DIY: Forgotten Tune Up Mods
Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
I cleaned the egr valve, vtec solenoid. I couldn't remove the dam phillip screws on the iac controller. I just disconnected the coolliant lines and sprayed carb cleaner through there. All I can say is what a difference this made. Civic accelerates so much smoother. Thanks again Gearbox for the diy tuneup tips. Is there anything else I could do? I changed the evap canister and plugs already.
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
unfortunately spraying carb cleaner in coolant line holes wont help, its the other chamber you need to clean next to the coolant lines. those screws suck tho i had a hard time taking em off.
you might also want to check the front engine mount down below where the radiator is. they almost always crack. you can replace with stock or get the ES inserts to fix the stock one.
you might also want to check the front engine mount down below where the radiator is. they almost always crack. you can replace with stock or get the ES inserts to fix the stock one.
Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
unfortunately spraying carb cleaner in coolant line holes wont help, its the other chamber you need to clean next to the coolant lines. those screws suck tho i had a hard time taking em off.
you might also want to check the front engine mount down below where the radiator is. they almost always crack. you can replace with stock or get the ES inserts to fix the stock one.
you might also want to check the front engine mount down below where the radiator is. they almost always crack. you can replace with stock or get the ES inserts to fix the stock one.
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
for the engine mount? its in the middle of the car if you look down kinda where the header is. its a metal U on the outside and inside is some rubber stuff and usually one segment cracks. looks like #8 in front of the engine, closer to the frame of the car at the bottom.
Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
for the engine mount? its in the middle of the car if you look down kinda where the header is. its a metal U on the outside and inside is some rubber stuff and usually one segment cracks. looks like #8 in front of the engine, closer to the frame of the car at the bottom.


Last edited by tunedx; Nov 10, 2009 at 09:37 AM.
Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
for the mount labeled as 8 in the pic, you don't need to jack it up, you can look at the side of the mount (without taking it apart), from the engine bay. look at your exhaust manifold, and directly in front and below that is the mount.
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
you prolly cant see it, but you can feel it thru the middle by poking at the rubber. it has a few spokes like the pic shows, and usually one of them is torn. so if you push on it and it moves alot, its prolly bad. most ppl say they only last 10k miles before breaking due to the crappy design. but you dont have to jack the car, just stick your hand from above with hood open.
Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
I finally got a chance to read through this entire thread. All great info. I've got a check engine light on my daughters 98 LX and it is supposedly the evap cannister. Is this located near the fuel tank or is it in the engine bay of this car? Is this easy to replace on this vintage?
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
should be in the engine bay, sortof near the fuel filter (#1). the canister is #11. list is around $150, you can prolly find it cheaper.
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
the "air filter" shown earlier has nothing to do with the canister/charcoal collector. its just a plain old air filter for the evap system to draw fresh air in the system from outside. and thats in the rear of the car. maybe older civics do not even have it. the charcoal canister should have charcoal (activated carbon) and its purpose is to trap and store gas vapors so they can be burned in the engine later thru the evap system.
Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
I performed all these steps and car runs great but noticed the other day on start up my maint. required light flashes. I have 1000km left till my oil change what could be the issue here?
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
maint reqd has nothing to do with the way the car is running. it is a mileage timer light that turns on every 10k miles by itself so you take it in for a $50-100 dealer oil change. to turn it off for another 10k miles, hold down the trip meter button in the gauge cluster, turn the key to ON position without starting engine, keep holding button for 20 seconds. then turn the key off and release button. when you turn key on next time, the light should be off.
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
honda recommends 110,000 miles or 177,000 km for 01-05 civics. older civics it was 90,000 miles.
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
i have not changed the fuel filter yet and you should not normally have to unless the pressure drops below spec and you have engine bogging. it is a strainer/filter inside the fuel tank/pump and quite complicated to change, so dont do it unless you have to. there are a few diy here but the pics dont work anymore.
Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
The car shudders slightly when it is in gear while pushing the break at a standstill (drive or reverse). Anything off idle it is smooth. Also when in neutral and idling (its an auto) it is smoother than while in gear at idle.
I am going to change the sparkplugs and clean the IAC (thanks for the help there), if that doesn't fix it would it be a good idea to do the fuel filter?
The car is just shy of 100k, and has a new timing belt and drive belts (at 90k). Just changed out the alternator about a thousand miles ago.
I am going to change the sparkplugs and clean the IAC (thanks for the help there), if that doesn't fix it would it be a good idea to do the fuel filter?
The car is just shy of 100k, and has a new timing belt and drive belts (at 90k). Just changed out the alternator about a thousand miles ago.
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
i would check the fuel pressure before changing the filter. you might have a torn front engine mount also if the engine shakes more in drive than in neutral. try the iac cleaning and plugs first. the engine mount is pretty easy to check and is very easy to break.
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
the mount is down near the bottom if you look in the hole between the header and battery. you prolly wont be able to see it since the mount is sideways, but you can feel around. there is always one of the two rubber legs broken. i ended up getting the energy suspension motor mount inserts which install on each side of the mount to repair it and havent had any issues. i get a tiny bit of vibration but its almost not possible to tell. the valve clearance is recommended every 100k, but again if the car is running normally, prolly isnt needed. it requires removing the valve cover and adjusting the clearance with feeler gauges to the honda recommended values. you also have to turn the engine by hand to the different positions (tdc, etc) so the valves move where they should. its more complicated than it sounds and may take a while if youve never done it.
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...djustment.html
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...djustment.html
Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
A buddy and I did the timing belt and water pump ourselves, that would have been a good time to do/check the valves. We replaced the valve cover gasket so that should still be good right?
I hear a little extra noise from the motor so I will probably check them out when I do the plugs. Any feeler gauge you might recomend? Just not a cheap-o one i'm guessing.
I will report back, thanks for all the info!
I hear a little extra noise from the motor so I will probably check them out when I do the plugs. Any feeler gauge you might recomend? Just not a cheap-o one i'm guessing.
I will report back, thanks for all the info!
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Re: DIY: forgotten tune-up mods
yeah get a decent set of feeler gauges, not the autozone special. valve cover gasket if still pretty new you should be able to reuse but you may have to reapply the silicone/hondabond to the harder to seal areas.





