robe5000

So i got my 02 Civic DX Coupe Used from the dealer 5 years ago, i'm sitting at 150'000 kms, and i have had almost no trouble at all with this car , i can't say i've taken the best of care of it, just oil changes and rust check, i did the lower control arm bushings and the exhaust manifold in recent years, with that said, i plan on just going ahead and doing a bunch of work to hopefully insure many more years of trouble free operation (see list of work below) i plan to get either the dealer or my mechanic to to the timing belt, and i'll do the rest myself, so i was hoping some one could take a look at my list and let me know if theres anything else i should look for on a car this age or any parts i'm missing (any pointers are more then welcome)



-PAINT *= parts

*Brush touch up paint
*Wax
*Head light restore kit
*1500 wet sand paper

Restore headlamps(DONE), repair dents and scratches


-ENGINE

*Oil filter
*Air filter
*Spark plugs (.039-.043 gap)
*oil 10w30
*coolant (dealer or ?)
*Serpentine belt

Change - oil, air filter(DONE),spark plugs(DONE), coolant,belt
Clean engine compartment
Lubricate (Service manual points)
Sand and repaint oil pan
Electrical cables (remove, clean, lubricate)

-BRAKES

*pads and rotors
*shoes and drums
*spring kits
*wheel bearings
*Dot 3

Change brakes, wheel bearings, replace brake fluid

-SUSPENSION

*struts (right and left)
*strut mounts (with bearings?)
*front coils
*shocks x2
*rear coils

sorry for the long list, i pasted it from my notes

i plan to take pics and vids of all these repairs and i hope to be a welcome forum contributor (FYI i am a mechanic by trade "forklifts that is") i don't normally like to work on cars but i my case i think i'll be saving a fair bit of coin, thanks to anyone who posts

BrokeLX

Holy crap, you are doing almost exactly what I am doing. You are awesome.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

dont forget to change ur cabin air filter (the air filter that cleans out the air when you blast ur AC/heater/air


also, there is no need to change out wheel bearings unless they completely take a dump on you. "if it aint broke, dont fit is" applies here.

you can change coolant yourself. dont let the dealer bend you over.



as for SUSPENSION:

*struts (right and left)
dont need to replace them unless they are blown or you plan on lowering ur car.

*strut mounts (with bearings?)
no need to change out the strut mounts. they never break. change out bearing IF they are shot/messedup. but these usually wont give you unless u have the plastic ones (honda updated them with metal ones in the later 2002 models).

*front coils
do u mean springs? if u are running stock springs, no need to replace them. they never wear out. but if u plan on lowering, thats a whole different story.

*shocks x2
note what i said above about struts

*rear coils
note what i said above about from coils. (they are called springs) u dont have coils unless u have aftermarket coilovers.

robe5000

good call on the cabin filter, i'm changing the struts because their leaking and 10 years old and ride like s^*t, i'm changing the wheel bearing because i'm going to be in there already and their also 10 years old, i like to have the piece of mind of new parts.

As far as the coolant goes, i'm wondering if i should use the dealer coolant or is any other recommended stuff? (i should have explained that better)

also i was going for the springs mainly for the look, but now that i've got a couple prices i think i'll just paint them up

thanks for the reply

robe5000

well i guess im pretty great, i don't even try that hard, it just kind of happens

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

what are u going to do with ur old struts? give them to me yea? ill pay for shipping! just throwing it out there lol
(are u in the states or canada?)


as for coolant, there is a cheaper+better alternative: water wetter+distilled water. cost 1/2 the price of honda's coolant, and u can drain/fill two cars worth.

but use that only if u live in a place that is not cold enough to freeze.

04 Honda Civic

iTrader: (2)

PCV, Transmission fluid, Inspect motor mounts, timing belt when was the last time it was done? Top fluids.

MindBomber

Since your going to need to pull the hubs off the axles and located a press to replace the wheel bearings anyway, I would take a good look at replacing your wheel studs as well. I know that even using a torque wrench to tighten my lug nuts religiously, over time most of my studs have developed a couple bad threads.

robe5000

I've never had the belt done, and I did think to add the PCV valve to the list the other day!, and pretty much all my fluids are being changed right out, thanks for the tips!

robe5000

i do take a good look at my studs when i pull the wheels off, they've always looked pretty good, but i'll be sure to take a close look, they may have a bit of stretch to them where i use and impact gun

robe5000

well folks, the work has begun!, i can't believe how easy my plugs came out, didn't look like they had never sieze on them, they where so many leaves in my air filter box ahahha, and i must say the 3M headlight restoration kit was worth the 30$(but if you have a buffer and some sand paper i'd use that), thats all i got done so far, i'm combating a bad back currently and i'ts holding me back from doing the work, i'll probably throw a few pics of the work in a few days

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

post up pixs man.......post up pixs!

robe5000

kinda boring and crappy pics, i for got my camera
Nice before and after pics of my headlights
I used the 3M kit http://goo.gl/ZzILh, and i'm sure i could do another 6 pairs of lights with what i have left
i changed my plugs to NGK G power plugs, i went with a fram air filter(no pic)
I"ll have more "in depth" pics of my work to come

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

nice shiny headlights! makes the car look much newer i bet

robe5000

oh for sure!, i couldn't be happier with the outcome

BlueEM2

iTrader: (1)

Hopefully you changed the spark plugs with the engine cool Those headlights look awesome, it's nice to stay on top of maintenance too. Don't forget to check your ball joints and stuff. Even with 10 year old bearings I wouldn't replace them unless they were shot.

kbook

I agreed, the headlight looks so new.

I just changed the plugs last night also. I'll share the look of the old plugs.