[spadix]

After all the talk of issues and reliability today was an "ah, blast it!" day and Mom, wife and I we drove to Agra, only to realise after reaching that the Taj is closed on Fridays, headed to Mehtab Bagh instead and then drove back.

5:40 am to 3:00 pm. 405 kms round-trip. ~3.5 hrs one way, fuel dropped from all bars to 4 bars with AC on all the time except the first 20-odd kms. 3 very mild to medium hits to the underbody - all avoidable with a little bit more attention or better estimation. Half-body-length tri-line scratch on the right side courtesy of some miscreant somewhere. All's normal and well with the world and my faithful Black Queen!

So I might get some mild exterior nip and tuck job after a few months. One of the major issues I'm facing on this front is that the car washer does an extremely shoddy job. Extremely hard water + improper drying means there are lots and lots of deposits all over the car (on top of the rear window and quarter window bottom beadings, front grille, bumper air dams and fog light enclosures, around the H logos, boot number plate lights area etc.). In Hyd we used to wash the car ourselves and I know just how much of an effort it takes to ensure the car is thoroughly dry after a water wash. There's no way I can expect the 'gaon car cleaners to be that meticulous even if I pay 5x of what I pay them now.

Should I be worried? Would a periodic exterior treatment take care of these deposits? They definitely didn't entirely vanish during the recent service (for all their other issues, Ring Road Honda does one heck of a cleaning job!). If yes, how frequently should I get this treatment done? Would once a year be alright?

My 1 year old that looked its age when it came here last year looks like a 10 year old now after only about 8 months here. :(

Regards,
spadix

[manim]

Originally Posted by spadix

1) In Hyd we used to wash the car ourselves and I know just how much of an effort it takes to ensure the car is thoroughly dry after a water wash.

2) My 1 year old that looked its age when it came here last year looks like a 10 year old now after only about 8 months here. :(

My personal experience:
1) I wash the car personally along with the help of one servant using the Bosch Aquatak 100 pressure washer, after long drives (about once/twice a month). Regarding interiors I own a Eureka Forbes Vacuum cleaner but lazy, so do it around once in six months only.

2) On the contrary, I regularly boast to my friends that my five year old car still looks like an one year old

[laluks]

Originally Posted by smartcat

The best place to try these stunts, and check the handling capabilities of a car in general is to head to Fort Aguada in Goa. There is a helipad just off the fort where you can go round and round in circles if you want to. I'd recommend taking things slow in the beginning (lots of things can go wrong), and slowly increasing the pace till the chassis or the tyres start protesting.

Hey that is one of my favourite testing track too
Some pictures from 2008.

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

I get a tinkling sound from behind me - rear seat somewhere. It's constant and it's irritating. I am going to depute a person to sit on the rear sit and I will keep driving till he doesn't pin point where the noise is coming from

There are two clips behind. If you lift up the black padding from behind you can see tghem. In my case one of them was touching a metallic part and I placed a small rubber piece there to avoid that tingling sound. Probably the trick will work for you too.

[swarooppatil]

Originally Posted by laluks

I am getting a slight plasticky rubbing/creaking sounds from the steering area inside the cabin. Anybody with the same experience?

I used to get that kind of noise. It was from the horn pad. Had it fixed by the HASS guys.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by laluks

I am getting a slight plasticky rubbing/creaking sounds from the steering area inside the cabin. Anybody with the same experience?

I used to hear these sounds often for a brief while during the first 6-8 months but now they have disappeared. Could've been seasonal.

In my case it was the horn boss, the transparent cover of the speedo/temp/fuel gauge area and occasionally, from around the stock IC's HU facade. I told HASS about it and they said they checked with the sound/vibration detector and couldn't find anything wrong with area 3. They said they did something (minor) about 1 and 2. For 1, they said they tightened some screw underneath the steering column and for 2, I think they may have dropped a little glue or something along that transparent cover's bottom edge (not sure).

If I'm not mistaken you already know about this screw. I remember you mentioning it when I reported the creaking noise at that time.

