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

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar (Post 4690430)

The motor has some gears which needed to be set properly. I had this issue twice on my car. It was repaired for a heft sum of 1900 each time. Might be cheaper at your end but it repairable and can be done. You need not live with it by operating it manually.

It is a good idea to keep the space but again a duplicate key is also fairly easy to make if the key maker has the proper tools. Had two duplicates made for around 1.6k for my Civic. But doesn't the Civic have a boot opener from the car?

Hello Manim, and Sumeet,

Sumeet is right on both fronts. These things do not need major expenditure.

Best wishes to both of you Veteran Civic Warriors

Quote:

Originally Posted by manim (Post 4689751)

better than spending a fortune to have it replaced!

The main-key does not work with the boot. The spare-key works though. So I guess that the main-key is worn out.

Some of the plastic bits in the motor get worn out. I got my orvm fixed for Rs 1100 here. It's worth getting it fixed as manual opening closing in traffic is a pain here. A spare key can be for of 800-900 bucks. I guess Delhi is a lot cheaper for spares and repairs :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolkurt (Post 4690482)

+1 to that. In my case, some one accidentally closed the passenger side ORVM by force (just to let him pass in a tight space) and this led to a small gear (just like we have in toy RC cars) to crack and thus not letting the motor run properly.

From that day I fold (of course electrically) my mirrors every time I lock the car.

Coming back to the topic, this is an easy 30 minute task for the car electrician to open the mirror and change it. He charged me about a thousand bucks at Noida Sector 16 car market a year back. I think there is a YouTube video as well showing the DIY procedure.

Better to get it done on priority as mirrors account for being an essential and some times life saving basic feature.

Happy driving!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Highflyer (Post 4688229)

Hi friends,
I have a 2007 Civic, 1.8 AS automatic. Facing a peculiar problem. I am able to remove the key from the car even with the car in started condition. I remember that there was some kind of mechanism which prevents the key from coming out with the car in started condition. Noticed this about a month back. This happens with the original key that came with the car. What could have gone wrong and what is the solution?

This is the same issue that was there in my pre-owned civic too.

The first owner took the car to HASS in Delhi but they were not even able to get it corrected. In fact they had removed the pins from the cylinder lock. What a misery!

I then went to Meerut (very close to my hometown) to get this corrected. FYI Meerut is the hub of used spare parts and is home of the finest mechanics in North India.

The locksmith was a thorough professional (who was a Saudi return). As per him, he took the pride to work on GMC/Cadillac and the likes.
He first diagnosed the issue using the secondary key to see if any issue was there with the main key itself or not.

Took the immobiliser apart and the treadless-screw using plastic hammer to avoid damage to the steering column and then the cylinder lock in turn.

He then opened it very carefully and inserted the missing pins basis the key cuts (from secondary key). He then used the machine oil and assembled the lock.

Voila!! The lock was butter smooth in operation using both the keys and I wasn't able to remove the key while the car was in ACC mode.

It's been more than 2 years and the lock is operating as smoothly as it was as that day.

Experience counts!!

Just when I thought everything will be smooth in my last few months' of ownership, something had to go wrong.

The PS pump went kaput. It's not working at all. So the steering is super hard while driving and making a turn involves puffs and grunts. My FNG guy said either I could go for one of the Chinese made pumps , cost around 8-9k or he'll try and source an original rebuilded pump for me from Mayapuri. I've decided to go for the latter. The pump I currently had was a Chinese import, lasted all of 3 years. Need to wait till the weekend for an update.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolkurt (Post 4675376)

Just get the bushes replaced. Much cheaper. The arms seldom get damaged. Engine mount costed me 2k at Ghai. Has lasted 64k kms and counting.

I gave my car to my trusty mechanic who sourced a rack from Mayapuri. As far as I remember, total damages - 4k.
They take your rack out. And give it to scrap dealers who find a good condition rack as a replacement. Entire process takes a day.

Hi coolkurt

Could you please share the reference for your trusted mechanic. My mechanic isn’t very keen on fixing the PS issue since every time he has tried to fix the leak it has increased. Also the engine mount on my car gave up. Do you recommend OEM or aftermarket one would be able to do the justice?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nik0502 (Post 4696399)

Hi coolkurt

Also the engine mount on my car gave up. Do you recommend OEM or aftermarket one would be able to do the justice?

For reference, I changed my engine mount last month at HASS with OEM and it burnt 10.5K

Once coolkurt provides the alternative, you can compare and decide.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nik0502 (Post 4696399)

I've sent you a pm with his contact. He's not a fancy guy, just an old school mechanic who knows his stuff.

Where is the leak from? Has thar been diagnosed?

I've bought only aftermarket mounts from Ghai Spares. The first one costed Rs 1900 and lasted 45k. The second one costed Rs 2200 has lasted for 82k and counting. So I think it's pretty reasonable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolkurt (Post 4696578)

Brother, I must say that you are pretty lucky when it comes to engine mounts!

My original mount lasted for 25K KMs as it was changed by 1st owner while the one replaced by HASS is giving up at 45K KMs on odometer. That means the average life of my cars mounts is around 25k KMs. I am surprised that the co-driver side engine mount is still OK.

If the aftermarket ones bought from Ghai Spares are lasting twice or thrice the mileage, that means they are really good.

For comparison, my Swift VXI MY 2012 recently competed 86K KMs and the engine mounts are as good as new.

My experience which Ghai Spares was not good.
I asked for original/Thai made front brake pads. In return I got some counterfeit pads (having original Honda branding) which had serious screeching issues and extreme brake dust (which used to cover entire wheel from inside and turn it into black).

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashishrathi88 (Post 4698231)

In return I got some counterfeit pads (having original Honda branding) which had serious screeching issues and extreme brake dust (which used to cover entire wheel from inside and turn it into black).

What you need to do is specify that you want the best quality/ genuine parts. Ghai, like everyone else, keeps parts of different quality as the market demands. You can get so called 'Nissin' pads for Rs 1100 as well but we need to know what the actual prices should be.

Anyway, I do see that the part quality for the 8th gen Civic is going down, mainly because there are fewer cars in service so good part manufacturers are pulling the 8th gen out from their lists. I've bought some spares recently, the reliability of which I'm not too sure of, but as of now, they're the only ones available in the market. I guess since it's over 7 years after production was stopped, this was bound to happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarathlal (Post 4698453)

Oh! Keeping my fingers crossed. Mine didnt had a problem, until very recently.

The current Honda designed mount had undergone a design change several times so it should better than the original mount. You need not worry about same, also when I had purchased the mount if I remember correctly the service adviser said that it had a 6 month warranty or so.

My experience of the mount from Ghai's was also not good. So I decided to cut open both the mounts. Ghai's internal design was having much lesser chambers for oil compared to original one. I guess I had posted the comparison somewhere in this thread. But I was happy with the bush kit he gave for the suspension.

I changed to HASS after this episode, and it held well till the car went away from hands.

That was why I advised sharathlal, if the car is a keeper to go the HASS way