not able to hold the starting vibration properly, this could be the cause.

The easy way to check this possibility is to validate the engine mount condition first.

[Masterprocrasti]

Originally Posted by sarathlal

How is your engine mount holding?
During the last stage of the engine mount, I have had this issue. During cold start the engine will be working that extra bit until it warms up. If the mount is not able to hold the starting vibration properly, this could be the cause.

The easy way to check this possibility is to validate the engine mount condition first.

Hi Sarathlal,

Thanks for your reply.

I shall definitely get the engine mount inspected.

But just thinking out loud here, a worn out engine mount can explain the vibration on a cold start, as you have rightly pointed out. But as I had described in my earlier message, what on earth might cause the engine to go beserk - struggling to maintain revs ? And all these issues disappear once the engine runs in 2 or 3 kms and warms up.

Any advice would help me avoid having to fully trust & depend solely on the mechanic. Thank you.

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by Masterprocrasti

Hi Sarathlal,

Thanks for your reply.

I shall definitely get the engine mount inspected.

But just thinking out loud here, a worn out engine mount can explain the vibration on a cold start, as you have rightly pointed out. But as I had described in my earlier message, what on earth might cause the engine to go beserk - struggling to maintain revs ? And all these issues disappear once the engine runs in 2 or 3 kms and warms up.

Any advice would help me avoid having to fully trust & depend solely on the mechanic. Thank you.

Although am not certain that this is indeed due to the engine mount, but a poor mount can show all the signs you had quoted, including inconsistent revs, shuddering when put on Reverse gear. These will disappear once the engine warms up.

You can check this engine mount condition yourselves. Please see whether you have sufficient gap for the mount. FYR: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post2901801 (Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos)

[CzechItaliaMoto]

Originally Posted by Masterprocrasti

Hi Civic fans,

3 years ago, I bought a 2010 Civic MT which has only done 42k kms to date.

I live in Cochin, Kerala and the weather has keeps swinging from blistering heat to cool temperatures with the onset of the monsoon season. When its particularly cool after fresh rains (FYI the car is parked in a covered garage) and I start the car, from the ignition itself, everything soungs significantly different i.e the starting engine note to the exhaust note. Then the revs keep varying, erratically climbing a few hundred revs from idle and dropping on its own. This goes on for a few minutes till I've driven around 2-4 kms and once the engine warms up, its back to its buttery smooth, almost non existent NVH levels.

What could be the problem ? Be advised, as early as Jan 2022, I had it fully serviced at the Cochin HASS centre (usually I hand it over to my trusted mechanic and decided to try HASS this time), and I believe all the necessary liquids/lubricants have been changed.

What I do not understand is that this is the first time this is happening repeatedly in 3 years of ownership at Cochin itself. And its not like the temp drops drastically. From blistering heat of 35-36 C to maybe 24-26 C at best. But the after effects to my Civic have been quite audible.

Please help/guide !

Thank you.

I had the same problem with the erratic idling during cold starts with my Civic, but that was also because I had a CEL with code P0113- which was for my mass airflow sensor which was then changed, then these problems went away. I think you should get the MAF sensor(goes into the air filter box) cleaned as you don't have any CELs, maybe the thing will go away.

https://www.amazon.in/05110-Mass-Flo.../dp/B000J19XSA
Another thing you can check is for any vacuum leaks in the pipe going to the engine or the air inlet pipe, I may be entirely wrong here but in my experience of fiddling with cars, I've removed one of these vacuum lines in a Maruti and the revs started oscillating between two set rpms.

[sarathlal]

Originally Posted by Masterprocrasti

Hi Sarathlal,


Any advice would help me avoid having to fully trust & depend solely on the mechanic. Thank you.

Hi Masterprocrasti,
How is the Civic going? Curious to know whether you were able to get this resolved