EK in KC

[SeanShine]

Hey everyone! My name is Sean and I live in the KC area. Quick background on me: I am a former technician who has worked for Honda and Mercedes dealerships for almost 10 years. I am no longer turning wrenches for my 9 to 5, but I still like to work on my own stuff at home.

This is not my first Honda, but it's my first time making a build thread. I don't post on forums very often, so please excuse the mistakes I will probably make when it comes to making posts. I really appreciate build threads that give helpful information, so I will do my best to give as much information as possible. (lots of reading and lots of pictures)

Here is my 2000 Honda Civic. I bought it a little over three weeks ago. Here is a photo from the day I brought it home:



2000 Honda Civic DX
D16Y7
4 Speed Automatic

The Odometer says that it has 110k miles. I was skeptical at first. I figured that the instrument cluster had been replaced. However, after looking through the engine bay, I feel like it might be the correct mileage.



It's dirty, but everything is in really good condition.

I bought the vehicle because I needed something that would get good gas mileage and would have enough room for my kids if I need to have them ride with me. I had been looking for the right vehicle and settled on this one for two reasons.

Reason 1 - The baffling lack of rust. Living here in the midwest means that most of these Hondas are completely rusted out. This car lived most of its life in Texas and was brought to KC MO about a year ago. I have had about a dozen Hondas from the 90s and this one is by far the most rust free example I've found in this price range.

which brings me to:

Reason 2 - The price. I bought this civic for $900. It was listed for $1000 because the seller was told it needed the head gasket replaced. I messaged the seller and asked about what kind of symptoms it was having. He said that it didn't have any symptoms other than it would run hot if you were sitting in traffic. He brought it to a shop a month ago and had them diagnose a hard start issue. They replaced the distributor (you can see how shiny and new it is in the photo above) and that took care of the hard start. He asked if they could also look into the "running hot" issue, and they told him that it needed a head gasket. He decided that he didn't want to put more money into it, and put it up for sale.

When I went to look at the car, and took it on a test drive, I noticed that the temperature started to creep up when you were sitting at a stop light. I popped the hood after the test drive and let the car idle. I noticed that the radiator fan wasn't running. I didn't find any coolant in the oil or oil in the coolant. I figured the fan not running might be the main cause of the problem. I promptly offered him $900 and he accepted.

After taking the vehicle home, I quickly used my test light to check the fan circuit. I disconnected the connector for the Engine Coolant Temperature Switch and checked pins 1 and 2. With KOEO (key on engine off) Pin 2 (red arrow) had battery voltage. Pin 1 (blue arrow) was a good ground.



I decided the easiest way to test the rest of the circuit would be to use a jumper wire between pins 1 and 2. Once the Jumper wire was in place, the fan turned on and ran great. That means the rest of the radiator fan circuit works. Hooray! That's a $25 sensor and an easy fix. I decided since this is a "hot in on" circuit (ie. won't drain my battery) I might as well leave the jumper wire for a few days so I could see if it would affect the "running hot" problem. So I drove the vehicle to and from work for the next few days and the coolant temperature never went over half way up the gauge. Stopped by the parts store and picked up a new ECT switch. Installed it, and plugged the connector back onto the sensor. Since then (two weeks) I haven't had any problems with the car running hot.

I think it might still have a minor head gasket problem. The coolant was low in the radiator, so I topped it up and filled the reservoir. After a few days I noticed that the coolant reservoir was empty and the radiator was a little low. The coolant temperature goes from cold to operating temperature surprisingly quickly (from dead cold in the morning, to half way up the gauge within about two minutes). And the car feels like it has a slight lack of power. After a quick inspection I can't find any external coolant leaks.

My best guess is that the head gasket is leaking, but its not leaking very badly. It is allowing combustion gases into the coolant (explains why its warming up so quickly) and during the intake stroke its pulling a little bit of coolant into the cylinders (explains the low coolant). I have been driving it for 3 weeks and I have been keeping an eye on the coolant level and keeping it topped up. I figure I'll drive it as is while I get the parts together for a head gasket replacement. It doesn't have any drivability issues, so it's not a big issue right now.

I am excited about this vehicle because it is rust free and it is 100% STOCK. There is nothing I hate more than having to deal with botched repairs and modifications made by boneheaded previous owners. Unfortunately, it is still a 19 year old car, and it has a lot of minor issues that need to be taken care of.

1. The windshield wipers only run on high.
2. The headliner is falling down.
3. The drivers side sun visor is missing.
4. The radio (it still has the factory radio!) is stuck in anti-theft mode.
5. The car is in the need of a good cleaning.

I hope to tackle these things in the next few weeks.

