mattdoc

Hi everyone, I just got a 2001 Civic LX 1.7 A/T today. It has 21,000 miles on it. (I didn't skip a zero, yes, I typed twenty one thousand) It was my grandma's car, and she can't drive anymore. It had 400 miles put on it in the last 1.5 years. I am hoping you all can recommend what maintenance I may need to do based pretty much on age alone, along with anything needed in the first 21k miles, of course. I think the low mileage might hurt just as much as the age for some things. My grandma seems to have done more body damage than the car was worth in the last 6 years, but it wasn't all at once, so it was fixed each time. $5360 from 2009-2012. The body gaps aren't perfect, but I don't care and won't fix anything like that. This car is just to save gas commuting 30 miles a day compared to my 13mpg jeep and truck.

Here's what I planned:
Cabin air filter if there is one
Timing belt (Ill probably try my 1/2" IR impact on the crank before I buy the $27 tool on amazon)
Accessory belts
Water pump - is this at all necessary based on age?
New coolant
Oil change (do these need a crush washer?)
Brake fluid
Any hoses that look cracked, etc.
Is there anything to worry about with the transmission fluid besides level? I read some threads that say the internal strainer clogs up and may contribute to transmission failure, but don't know the latest theory on that.
Power steering fluid?
I think the valve cover is leaking oil, but I saw I need to take that off for the timing belt, so I'll just get whatever gasket that takes. I looked under the oil fill cap and it looks clean and oily in there, not sludgy at all, so even though I pretty much only have maintenance receipts for tires and body work, that seems fine. It had the front "compliance bushings" done about 500 miles ago (2013).

And I know it needs both airbags replaced due to the Takata recall.

I'm new to this car, but I work on my own cars for the most part... But I don't do body work beyond pounding my jeep back into shape after a good weekend. I have an 04 wrangler rubicon and an 05 F350, and the wife's car is an '05 lexus ES that I did the timing belt on.
So if you even post a few words to point me at a part/system I haven't thought of, I'd appreciate it.

ezone

There are a pair of narrow filters.


I would probably do the pump, the thin O ring seal may be drying out and hardening by now. If not leaking yet then in the near future it may start leaking around the housing.
What color antifreeze is in it now? Green? Dark green? Blue?
Get Hondas type 2 coolant (blue).
I'd do the coolant even without replacing the pump, based on age (first coolant change is 10 years).

Yes.
Yep, 3 years.
Probably OK.

It's only got 20k, it's fine.
01 did have its share of trans problems, but if anything is screwed up you should know something is amiss by driving it.

Change the trans fluid, drain and fill. Use Hondas DW1 fluid. (About 2.5qt each time)
Change it at the next oil change too. And the next. That way you'll have an almost completely fresh batch of fluid by 30k. We recommend ATF every 30k or more often, regardless of what the books say.

At 20k it COULD only be on its second oil change LOL.

Holy cow. No way... they could not have been bad yet.

Call the dealer ahead of time, get them on order. Some have been on varying backorder status.

Also, have them check for any other open recalls.

And register on the Honda website as the new owner of the car so you can receive recall notices and other owner benefits (radio code, etc.)

HTH

mattdoc

Thanks a lot for the info. This is a new situation for me... My next lowest mileage vehicle has 149,000 miles on it.
Would you recommend replacing the timing belt tensioner at this point too? I also saw there is some sort of spring there. What does that do, and does it need to be replaced?

I cleaned out the trunk yesterday. My grandma saved everything! I found a bag of used twist ties and paper clips! I also found another receipt from a body shop... Another $1800 bumper car incident.
I have two new airbags on order at the local Honda dealer. They said 1-3 week backorder.

ezone

It's super low mileage, I wouldn't worry about it for now.
I expect it to last 200k, so I try to replace that pulley if it will go beyond 200k before the next timing belt replacement interval.
I think some people here have had it fail a little earlier than that though.

The spring and tensioner pulley come as a set from the dealer, to be replaced as a set. The belt is constantly tensioned by the spring, the pulley is "floating", not fixed.


And rubber bands from the daily newspapers!

It's common. People who lived through the great depression tend to save things we take for granted. During the depression you saved EVERYTHING.
My ex wifes parents lived through it....Her father saved and reused ice cubes all the time.

My GFs mother is in her 90s, she saves weird stuff around the kitchen.

emich

Don't forget to replace the tensioner bolt with longer one . There is a post somewhere for 2001 civic

f18cmech

Sheesh man just give it a few good hard drives to break it in and you should be good to go. Age shouldn't be a factor unless you're leaking oil or coolant. It's a great car just start using it is say

guitarsnlikker

all good advice. To add something... it also depends heavily on where the car has been the past 15 years. Was it baking in the florida sun or sitting in a comfy garage? Obviously the harsher the environment the more damage sitting around can harm the car. common sense is in play here. My mothers car was a 2004 civic (45K miles that I sold last year) that was cooking in the Florida sun for a few years. I discovered a water leak on the driver side door panel, water got under the driver floor carpet and the water shorted out the driver side speaker. good luck and congratulations.

dustinhxc

Wow man, I thought my 83000 mileage 7th gen was a great find. That's awesome!!

Gyang1279

Hello, new member here. Have a 2000 Blue EM1 with 87,000 miles. Had it for 3 going on 4 years now. Picked it up with 75,000 miles. Aftermarket exhaust and rear lower control arm. That's about it. It's still pretty decent shape for a 17 year old car. Normals scratch here and there.

5.0Thunder

you guys sure know how to bring back old threads. :P