Team-BHP - Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos

Quote:

Originally Posted by antz.bin (Post 2661692)

Thanks Akshay! you are a sweetheart!! It worked :)

I did exactly as told immediately after I read the post. First the RPM was raised to 13xx RPM. I could see the RPM fluctuating, so it wasn't like the steady 1200 RPM like it happens in the morning when the car warms up. So I let it idle for a minute and a half till it settled down to somewhere around 850 RPM. I felt I should have idled it more but I left fast since I was in a hurry.

Anyways, long story short, the car now requires me to feed less throttle for it to jump forward. Couldn't check the shift points due to traffic but I did see some improvement. Will check and report. Thanks a lot guys :D.

Hi Antz.bin,

Do let know City/Highway mileage figures after reset.

Cheers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by antz.bin (Post 2661692)

I did exactly as told immediately after I read the post. First the RPM was raised to 13xx RPM. I could see the RPM fluctuating, so it wasn't like the steady 1200 RPM like it happens in the morning when the car warms up. So I let it idle for a minute and a half till it settled down to somewhere around 850 RPM. I felt I should have idled it more but I left fast since I was in a hurry.

The practice of idling to warm up the engine is no longer recommended. The modern recommendations is to drive off immediately. Do hold your lead boots till the engine warms up, which is faster this way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by antz.bin (Post 2661359)

So I checked it up today morning. It definitely doesn't stay in 5th @ 55kmph. Whatever I did, It refused to upshift before 65. Then I eased off the throttle momentarily just to see at what speed it downshifts. The downshifts were happening at 59. Not even sport mode helped me get to 5th @55kmph. I am not trying to hypermile all the time but when cruising on a city road, The transmission should ideally shift to top gear if there is no acceleration involved.

You seem to have a wrong notion of the 'S' or sports mode. In this mode, actually it will NEVER shift into 5th on its own, unless you force it using the paddles. It holds the lower gears at higher RPM/speed so you get instant acceleration / deceleration just like a MT.

Quote:

Originally Posted by akshay1234 (Post 2661542)

Try this -

Get into your car, shut the door etc, and turn the key full on to the point just before it cranks.

Press the accelerator fully to the floor and hold it there for 30 seconds.

After that don't touch the key, or door or anything but sit and wait for 2 minutes.

Then start the car and drive off. You should notice a difference in the way the throttle and transmission behave.

Thanks for the tip. At present I am quite happy at the way it has adapted to me, but have made a mental note, just in case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgiitk (Post 2662666)

I would still prefer to let it idle for 30-60s or so as recommended in the owner manual.

850 rpm is a bit high, you may get less FE. AFAIK it is to be set at 725-750 idle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramanak (Post 2661881)

Hi Antz.bin,

Do let know City/Highway mileage figures after reset.

Cheers.

Sure brother. But that will take some time now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgiitk (Post 2662666)

Yes sir I kinda know how fuel injected engines work. I was only waiting for the ECU to re-learn the correct idling RPM since I had just reset the ECU as per the procedure mentioned by Akshay. The idling was clearly not at a constant value of 700 as per its usual behaviour because of this. On regular days, the amount of time I idle the car is the time it takes me to wear the seat belt and shift into Drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-16 (Post 2664533)

Even i have an A/T. Yours sounds like a balancing problem. The vibration should be when you engage a particular gear, especially D or R. Also the transition into these gears should not be smooth, it should engage with a clunk or a thud. If your suspension is good, i fthere is a whack or a thud every time you go over an uneven road (not necessarily a pothole) then its the mount and its broken.

Was that for me? Because, if it is, I didn't get a word of it :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeep108 (Post 2664562)

Yes sir! I know how S mode works since I have used it multiple times in the 2k km of its usage. I just CANNOT keep it in D when I hit the corners. My motorcycling genes just take over everything!

However, what I meant earlier was, even when I tried to shift to 5th *using paddles* at 55kmph the tranny just refused to upshift. It upshifts to 5th only if I did the same thing at 60+. As of now, I do not know whats happening. Haven't driven the car since Saturday. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeep108 (Post 2664562)

850 rpm is a bit high, you may get less FE. AFAIK it is to be set at 725-750 idle.