I have some fun plans in store for this car (engine swap, brake upgrades, suspension upgrades, etc) but I have a philosophy when it comes to modifying cars:

"Fix the stuff that's broken before you start worrying about modifications."

Anyway, here are more photos from the day I brought it home:

Rust Free quarter panels:




Photo of the odometer:


That's all I got for today. I'll try to post more photos tomorrow.

 

[SeanShine]

Okay! Sorry that its been a little bit. I have been dealing with a bunch of stuff with my other vehicles. But, I finally got a chance to pull out my DSLR and get some decent pics.





As you can see from the second photo, at some point in its past it was hit in the left rear. Im not sure who did the body/paint work for that repair, but it's pretty terrible.









Oh well, at least its not rust. I'll have to sort out the paint issues at a later date. One thing that I can sort out now is the corner of the front bumper.



The oem plastic clips that hold the bumper up to the fender are junk. I plan on replacing them with a proper nut and bolt this weekend.

One thing that I think is pretty cool is that the car has the factory radio. It's stuck on the anti-theft mode, and the display doesn't work. If possible I'd like to keep it, but I will have to do some research on repairing the display.



The car is so dirty. So one thing I will be working on this weekend one a few things, and maybe I'll get a chance to give it a wash.

 

[SeanShine]

Okay! Second official repair! I sorted out the problem with the wipers. When I bought the car, the wipers would only work on High, and they wouldn't stop in the "park" position. If I toggled it off then they would stop wherever they were in their swipe. (sometimes stopped in the middle of the windshield). I wanted to take the time to actually diagnose the issue instead of just replacing what was probably the problem. So, out came the tools and the service manual!

Three screws secure the bottom column cover. (although mine only had 2, and only one of those two was the correct screw )
Then you have to be SUPER DUPER careful when trying to disengage the tabs that hold the bottom cover to the upper cover. I feel like every time I take one of these covers off, one or more of the tabs break. But this time I managed to get it off without breaking any of the tabs! Woohoo!



You can see that the cover is pretty dirty, as is all the rest of the car. I would love to tear the car to pieces and clean it inside and out, but since it is my daily driver, I will have to be content with cleaning things as I go.

Dirty photos:



Anyway, once you get the covers off you can access the wiper switch. I find it's easier to remove connectors when the component is still attached to the car, so I disconnected the connector and removed the two screws.





Jobs like these are made a lot easier when you have something like this handy:



I have had this ratcheting set for years now, and I love it!

Once I got the wiper switch removed, I took it to the work bench my dining room table.



At this point, the service manual comes into play. Honda provides you with a simple continuity test to see if the wiper switch is faulty.




So from there, it's as simple as connecting some test wires and setting your Multimeter to Ohms.





My switch failed.

So! After a quick jaunt to amazon, a new switch is on the way! I will update this once the switch arrives.

 

[Mr.Baker]

".....it is 100% STOCK" FALSE! That black bumper is not stock. Electron blue pearl paint covered the bumper from the factory.

WRONG.
If you're gonna call someone out, at least have the facts right.

The stock color is Iced Teal Pearl, not EBP.
Honda used EBP on the EM1 Civic, '01 Prelude and '00-01 CrV.

 

[SeanShine]

".....it is 100% STOCK" FALSE! That black bumper is not stock. Electron blue pearl paint covered the bumper from the factory.
Nice car but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I dislike the automatic tranny even though I drive a similar model in much worse shape. I prefer the manual trans LX from 2000. Those, I believe, had black door handles as well as side bumpers, as opposed to electron blue everything. Looks aren't everything but sometimes are the only thing. It's all a matter of opinion. Maybe the black bumper gives it a little workin' man class.

Well, you're correct that the "black bumper" is not the original bumper. It is a replacement bumper that was installed by one of the previous owners. Replacement bumpers come in the black "primer" and need to be paint matched to the car. They installed the bumper, but neglected to get it painted. (and judging by the paintwork done to the back of the car, I am thankful they decided not to paint it!)

I am not sure why you decided to say "FALSE!" to my claims at the car being 100% stock. Perhaps I should have said "100% not modified" because it doesn't have an engine swap, an aftermarket radio, or even replacement wheels. Sure, the vehicle is not "100%" as it came from the factory. That's because it is 20 years old.

My claim of "100% Stock" is in reference to the fact that I don't have to navigate my way through a previous owners half-assed mods.

My plan is to have the entire car resprayed in the factory Iced Teal Pearl (Color code BG41P) (@Mr.Baker for being quick on the fact check, thanks man!) but I am not worried about exterior paintwork until after I have sorted out the rest of the car.