Originally Posted by smartcat

The best place to try these stunts, and check the handling capabilities of a car in general is to head to Fort Aguada in Goa. There is a helipad just off the fort where you can go round and round in circles if you want to. I'd recommend taking things slow in the beginning (lots of things can go wrong), and slowly increasing the pace till the chassis or the tyres start protesting.

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind. The only time my car was at Aguada there was a helicopter doing sorties. :|

Regards,
spadix

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

I get a tinkling sound from behind me - rear seat somewhere. It's constant and it's irritating. I am going to depute a person to sit on the rear sit and I will keep driving till he doesn't pin point where the noise is coming from

, good idea, BTW it could be either the sound of seat belt buckle that is rubbing someplace, or the leather seat themselves rub against the door (or some other) edges and make that kach-kach sound when going over humps.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

I get a tinkling sound from behind me - rear seat somewhere. It's constant and it's irritating. I am going to depute a person to sit on the rear sit and I will keep driving till he doesn't pin point where the noise is coming from

Originally Posted by laluks

There are two clips behind. If you lift up the black padding from behind you can see tghem. In my case one of them was touching a metallic part and I placed a small rubber piece there to avoid that tingling sound. Probably the trick will work for you too.

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

good idea, BTW it could be either the sound of seat belt buckle that is rubbing someplace, or the leather seat themselves rub against the door (or some other) edges and make that kach-kach sound when going over humps.

I have not experienced the kind that Lalu has pointed out but the two pointed out by Mayank are very common and you should never hear them on a smooth road and if there is no other source of vibration (clutch shudder, engine mount failure, improper wheel balance).

In addition to these, I would check for the following based on my experience -

1. Roof panel, especially the are just above rear windshield and the area around the roof-mounted centre cabin light. This sound isn't a metal-tinkling sound, but no harm in investigating.
2. Co-driver's seat. If this seat's mounting comes loose you'll hear a distinct tinkling sound that seems to come from the rear. Obviously this sound will be absent if the co-driver's seat is occupied.

Regards,
spadix

[skdking]

Originally Posted by dot

The simplest thing I can think of is to keep FM on. If you dont want to hear the FM chatter, keep it at volume 1.

Yesterday the CD player began to work normally, all by itself.

Now I eject/insert CDs in it at least once a day to keep it happy and well oiled.

[sandeep108]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

The ABS on the civic behaves like a over protective parent. It kicks in way too early.

I am comparing it to the vrs where the ABS kicked in just at that prefect moment when I used to feel that I might lose it.

The civic's simply kicks in even before understanding what's happening

A sign that your tires are old, losing grip and need to be replaced. Change to 205/65/15.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by sandeep108

A sign that your tires are old, losing grip and need to be replaced. Change to 205/65/15.

My Yoko C drives are 7000 kms old. 205/65/15

[spadix]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

My Yoko C drives are 7000 kms old. 205/65/15

C-Drives are biased towards the comfort/long-life (and consequently, less grip) end of the spectrum, per Yoko's brochure. There's a link to this brochure somewhere either in this thread or the Civic tyres thread.

A-Drives and AVS dBs are next and finally there are the S-Drives. I'm limiting myself to the troposphere.

EDIT: Removed the Q on tyre size. It's better posted in the aforementioned Civic tyre upgrade thread. Apologies for the confusion.

Regards,
spadix

[dot]

Originally Posted by spadix

Would a periodic exterior treatment take care of these deposits? They definitely didn't entirely vanish during the recent service (for all their other issues, Ring Road Honda does one heck of a cleaning job!). If yes, how frequently should I get this treatment done? Would once a year be alright?

My car is now 5 years old. There is no sign of any kind of rusting on the underbody. For underbody wash, all I did in the last 1.5 year was to give it to Honda during the six monthes services and made sure that they water blasted the underbody.

But you are right about hard water deposits on the nooks and corners around the upper body parts. A second drying cloth helps here, IMO.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by spadix

If yes, how frequently should I get this treatment done? Would once a year be alright?