850 RPM was what I had the patience to wait for when the ECU was re-learning the idling RPM (since it had just been reset). As I already posted, it started with 13xx RPM and took over 3 minutes to come down to 850 RPM. Thats when lost patience and drove off. Ideally, as per international forums, I should have idled the engine for 5 minutes immediately after the ECU reset. But some things in life don't happen as they ideally should. Anyways, later on reaching my destination, the idle was at its correct level of 725 RPM. If there is any issue, I can always do it again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by V-16 View Post
Even i have an A/T. Yours sounds like a balancing problem. The vibration should be when you engage a particular gear, especially D or R. Also the transition into these gears should not be smooth, it should engage with a clunk or a thud. If your suspension is good, i fthere is a whack or a thud every time you go over an uneven road (not necessarily a pothole) then its the mount and its broken.

Quote:

Originally Posted by antz.bin (Post 2664803)

Was that for me? Because, if it is, I didn't get a word of it :D

lol: Sorry mate should have quoted whom it was directed to.stupid: My above answer was directed to the following question from Ramanak.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramanak (Post 2658381)

Thanks.Mine is an A/T model.Clunk noise comes from Driver side front only on Potholes/Bumps.Steering vibrates (persistently) at speeds over 100 KMPH while running.Otherwise there is no noise/any movements while braking.

Ramanak, did you figure out what the problem was?

Quote:

Originally Posted by normally_crazy (Post 2665037)

In S mode, the box wouldnt shift into 5th, try paddling as much as you can. Only above 60 kmph (IIRC) - guess it's built into the ECU.

In the Owner's Manual, page 232:
Speed range for up-shifting:
4 -> 5 : over 52 kmph (on level roads).

I think In D-mode/manual-mode the grade-logic-control may force a later upshift if it detects more load.

From: Official Honda Civic Si Site | About the Car
Grade Logic Control is a unique system that holds and extends the range of gears when going up or downhill, enhancing driving efficiency and eliminating 'gear hunting' to maximise performance on gradients. This means that where other automatic cars struggle, Civic 5-speed automatic transmission smoothly tackles inclines and declines with ease.

Also in Team-BHP: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...c-control.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar (Post 2665292)

Guys my Civic's paint job seems to be a bit faded.The car's 5 years old and was bought used.I was wondering which will be a good idea,to get the car a touch up & spray paint job or a detailing job.The color's Habanero Red.The color just seems to have lack it's luster at some places.

thanks all.

Get a good detailing job done and your car will look like new. Even some of the minor scratches will go. It will cost about 3.5-4k depending if you get a good one, which I suggest you do. Try Kamyo, look up the directory for more info.

Booked the date for my 1,00,000 kms service (in three days).

Spark-plugs will be replaced for the first time.
Engine-coolant: Though Honda advises a change only at 2,00,000 kms/10 years I plan to replace it.

Front-brake-pads have already done a large 60K and I will inspect it for more life.
Rear-brake-pads have done only 35K so expect it to be good.

Auto-Transmission Oil was replaced at 60K for the first time. Honda advises to replace it every 40K after this. Though the SA (over phone) said that it might not be necessary for another 20K, I plan to replace it. Better peace of mind over minor savings.

My friends Honda-City power-steering failed and a rat was the culprit, munching at the wires. So I placed a mouse-trap under my engine-bay at night and in three days I caught one! (see photo of the thief).

Will post details after the service.

Quote:

Originally Posted by manim (Post 2665644)

Booked the date for my 1,00,000 kms service (in three days).

Auto-Transmission Oil was replaced at 60K for the first time. Honda advises to replace it every 40K after this. Though the SA (over phone) said that it might not be necessary for another 20K, I plan to replace it. Better peace of mind over minor savings.

I agree with you. I would suggest to all AT owners to replace the AT fluid/oil every 2-3 years or every 40k km (whichever is earlier) as under our conditions, it deteriorates much faster. I got a slight clutch type burning smell in my AT after a little spirited driving on a hot day. I found this very odd, since I had never got this smell.

I then read up a bit (How often should the automatic transmission fluid... — Yahoo! Autos being one of the links) and asked the SA to change it, even though he said as per KM reading it was not necessary. Our stop/go traffic and heat create tough environment for the ATF. Now the smell is gone after the change. I intend to change it every 2-3 years from now on (if I keep the car that long).