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Most helpful thread GBX - thought I'd review it before yanking off & cleaning a few sensors to clean up my idle.

 
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I did this maintenance two thousand miles back (car has 113,000 mi) and I can feel a noticeably quicker increase in throttle response. Upon removing the fuse and resetting the idle my car did stall out when I first throttled down (hit gas pedal). I freaked out but after three cranks my car finally started back up and I've had no other issues. My V-tec valve was full of carbon deposits and I did have to clean it multiple times with carb cleaner in order for it be completely free of black My air filter was completely soiled too! My maintenance agreement with my dealer expired at 100,000 mi but I figured it wouldn't be too bad... my guess is the dealership never really changed my filters on a regular basis not to mention my battery fluid was completely depleted! I'll never trust the dealership to top off fluids/perform basic maintenance! props for those who DIY!

BTW: I figured my car stalled out due to carbon deposits that came loose during cleaning and/or over use of carb cleaner on the throttle body housing (sprayed an excess amount of carb cleaner through throttle body while still attached to intake manifold)

 
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if you have carbon deposits in the solenoid i think the motor is in serious condition. sounds like the oil wasnt changed very often, like maybe every 10-15k for that to happen. try some www.auto-rx.com it will help remove some carbon from the engine and restore performance. if battery fluid was low (below the metal plates), chances are its time for a new one. air filter should be changed once a year too. looks like they screwed you over and didnt really do anything when you brought the car in.

 
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There is no doubt I was taken advantage of by the dealership I'll take responsiblity also because I didn't check the fluids either! In highschool I used to work at an auto shop and I would have done the work myself if I had known the quality of work that I would be paying for!
The only issue I have had with my car has been a motor mount that was conveniently discovered after my 100,000 mi warranty expired. (not really sure if it would have been covered though) I performed a valve adjustment and changed my timing belt (along with waterpump, tensioner, etc) at 110,000 and my valves looked decent. I would assume that I would notice some sludge under the valve cover if the oil hadn't been changed, right? As for the battery... I just randomly checked and it was empty. I filled her up and she continues running *cross fingers*
Thanks Gear I appreciate your input and will look into the product you recommended.

 
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battery wont last long if the fluid dropped low. just watch for times when the engine is slow to crank and replace the battery then. you can now get better ones anyway that are 500cca (even from honda dealer). if the valvetrain looked okay when you were under there, maybe it is not as bad as i thought. but even a lil bit of carbon here and there is not good to have.

 
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Hey Gearbox
The tb & associated sensors cleanup got the idle back in spec, thanx!
One thing though, to reset the ECU the 96 service manual calls for pulling the fuse marked "backup". Was ready for smog according to the scantool the next day.

 
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oh good to know. yeah im not sure if the older civics use the same procedure or even have an ecu fuse. when in doubt, its always better to pull the battery terminal as that will remove power from all systems. as for smog, i actually failed once because i went a few days after resetting the ecu and the place told me "readiness codes were not set" he was nice tho and said he would smog it again for free later since this happened right away as soon as he plugged the cable in.

 
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As I was looking over the process again... I noticed I posted that my solenoid was full of carbon deposits but in actuality I meant my EGR valve was gunked up with mounds of carbon. I did work on my solenoid but only had to replace the o-ring b/c it was cracked. Oops!

 
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ah okay youre fine then lol. carbon in egr is normal.

 
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Sorry to bump old topic but this is great! Thanks

Side note: your second last pic is making me hungry for ritz crackers lol

 
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THANKS! I just did this and it made a world of differance on idle, so smooth and QUIET! THANK you very very much, took me 3 hours but i was also watching the Seahawks lose so no SB for Seattle, but hope the packers go all the way!

 
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guys i should add, if you are doing the pcv valve cleaning be sure to check the hose too that connects to it. i was going thru today trying to clean my valve again (its been 2 yrs) and noticed the hose has cracks (9 yr old hose). and i need to order from dealer cause its a molded design. im hoping the valve isnt too dirty, i havent been able to get it off yet since my deep socket is missing.

 
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okay got it off with 17mm deep socket and sprayed it again with carb cleaner. wasnt as dirty as i thought but did have oily residues. i also put on a new oil drain plug washer before tightening.

 
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This is a nice reminder thread. Mine is approaching (85K). I think a year from now, my car will hit 100K. Hopefully, I won't be afraid to take all those things out.

 
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its really hard to mess up, worst thing is busting off those iac valve screws without stripping em.

 
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Thank you Gearbox. I'll be doing all this stuff this week as I'm at almost 160,000 and I doubt any of this has ever been done. I bought the car from my good friend and he relied on the dealership to much. Pretty much the same situation as CGaud so I'm excited to get this stuff nice and clean.

