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-   -   Honda Civic : Maintenance, Service Costs and Must dos (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/47997-honda-civic-maintenance-service-costs-must-dos-493.html)

Dear petroguzzler,

Used engine oil has a darker color normally, less darker than diesel ones I assume, so if your engine oil color is brown or black then its fine, and but it should not be milky in appearance which means there is coolant leakage somewhere which has mixed with the engine oil. Blackened engine oil is not a deal breaker and is perfectly fine so relax :). You should change the engine oil based on its schedule or 2-3k Km in advance if used in harsher conditions.

Thanks for the response amit.

I am looking to switch to synthetic oil for the Civic. What would be the best?

Any inputs to the above query?

Going by the experiences of members on this thread, the OEM Honda synthetic oil (savsol/ idemitsu) is very good and cost effective as well.

Regards
Saket.

I switched over to synthetic oil at the 10K mark. Initially, it was Mobil1 0W40 that I went in for. (Had to buy it outside and give it to HASS and carry back some quantity left. Was working out expensive as well). From the 3rd time, I have been opting for the Idemitsu synthetic oil 0W30 at HASS. Did not feel any noticeable difference from Mobil1 and the engine continues to be butter smooth as ever. It works out lesser on cost as well.

Hello BHPians!
I have a query regarding the 2007 honda civic(automatic) that I own. I've driven it around for about 95000kms!! loved it every bit. Lately though, ive noticed a lot of noise inside the cabin. When I start the engine, I find it to be abnormally loud. and when i get going past 55kmph... the cabin noise almost gives me a headache! past 55kmph, a sort of WHIZZING NOISE kicks in. The sound frankly scares me. Im a rookie of sorts when it comes to fixing my car, but I still know how bad the honda service guys are(especially WHITEFIELD HONDA)! My dads a blind believer in servicing with honda itself and paying whatever they ask for but since the civics partly my responsibility now(practically entirely my responsibility and Im happy about that :D), Id like to change the way some things are done and one of the first things on that front would be to not go to honda anymore. So im particular on going to one of the member recommended garages. Before i pick one from the directory provided on team-bhp and pay a visit this weekend, Id love to have an opinion on what the cause for this very "unsettling noise" could be, from the fellow members that read this post.

Thank you :)

I've got a 2007 Civic manual transmission and what you're experiencing is pretty normal. I've seen that the noise filtering inside the cabin has gone up over time, as the car has gotten older.

Just check if there are any rattles or noise coming from the engine bay / when you're driving over potholes etc. You can get the former tackled with some damping and the latter can be properly diagnosed at a FNG and remedial replacement can be done.

Stick to Honda authorized service center but take charge of servicing of the car. Pick and choose what work you want to be done on the car.

I hope the whizzing noise is not coming from the engine. If it is, then it needs to be investigated by the service advisor. If it is not coming from the engine, then it could be -

- Worn out door rubber beadings
- Old tyres.

Change the tyres even if it has some tread left, especially if it is 4 or 5 yrs old.

Also check your power-steering-fluid level.

I got a whistling noise when my power-steering-fluid went low (happened only once in nine years).

IS it just a noise, or there are vibrations too? If yes, Do they seem to come from under the dashboard? Do they increase/decrease when you shift from neutral to drive? You need to get your engine mounts checked and replaced if necessary

Since you mentioned that the noise is abnormally noise when you start the engine (assuming you have not yet started to move), i would rule out tires and wheel bearings.
Maybe some bearing inside the engine?

I faced a lot of vibrations, and a feeling of noisiness due to those vibrations. Replaced engine mount and its butter smooth now, the way a civic should be

rgds

Hi guys. A strange thing happened today. I normally start my car and then go about taking off and folding the cover so that it warms up by the time I'm done. Today my Civic locked itself with the keys in the ignition and the engine running. It then kept activating the central locking every few seconds on its own for a bit and then stopped. Fortunately I was still home so I just went and got the duplicate key and opened it. After that it behaved normally on my entire drive to and from work. Has anyone faced anything like this ?

Same thing had happened to me once while driving. The central locking kept locking unlocking. Called up my mechanic he said this can happen if water had gotten into the driver side door/window switch console. Since it was rainy season at that time the issue later stopped on its own when the switch console dried up. I later started covering the driver side console with plastic cover during rains and touchwood the issue never happened again.

@ coolkurt I faced the same problem on my 2007 vmt. The clutch coil was replaced by a local AC mechanic and the entire thing costed me mere Rs. 3500.

It's been over 2 years and no issues to report

Thanks for the quick reply Sumeet. However, there's no question of water here as the monsoons are not on and my car is not washed from the inside.

Even I had to get the coil changed. No issues with the cooling ever since.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvzrQoE1v08

I thought I should share my experience about how ignorant/useless Honda A S S (Sundaram Honda and Capital Honda) were in rectifying the problem which is shown in the video.

Basically I had erratic idle after a weekend DIY throttle body cleaning job. After a bit of googling I came to understand that Honda electronic throttle bodies are best cleaned after removing them from the intake. And also since its a drive-by-wire throttle system it requires a throttle calibration post cleaning.

Now Capital Honda had my car for 2 days before coming back to me saying I had a bad throttle body and I would need a new one costing 50k. Even after I told them all it needed was a simple throttle calibration they refused saying its a mechanical failure and no calibration was going to help or work.

Next stop was Sundaram Honda who by the end of the day called to tell me that I needed a new throttle body. When I probed further as to how they came to that conclusion they said the car had gone to Capital Honda for the same issue and the report said "needs new throttle body" and so they wish to waste no time on diagnosis and instead as me to pay 50k for a new throttle body. When I asked them about throttle body calibration they said no such thing exists and that it was a self adjusting throttle.

Sick of this and having no other choice but to use HDS (Honda Diagnostic System) to calibrate the throttle I went to Sundaram Honda and asked them to let me have a look at the HDS for errors and that I would pay whatever for the service. Reluctantly they let me sit in the passenger seat while they did so. After the scan I told him I want to have a look at the HDS system and voila under the PGM-Fi section on screen was the ETC (Electronic Throttle Calibration setting. I told him I want to run that program and any and all resultant damage including my car exploding would be upon me.

30 seconds later the calibration completes and the idle is back to its usual 750 rpm. Either they didn\'t know this option existed or they were trying to shake me down for 50k. Both in my opinion are inexcusable. The senior advisor however did seem apologetic that his service team did not know better and not only did he not charge me for anything he also offered a free car wash for the trouble.