Did you try using some sort of shampoo, and doing a weekend wash along with the guy. My earlier apartment had some sort of water problem (Not sure what) and it did leave decent spots on the body and glass if not cleaned properly. What fixed was using a shampoo on the weekends and being along with the guy when he is cleaning in guiding and helping him do the job properly.

[spadix]

Originally Posted by dot

But you are right about hard water deposits on the nooks and corners around the upper body parts. A second drying cloth helps here, IMO.

That's precisely what I used to do at Hyderabad. I had the luxury of a well-lit covered car parking area there. That micro-fiber cloth is a great thing. Perhaps I should start washing the car myself here too, but it's a poorly-lit open parking area and I prefer washing at night (mainly because you need to dry the car before the sun does, and it's anyway impossible finding time during the da, unless it's a holiday).

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Did you try using some sort of shampoo, and doing a weekend wash along with the guy. My earlier apartment had some sort of water problem (Not sure what) and it did leave decent spots on the body and glass if not cleaned properly. What fixed was using a shampoo on the weekends and being along with the guy when he is cleaning in guiding and helping him do the job properly.

My cleaning routine involved a wash, shampooing thoroughly with a sponge, then another rinse and then the painstaking drying. Used to take 60 to 75 mins overall. The cleaner here does the standard (and bad for paint) wet/damp cloth wipe routine.

I guess I need to get into the act myself early in the day on Sundays. It being summer now helps.

Regards,
spadix

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

Is it OK to leave the car unattended for, say 6-8 weeks? I had to go away from bangalore for a couple of weeks, so did not leave the car in custody of anybody. Now, its 3 weeks gone, and I won't be heading back for at least another 3 weeks. Never left any of my cars without running before. Please advise.

Time to update. 7 weeks after I left the car standing, I am back. First thing I did after getting home is, grab the key, and go down to the parking lot. Pressed the key, and the car unlocked. Got behind the wheel, inserted the key and turned. First crank and the engine started. I sighed a relief. BUT. I shifted to D, disengaged the hand brake, and let go the brake. The car won't move. I pressed the accelerator slightly, a large sound comes from the front brakes and the car moves forward. So the brakes were jammed. Loud noises come from the brakes when the car moves forward. I parked the car aside, and got down to inspect. The front brake discs had a layer of rust in it.

Called the Honda service guy. He says, its safe to drive, bring the car. Anyway I already had a service booked. So I drove at 30-40kmph to Dakshin Honda. All through the journey (5km) a pulsating sound was coming from the front, and when I braked the sound got worse, and the steering shook violently.

Diagnosis was simple. The old discs have to go, and pads too. I had changed the pads 8K kms ago, and instead of changing the discs I had opted for skimming. Wonder whether that was the reason it rusted, cos the rear discs have no sign of rust. Anyway, 12.5K (including labour) down the drain.

Other stuff:

60K service - 1.8K
AT oil - 1.4K
Air filter - 1K
Rear ABS sensor - 4.2K
Wiper blades - 1.1K
Front door checker comp - 0.6K

Total 24K

I dunno what checker comp is, the SA said something, which I didn't understand, and I wasn't in a mood to listen.

And on top of all these, the SA declares that the battery is weak and gives a test report. I said, I had left the car unattended for 7 weeks and hardly driven the car for 5km when I brought it in. So, I'd run for some more time and check again. See the report below:


Time for some questions:

- The issue of the pads biting the discs was there for some time. In the mornings when I disengage the brake and when the car moves forward a small thud sound comes from the front brake. I had thought that it was normal. Now, I wonder whether the springs have a problem. Any ideas?

- In an AT, is it required to engage the parking brake when the car is parked in the garage? The gear lever is in "P". That should do the job right?

- What is checker comp? You can see it here: 2007 Honda Civic Type S N/S Front Door Checker Comp | eBay

- Should I take chances with the battery? I don't want to be stranded somewhere at night. How much does a new one cost? HASS quote was 6.5K.

- What does "FR both regulator play under observation" mean? This is in the "notes" section of the final bill.