 
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Thanks again for this. My car just turned 135k. I read this DIY and realized I've never changed my o2 sensor! So I did the o2 sensor today with my oil change. My foam filter is drying so I haven't had a chance to fire up the car and see if I notice any difference with the new sensor. The old one was looking pretty rough. I borrowed the tool, that made it so very easy to do. Do you have to do the relearn with the new sensor? Do you like to do the relearn after you clean your filter?

I thought about pulling off the throttle body, but elected not too, just opting for spraying carb cleaner inside and lubing up the assembly, it didn't look too dirty. I'll check the PCV valve tomorrow.

 
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the car should relearn everything on its own. the o2 sensor will start working immediately since all the signals are processed in real time. you should be able to feel a small difference in the way the car operates. throttle body is usually fine, its the iac which can get clogged more often.

 
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It turned over a second or two longer than normal starting. New oil and new O2 sensor, it didn't know what to think. But it started up and I let it run for awhile. It seemed to figure it all out. I'll have to check the IAC. The car still seems to idle a little rougher than I would like it, but it might just be the nature of the beast at 136k miles. It does seem to be a little quieter though which I like.

I also have to try and clean the engine. I pulled the battery out, wrapped the fuse box, air filter, alternator, and sensors in plastic, then spayed the engine bay down with degreaser and sprayed it off with the hose. Although this helped clean it a little it doesn't look like yours, I'm a bit jealous. I even took a towel and sprayed it with carb cleaner and tried to manually wipe some of it down, but it didn't do much to the metal parts. The area where the thermostat is, mine is filthy, yours is shiny. Maybe I need to get a brush and scrub it or something.

 
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you can try degreaser like the orange clean stuff on a rag. for metals tho, you need a good polish like mothers billet. if they are too far gone, you have to get a wire brush and scrape off the corrosion and junk on the surface.

 
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Part # on the EVAP canister? Or will the Joe-Schmo guy at the parts counter know exactly what I'm talking about? Is this a stealership only part?

 
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yeah stealer only. they should be able to locate it looking at the evap system diagram. its one of those parts nobody knows about or thinks its a lifetime part so you have to convince them.

 
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Thank you!

I have a Honda Civic Hybrid 2004 and did your suggestion on cleaning out the EGR filter, Gearbox.

My car was consistently throwing a p2000 PD code, as well as occasionally the p2000 code which sets off the check engine light. It also recently threw a P0134 code to change the O2 sensor. I was also down to 37-38 mpg.

After cleaning the EGR valve, replacing spark plugs, and doing a tune up (but it was the EGR valve service that I saw the difference), I'm now getting 47 MPG and all my codes cleared.

Who knew the EGR valve was so important to be cleaned? Obviously, you.

Thanks!

 
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So this downstream sensor. They put a 100k interval on it too. However, like you said, it's not a game changer like the upstream. So what are your plans for it? Leave it until it throws a code? Or did you just change yours for the heck of it?

My stinking SUV has 2 upstream sensors on it (double the cost). I'm going to replace those too. It doesn't even have 100k yet, but it occasionally throws a code about one of them and gets horrible fuel mileage. I figure it's worth a shot.

 
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i changed the secondary (downstream) just for fun, $50 from advance was nothing. but you can leave it til the light comes on. all it does is tell the ecu your cat is working. the primary is the important real time sensor that is used to calculate a/f trims. i would change it every 20k if i had the time or motivation, but every 50k is prolly okay too. after that it will work but not as well as a new one.

 
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Great write up gearbox.

I cleaned the PCV Valve, IAC, & EGR. The IAC and PCV were pretty clean but the EGR was fairly dirty. I gave up on the EGR after about a can of TB cleaner. Car runs smooth and the throttle response feels more responsive.

2002 Civic - 95,000miles

 
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yeah unfortunately the EGR has heated carbon deposits which can be very hard to remove. eventually you will have to replace if you get the engine light for it. once you clean the iac and pcv, it should last few yrs at least.

 
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What's the trick to getting the throttle cables off? I try pushing the barrel on the end out of it's slot but it seems like the cable needs to be loosened up first.

Also, since part of the cooling system is being removed does it need to have the air bled out after putting it back together? Or is it too small an amount to matter?

 
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you have to manually push the throttle valve lever fully open so there is slack in the cables. then they slip right off. coolant bleeding is not needed so long as you hold the coolant lines up. you will only lose a very small amount and will not add any significant amount of air. if you drop the hoses and they start pouring coolant out, yeah you will have problems with air. the amount of coolant space in the throttle body is almost nothing.

 
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i have 300000 miles on my 05 and ive only had to change the transmission and rear struts other than regular maint ie oil change and timing belt