Matt_75

Ok negative nancy. Calm down.

mikey1

i think realistic is a better description then negative....mister 3 bolt water pump

Matt_75

Yeap. You got me on that one.

PhillyTurboSix

I've been doing this way to long to be that stupid. Trust me I've not only posted here, but I've done research at Honda dealers, on line, along with other Honda mechanics I know. I actually "tried" to buy the tensioner when I was buying the parts at the Honda dealer. My contact there is the parts manager. This is one of the busiest Honda dealers north of Philadelphia. You can't go a block in this city without seeing a dozen 03 to 05 Civic's. When I asked the parts manager about the tensioner he even said to me... "you don't need that till the next timing belt change, why do you want to buy that? Did the mechanic say it was bad?" So this gave me some reassurance after seeing ezone tell me to skip it this time around. Along with all that my mechanic telling me it seemed perfectly fine. So I'm sure I'll be posting here at 200K saying I'm changing it and it's still fine. I have plenty of confidence in Honda parts. If it was a Ford or Chevy well then I would change everything from the block up and out.

ezone

I have never done any survey, nor ever really asked anyone outside of the dealer I work at.
This gives me some reassurance that my personal observations are about parallel with others in the dealer network.

mikey1

i dont really care who you talked to or what they tell you, or how much experience they have....nobody on this planet regardless of experience or knowledge can tell you 100% that a tensioner will last you 200,000 miles....sorry, but that is absolutely impossible to predict....

no dealership that i know of would ever refuse to sell somebody a part

i dont believe you.....

did this dealership or individual give u a 100% written guarantee that they will pay for your head job if your tensioner fails within the next 100,000 miles?.....NOPE!!.....they did not!!

words mean nothing!!....do you have something in writing??....NOPE!!....do you really think they will they pay for your head job/damages because they "told you" not to replace the tensioner?

so if your tensioner fails 1,000 miles from now, what are you going to do? go back to to the dealership and say what? that they told you not to replace it? and they are now responsible? how far do you really think that will get you?

you have not saved one penny, unless your tensioner lasts you till your next timing belt change....so im still sticking with my original remark....yet to be determined

Matt_75

@mikey1

Damn man, everyone's entitled to their opinions and I think we get that you think it should be changed every timing belt change. If it fails in his car it's not like it's on you.

You seem to be getting pretty worked up over this tensioner pulley not being changed. You need to calm down before you give yourself a heart attack.

Stock 99

Just to be the random comment police here. I don't think you a can go a block in any city without seeing a dozen Civics (maybe not all 03-05) but yeah the world has reached maximum Civic saturation I'm sure.

There was a hit and run accident in Vancouver last year and witnesses said it was an early 90's Civic. They said right on the news that it didn't help because there were over 1000 early 90's silver Civics registered just in Vancouver alone.

lol

...O.K. you guy can go back to the tensioner argument now.....

PhillyTurboSix

Screw that if the tensioner goes between now and the next 100K I'm just dropping the car off at ezones house and he can deal with it!

You keep forgetting I'm not Joe customer at this dealer. I also do work for a body shop who has been dealing with this Honda dealer forever. The shop has spent a ton of money on body parts with them over the years. The owner of the body shop personally called the parts manager at the dealer and asked him to give me his discount along with taking care of my needs for this project. So I'm looked at as a friend from a business account at the dealer. So he gave me his professional option on needing the tensioner. That along with all the research I did, along with trusting in Honda parts, I have all the confidence in the world it's going to last the next 100K without any issues. You have to sit back and look at the odds and research results here. The odds and research are 90% it won't fail and 10% it "may" fail in the next 100K. We are talking about a car I paid 3K for and put another 1200 into it so far with this project. A car that KBB's for 7500. So worse case I'll part the car out, or sell it at a local auction and still make money "if" tensioner fails. So now you see why we didn't change it. Thanks for your option but it really does not mean much in this case as far as odds are concerned. I still will win in the end no matter what happens in the next 100K. Don't worry when I change the tensioner at the next 100K I'll mail you the old one so you can take it apart and do further research.

PhillyTurboSix

it did put a smile on my face when he said that to me that I came to the right place for questions.

PhillyTurboSix

I finally get it back tomorrow can't wait. My mechanic got busy and I have other cars and trucks to drive so it didn't really bother me that much not having the car other then my wallet hurts with the other gas pigs I have.

We ran into one small snag. When he sent the head out to the machine shop, he asked them what to take off and what to leave on the head. Well they didn't say anything about taking off the cam sensor. When he got the car all back together it started right up but threw a P0340 code and sometimes was hard to start or wouldn't start at all. It would crank and crank and crank. So after some trouble shooting and help from ezone we narrowed it down to the bad cam sensor. I went to the dealer picked up a new one and all was well. Light went out, code is gone, and it starts perfect every time. So that also took a few days to trouble shoot. The correct terminology for this sensor is "TDC (top dead center) cylinder sensor assembly" just to stay politically correct and the Honda part number is: 37840-RJH-006 Might as well make this thread an informational one!

