[gomzi]

Originally Posted by jatinpatel

@gomzi

The power steering pump leak can be either leak within the pump or external leak in the hoses, one of our bhpians civic was diagnosed to be with busted axel boots but it turned out to be leak in the return line of the power steering pump. Which is Repairable at a cheaper cost outside.
For the battery just go to any battery walla and tell him to do a proper load test on it, if it clears then your battery is good if not then fight it out with you battery manufacturer company and get a replacement.

Thanks for the advice Jatin, much appreciated. A couple of hours and dinner done (food for thought?), I'm veering towards what you have suggested for the power steering pump leak and the battery. I'd seen the battery tested OK when it was put in ~3K kms earlier, will get it rechecked again. I'll wait for my mechanic to return in a week and get him to check both out.
The power steering leak doesn't seem to be serious as the fluid level in the reservoir is quite stable. As I said, I dont trust the Hallmark Honda report at all now. The mounting work will still be done at an HASS though, but i'll wait on it till my mechanic gives the car a once over - the vibrations are hardly perceptible in-cabin.

[jatinpatel]

Have learnt through My own experience well you can say a bad one, that even a minute un-noticable leak in the PS system can lead to damage to the rack which is 52k new and 10-13k to repair(if done in proper way it will last or else money down the drain).
My advice if theres indeed a smallest of small leak in the PS system get it sorted in time before it runs big enough to burn a BIG hole in your pocket.

While at it get the lower arm bushes checked, for any cracks or splits.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by gomzi

Thanks for the advice Jatin, much appreciated. A couple of hours and dinner done (food for thought?), I'm veering towards what you have suggested for the power steering pump leak and the battery. I'd seen the battery tested OK when it was put in ~3K kms earlier, will get it rechecked again. I'll wait for my mechanic to return in a week and get him to check both out.
The power steering leak doesn't seem to be serious as the fluid level in the reservoir is quite stable. As I said, I dont trust the Hallmark Honda report at all now. The mounting work will still be done at an HASS though, but i'll wait on it till my mechanic gives the car a once over - the vibrations are hardly perceptible in-cabin.

Buddy , a PS leak could lead to leakge in the rack which will be expensive to fix.I made the mistake of sending the car to HASS for repairs and ended up with a 30K bill and also those morons managed not to fix the root cause , the leaking power steering hose which cost me additional 7.2 K.I got the same done from outside garage as HASS wanted 14K extra for the hose itslef including labor.I hope these nos stir you to take steps in the right direction.Avoid HASS for the repairs.Make sure the PS fluid levels are maintained.

[frankmehta]

My car was relatively free for the last 2-3 days, hence decided to give her to the painter for the following work:
1. The main reason: To address the damage to the boot
2. To paint the power window pods
3. To paint the front bumper which my watchman and me, both had managed to scratch on either sides in the first few days of the car's arrival
4. To sort out the small dent on the bonnet which was already there since we bought the car
5. To clear a rust patch on the inside of the bootlid and sort out a small leak in the rubber beading
6. Paint was looking really flat, lately, and decided to get her detailed at the painter itself. I guess, Kamyo will be summoned in the next installment of detailing(after 6 months) as there is no need to use their services this time.
7. A miscreant had scraped some paint off the passenger side A-Pillar, so getting that patch repainted too.
8. To align all the bumpers. It's a chronic beemari in the Civic to form dog-ears since their brackets don't hold the outer edges well and most Civics have poorly aligned bumpers. Getting them permanently sorted. My painter is good at that.

This and some other small miscellaneous cosmetic work. I gave the car on Wednesday and it's going to be ready by evening today. Will collect it and take some good photos of her tomorrow and post here.

[kedarwalke]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

My car was relatively free for the last 2-3 days, hence decided to give her to the painter for the following work:
1. The main
This and some other small miscellaneous cosmetic work. I gave the car on Wednesday and it's going to be ready by evening today. Will collect it and take some good photos of her tomorrow and post here.

Please share the break up of price for the paint work Frank.
Excellent thread,keep up the good work!!!!

[frankmehta]

Thank you Kedar.

I got my car back on Saturday, people. And she's SHINING like there's no tomorrow.
All the issues I mentioned above were resolved, except for the dent on the bonnet that will not go unless the bonnet is stripped, beaten and painted. Too much effort, IMHO.

• The dickey bump has been fixed beautifully and I have taken photos in a lot of angles to show you people how well the contours are restored by the painter. Looks exactly like it's out of the factory.
• The lustre of the paint has been restored on the car, and the Stanley seats look YUMMY after shampooing. Totally transformed in terms of texture and colour and softness.
• The door pads were scrubbed and washed and the fabric on them is also back to original shape.
• The door PODS have been painted very well too. Lacquered after that for a very premium finish.
• Bumpers were also fixed very well and now the car looks as good as new.
• There was also a rust patch in the dickey which looked like this:
  
  and was restored to look like this:
  

Some photos. Sorry about the quality. Have not been able to get the SLR back from clinic hence been using the regular mobile phone camera.

[MetalBuff]

Fantastic ! Looks as good as new. Can you please share details of where this job was done and what the monetary damages were as, its getting increasingly difficult to find people who do a neat job as good as yours is.