Since you were a pro I don't imagine you'll have any trouble with this relatively simple car unless you decide to swap a K20C2 engine into it which would be expensive and challenging.

I really don't understand your obsession with the K20C2 engine. I read through your forum thread about your desires to swap one into your car, and I neglected to say something there because I didn't want to get involved. Similarly, I don't want my thread to be sidetracked by random remarks and stories. I appreciate your desire to tell fun stories from "many years ago", but I feel that it would be more appropriate somewhere like https://oppositelock.kinja.com/. Perhaps you could be a writer for them.

 

[SeanShine]

Anyway, here is a conclusion for my wiper repair.

I received the new part in the mail, and installed it last night.

Shiney new part!


Steering Column is slightly cleaner than before:


Steering column covers were cleaned and installed with 3 new screws.


And now I have functional wipers!



Also, a minor win, the car is legally mine!


I wasn't too worried about titling and inspection, but you can never really be sure when your dealing with The State. I'll probably be ordering some personalized plates at some point, but I will wait until July of next year because in MO, all personalized plates have to be renewed in June (no matter when you got the plates, you have to renew in June.) So I might as well wait until the timing is best.

Anyway, thats all I have for today. I ordered a new rear view mirror, so hopefully that will be here soon!

Also, to anyone that cares, I have a instagram account linked to this vehicle and the build. Check out "@ekfromkc" on instagram to get daily photos!

 

[Mr.Baker]

One thing that I think is pretty cool is that the car has the factory radio. It's stuck on the anti-theft mode, and the display doesn't work. If possible I'd like to keep it, but I will have to do some research on repairing the display.

If the battery is disconnected at some point, the radio will need the theft code input into it, then it should be back to normal.
When you turn it on, it should say "code".

You'll need the serial # off the unit, you should be able to call your local Honda dealers, give them the serial #, they have the code for it.
I've done it plenty of times without issue.

 

[SeanShine]

If the battery is disconnected at some point, the radio will need the theft code input into it, then it should be back to normal.
When you turn it on, it should say "code".

You'll need the serial # off the unit, you should be able to call your local Honda dealers, give them the serial #, they have the code for it.
I've done it plenty of times without issue.

Right, I know about the anti-theft code. The issue is that the display is not working. If I hit the power button, then it appears like nothing happened because the display doesn't say anything. I know that the radio is getting power because the anti-theft light is blinking. So either I have a fault with the "on switch" to the radio, or the display is burnt out and isn't displaying "code". I'm sure I might be able to get the code from the dealer and put it in blindly hoping it would work, but I might just do a replacement OEM radio instead. I have read that radios from 2002 Accords fit in the 6th gen civics, and they have the ability to add an aux input to them.

 

[Mr.Baker]

I have read that radios from 2002 Accords fit in the 6th gen civics, and they have the ability to add an aux input to them.

They're a double DIN so they'll physically fit, but not sure how they mount up.

 

[Mr.Baker]

My K20C2 thread musings hits near the top of Google searches consistently. I know there are people out there.

So go find them and keep your babbling to your own thread, instead of mucking up someone's thread with irrelevant ramblings.

 

[Mr.Baker]

Back to the bumper issue - I'm thinking Sean's car might have been in some kind of collision.

Possibly, but par for the course, it's always worse case scenario with you.
It could have been in a slight bump that simply cracked the front bumper cover.
Inspect the gaps in how the hood and fenders set, look at front bulkhead, radiator support, along the side where the fenders mount,, look for folds, or imperfections and go from there.

 

[SeanShine]

I actually inspected the front end when I bought the car. I also thought perhaps the car had been in an accident. But, I can't seem to find any damage behind the bumper. Radiators supports, lower supports, side rails, "hole" around where the headlight sits, they are all straight and undamaged. The car still has the factory plastic under shield that is still held in place by all its fasteners. My best guess is that the original bumper was either damaged (maybe hit a curb, or the side of the garage while pulling out, etc) or the plastic bumper started to get paint cracks. I checked and found a sticker on the inside of the bumper. YCC Parts Mfg. They seem to be some company from Taiwan which makes "certified aftermarket replacement parts". I don't what "certified aftermarket" means, but its a decent part and the fitment is great.

In other news, I received my new oem rear view mirror last night. Hoping to install it tonight.

 

[Mr.Baker]

I checked and found a sticker on the inside of the bumper. YCC Parts Mfg. They seem to be some company from Taiwan which makes "certified aftermarket replacement parts". I don't what "certified aftermarket" means, but its a decent part and the fitment is great.

Usually those parts don't fit well, but if it fits well and all is good structurally, paint match it and move onto the next project!