I almost wonder if the cam sensor was on it's way out because the car really starts more aggressive now then it did before. But we installed the new plugs, air filter, PCV, and so many other new parts could just be all of that together makes it start effortlessly now. Needless to say I should have a great running maintenance free Civic for the next 100K. I'm going to treat it to some new rubber drive the wheels off this baby!

PhillyTurboSix

Just an update to this posting... I've been using the car with my scanner to and from work. So today was 49 degrees here in Philly. Doing the same trip as above only much warmer outside now, I was pleased to see the car was running a solid 176 degrees the entire trip. Same speeds & same highway. Fuel banks were also using much less fuel. Could be from the car running at higher temps first time around it was adding fuel or even because of the cold weather. When the headgasket was bad it was adding fuel but the fuel is back down so I should see better MPG as well going forward! Always nice when all the numbers are back in place. I'll monitor the car for awhile but it looks like it's smooth sailing for now!

ezone

That's looking like what I would expect to see.


I just ran a much newer Accord up the highway in about 20*F weather with the scanner on it, it was running 176-180 at steady 55-60 MPH for about 4 miles (2 miles out, 2 miles back).

Ram air coming through the radiator should keep that part plenty cool, so whatever your operating temp is on a cold day should be damn close to the thermostat rating.

PhillyTurboSix

Much better then the 195/203 I was seeing with the bad head gasket that's for sure!

I was just organizing some of the paper work the last owner gave me with the car and she just did plugs 1000 miles ago! Along with a coil pack. Just says she came in with a ses light on. I was looking at the plugs and thought they looked damn good for a plug with 100K on it. Then I find out not 100K but 1K. Anyone want to buy some used plugs with 1K on them! lol

Thanks again for everyone's input on this project! I really do appreciate it all! Especially ezone!

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

that's actually a pretty good proposition - data based :P
yes, tensioner failing that i heard of were more in the lines of installation related.

and glad to see it is running fabulously. it it running smoother as mine is after the job?

PhillyTurboSix

She runs smooooooooth

PhillyTurboSix

Took a peek inside the radiator today after a week of driving the wheels off it. Looks much better then it did before. I guess he flushed the radiator good! Here is a before and today pic....

ezone

Helluva difference!

PhillyTurboSix

I figured you would like that pic!

PhillyTurboSix

Hey kids just an update! I have about 3400 miles on the car now since the head gasket job. The Honda is running like a well wound clock so far. A good friend of mine gave me a ScanGauge II for my B day. Gotta love friends like that! So I've been monitoring all the sensors and such recently. Going down the highway temps are around 173/177 range. Parked and running it will go up to 202 then fans come on and cool it right back down to the 180 range.

My one question is volts. Most times and typically going down the highway it's a steady 14.1 volts. When I'm in the city with stop and go from red light to red light and stop sign to stop sign I see the volts living around the 12.0-12.9 range. It will go back up to 14 here and there. Just wondering if this is normal for these cars. This is all day driving. No AC on not even the radio on. Sometimes I'll start the car and it will stay 14.1 the entire trip.

Other then the volts moving around everything else seems to be fine. For my combined city/highway driving I do, I'm seeing around 34MPG with 30MPG as a over all average.

Thanks again for all the help in this thread!

ezone

Yea it is normal.

This is what the ELD is for, to help monitor electrical loads and allow the system to turn the alternator on and off as it sees fit to reduce drag and improve fuel economy.

PhillyTurboSix

Sweet never even thought of that! Good stuff thanks for the input! Well since it's a Honda running perfect (knock on wood) you most likely won't see me post again till 200K! lol

PhillyTurboSix

Installed a new head unit today and found a new home for the Scan Gauge! Just using the Velcro the Scan Gauge comes with, I was able to wedge it in the pocket nice and snug. I also have the AUX wire coiled up behind the Scan Gauge in case I want to plug a aux music source. Pretty easy and clean install thank to the DIY thread here! Now it's feeling like my car! Next I'm sure I'll be swapping the stock speakers out!

PhillyTurboSix

Just an update as I was on the site poking around and figured I'd update the thread.. 126K on the car and still running smooth, quiet, and cool! Rad is nice and clean. My next issue is wheel bearings! I've discovered the sound I was hearing was not my tires but the wheel bearings. I'm going to let my mech deal with that. Cold here now and I'm too busy. Other then that she runs like a clock!

I drove the car to Toronto Canada from Philadelphia in the summer. I clocked 42MPG!! I actually made it from Philadelphia to Toronto on one tank of gas! That car on the highway don't use any gas. It ran so nice. I was shocked I made it that far on one tank! I drove 65mph to 75mph cruise control on the entire trip. That's why I bought it!

mikey1

sounds good!

the only thing i have ever had to repair on my car were both front wheel bearings (other then general maintanance)

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

I had to do all four on mine... It's a stupid easy job but make sure you get decent bearings. OEM are the best, Timken and National are also good but OEM is better. Also, a 4 wheel alignment after is a must.