Have been following your thread quite silently since, i was a non-member and it's great to see your paragon being replicated both on and off Team-BHP.

OT: Thanks for bringing BrokerDalal to the forefront as, it's really comforting to be aware of a good experience someone has had with a dealership in this age of deceit. Also, the fact that the price can be negotiated is an icing on the cake. Not too long ago, i walked away from them after, they quoted that the price is "fixed" (was a response to my email. Probably, they thought i wasn't serious about the buy ).

Cheers!

[arvi86]

The car looks spanking new Frank. By the way, how much did you end up paying your friendly painter, I am sure it would have been significantly lesser than what H.A.S.S charges for the same kind of work. Not to forget, the rust in the boot-lid has been taken off beautifully.

[frankmehta]

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

Fantastic ! Looks as good as new. Can you please share details of where this job was done and what the monetary damages were as, its getting increasingly difficult to find people who do a neat job as good as yours is.

Have been following your thread quite silently since, i was a non-member and it's great to see your paragon being replicated both on and off Team-BHP.

OT: Thanks for bringing BrokerDalal to the forefront as, it's really comforting to be aware of a good experience someone has had with a dealership in this age of deceit. Also, the fact that the price can be negotiated is an icing on the cake. Not too long ago, i walked away from them after, they quoted that the price is "fixed" (was a response to my email. Probably, they thought i wasn't serious about the buy ).

Cheers!

Thanks a lot mate. This paint job was done at my painter. His workshop is opposite my house at Nana chowk. The painter charged me 7k for everything. Great value for money, if you ask me.
About BrokerDalal, yes they are big outfit and it depends on who answers your calls or emails. Ask for Aashish the next time and give him my name. He shall help you out!

Originally Posted by arvi86

The car looks spanking new Frank. By the way, how much did you end up paying your friendly painter, I am sure it would have been significantly lesser than what H.A.S.S charges for the same kind of work. Not to forget, the rust in the boot-lid has been taken off beautifully.

You bet. I was amazed at how he removed the rust and managed to restore the original contours of the boot. Kudos to him.
He charged me 7k.

[MetalBuff]

Originally Posted by frankmehta

Thanks a lot mate. This paint job was done at my painter. His workshop is opposite my house at Nana chowk. The painter charged me 7k for everything. Great value for money, if you ask me.
About BrokerDalal, yes they are big outfit and it depends on who answers your calls or emails. Ask for Aashish the next time and give him my name. He shall help you out!

I thought of speaking to Ashish himself once and giving him your reference but, there were 2 things which held me back -

1) Is your name really Frank (Thought this was derived from the Frankenstein of Death Race )? How else am i to give your reference. Car details were the only way out
2) Didn't want them getting a swell of being well publicized.

Last checked, that black Apr 07 Civic that you skipped is still available with them

Convinced an office colleague to go for a Nov-06 S-AT a month ago. No prices for guessing what he would have been asked to follow - Your ownership review (the very place where the idea came from) in addition to the dedicated and detailed Civic maintenance thread which he religiously IS shadowing. God bless this forum for being open to non-members as well

Cheers!

[frankmehta]

Yes, my full name is Dr. Frank Mehta. Hahahah. NOT derived from Frankenstein, though :-)

As for the black Civic, I found it shabby from the insides and it was a manual. My eyes were set on 1997 and it was almost like love at first sight. EXACTLY the colour I wanted and in the condition that I wanted.

[frankmehta]

A small update on the mechanicals of the car.
Ever since the throttle body was cleaned and the transmission oil was changed, the car is now very sensitive to throttle inputs.
This is good as well as bad.
The good is that I just need to put my foot down (even on CNG) and she shoots forward in that direction.
The sad part is that I feel more gearshifts happening, probably since the throttle body is clean and ever so sensitive to slightest of throttle inputs, which means that I am caught in a slightly higher gear than normal at times. This will change once the throttle body becomes less edgy after some amount of carbon deposition. (that is what Honda told me)

I have noticed one thing, though. Vibrations have increased slightly. I might be going in for an engine mount + Transmission mount change soon.

OH YA and one VERY important thing. The retorquing of the suspension looked like a very basic thing when it was being done, but that has changed the way the car takes corners now. Feels definitely stiffer in terms of rigidity and is more sure footed when taking curves. A HIGHLY recommended procedure. Costs only Rs. 250 at Honda.

[jatinpatel]

@frank
for me suspension re-torquing is FREEEEEEE at linkway
Just got it done day before yesterday along with transmission oil change.

Going to lavassa tomorrow in Civic lets see how much she pleases me
and how much FE i get.

The last FE i got was 16.8kmpl with 4people on board with luggage and constant speeds between 140-160kmph on NH8 was trying to catch a 320D


P.S- Remove Arya honda sticker from the rear plates the car will look much cleaner.

[frankmehta]

Guys, I need a good set of DRLS to fit the empty fog lamp slot.
Or I need a good, reliable set of Fog lights that I can actually use.
Any pointers??
The Taiwanese ones in the market baffle me. Are the original fog lights any worth it? Or DRLS?

[jatinpatel]

Go for Fogs frank DRL dont look good and secondly in fogs u get a short but wide spread of light which at night reveal many hidden things of the road which is really an advantage.

P.S- I use my fogs as DRL too.