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