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

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingofmyworld (Post 3702096)

Need some urgent assistance -

My 07 civic V-AT is giving some troubles off late. It refuses to start at times. I turn on the ignition and all the lights come on as usual. When the try to crank the car, the starter motor doesn't crank. Audio system goes off as usual when i crank too. Its a 1 month old battery. I checked the voltage reading of the battery and it shows 12.4 and it charges at 14.4 when the engine is on. While cranking it shows 11.4 volts. When the car refuses to start, i use jumper cables and with assistance from another car if i crank, the starter motor works and brings the car back to life. What could be the reason?

Also, is there a mechanism/program in civics that the starter motor wont work unless there is enough juice in the battery? Maybe to save the starter motor from low voltage cranks?

I tried looking in the manual but couldn't find a related fuse. Any pointers as to where i can find a related fuse ?

I finally think I diagnosed the problem. It is to do with the sensor that tells the ECU that the car is not in D or R before it lets the engine to crank. I shifted my car to R and tried cranking and it behaved just like it did when my car refused to start. So this time when I had this problem ,I shifted to N and the car cranked normally. So the sensor is not working properly when I leave the shifter at P sometimes. I've done some reading online and few guys had the exact problem. Going to honda on monday to get this fixed. Will update the results soon.

The expert is right. Use the handbrake when in neutral to hold the car before putting it in park in an AT or in gear (in a manual). This will take the load off the transmission pin (AT) and gearbox in manual. This is especially important when parking on inclines.

The Civic AT (and most ATs) has a manual slot (Shift Lock) which if the transmission gets stuck in park (in some cases parking on an incline without using the handbrake can cause this) can be used to force the pin down with a screwdriver.

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Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar (Post 2882132)

I see from your signature that you a have 2009 model civic.I was under the impression that only post face-lift models have the mount issue.So it's a common problem for all the Civics in India.

I guess the design of the mount is not sturdy enough to carry the bumps of the bad Indian roads.It just not fit for Indian conditions it seems.

Hey Sumeet, I am facing the same issue now. You think it is the mounts ? I see a small crack on the right hand side engine mount when I face the engine (left hand side mount if I see it from the cockpit). The engine vibrates when the gears shift from 1-2 and I have to accelerate hard to minimize the vibrations. The RPM also goes high almost reaches 5000 but I dont feel the speed of car (it feels sluggish). When 2-3 transition happens, there are little vibrations and the RPM is at 3000 approx. 4-5 is smooth.

HASS recommended to change all the mounts. The steering side mount has more than 5 CMS Gap and I do not see any reason to change it. He said then we have to change the other 2 mounts. They also insist that, they will come to know extent of damage only after the engine is lifted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spoth001 (Post 3713511)

If the mount is cracked then that might need changing but i am not sure why hass is asking for all mount changes. Is this hass by any chance solitaire honda andheri cause these guys are totally incompetent.

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Originally Posted by kingofmyworld (Post 3707284)

Did you get your problem fixed. Are the sensors culprit ?How much did it cost ?

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Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar (Post 3713565)

These guys are Arya Honda Kalina, prefer them because they are in my vicinity. Any suggestions ? Do you recommend after market or OEM (purchased from a different dealer/stockist). I am sure OEM from HASS will be a bomb. They quoted 9K with labor per mount.

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Originally Posted by spoth001 (Post 3713675)

Well i had put in a aftermarket mount and it went kaput in 2 months but i just call it plain bad luck. You could get a good mount from a reputed garage but if you must go to Hass i would suggest Linkway Honda Chandivali and ask for Mr Ganesh Ghanekar. This gentleman is a decent guy and would not force any unwarranted parts etc. Mind you rest of team is like any other hass advisor and i give car to linkway only if he is around.

For independant garage i would suggest Jatin patel from wagenwerkz on team bhp directory. Little expensive but oe parts and peace of mind is what you will get from him.You can give my reference to mr Ganesh if you go to Linkway as Sumeet Haldankar with the red civic.

edit: If you going to Linkway call and ask if mr Ganesh is available before visiting.Both Linkway and Jatin i believe have a pick up and drop option.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rr_zen (Post 3702444)

2. The issue of the noise from the front strut while turning the steering at low speeds has cropped up again so have asked for that to be checked (only check not change anything).

Hi,

Can you elaborate on this noise. I am experiencing a noise during low speed steering also, something like lose change in pocket.

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Originally Posted by 2000rpm (Post 3715107)

Hi,

Can you elaborate on this noise. I am experiencing a noise during low speed steering also, something like lose change in pocket.

I doubt if the issue you are facing is the same as mine. Let me elaborate. In my case, when the car is standstill with the engine on and when I turn the steering from left to right of vice versa, I hear a 'kat' 'kat' 'kat' noise. This is not audible when the car I try the same maneuver when the car is in motion.

When it was brought to the attention of HASS, the culprit was diagnosed to be the strut bearings which were replaced once. The problem didnt seem to go off and the car was back with HASS in less than a month for the same problem. This time HASS replaced the strut bearings one more time (FOC this time) and said that the ones replaced the first time were faulty as well. The issue seemed to have been solved until a few months ago when one fine day I heard the same noise again. It is not as bad as what it was earlier but nevertheless, the noise is still there. When I complained of this issue during the last service (2 weeks back) done, HASS claimed to have arrested the noise with lubrication (WD-40) but I can still hear it.

Hope this helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rr_zen (Post 3715718)

In my case, when the car is standstill with the engine on and when I turn the steering from left to right of vice versa, I hear a 'kat' 'kat' 'kat' noise. This is not audible when the car I try the same maneuver when the car is in motion.

I have been noticing the same noise for a long time now. This noise is noticeable/audible for me mostly when I step in for the first time during the day. Had asked HASS (when I was in Gurgaon last year) earlier and they blamed this thing on Steering oil leak :eek:

Thanks for elaborating this. Will have FNG look into this. Anyone knows if these struts can be sourced from aftermarket?

Cheers!

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Originally Posted by 1lokesh (Post 3716508)

You are very welcome. BTW, attaching the pics of the strut bearings that were replaced, for reference. And, yes you are always better off with an FNG for such issues than haggling with HASS who believe in only 'replacement' than 'repair & fix' and chime like a parrot.

A very interesting observation. We had gone to Orchha in the end of February and tanked up on return. We are under 4km from the pump. The car was not driven. Today when checking i found that the indicator was about a notch plus from full, ie about 4l short. Was this evaporation (extreme summer 46C) or something else. Any suggestions!

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Originally Posted by sgiitk (Post 3716693)

Hello Sir,

I have noticed that the digital fuel gauges of most vehicles, including the Civic, tend to show less fuel when going up an incline and vice versa, probably because of the sending float mechanism. Other modern Analogue gauges; as they move slowly, the reading is not affected with such precision immediately. Older analog gauges, for one I remember in my Dad's Fiat 1100D, however, moved quite briskly.

Cutting long point short, may be the parking position was the culprit (?) and the digital gauge is too precise and quick to register it. Else, the cut-off during the topping up came a bit quicker because the fuel in the car would have already expanded due to heat.

Regards,
Saket

Quote:

Originally Posted by undead (Post 3713580)

Did you get your problem fixed. Are the sensors culprit ?How much did it cost ?

Yes. I got this sorted. All they had to do was open the plastic cladding around the shifter, remove the strip under the shifter, clean it and put it back and bolt it tight. No issues after that.