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I was wondering if there were somethings I could do and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction or give advice,

1 I wanted dual exhaust, or does doing anything with the stock air filters change performance?

2 somehow improve my steering, or suspension IE im not sure what a sway bar is or strut but would putting new ones on help? also

3 does changing the battery terminals to gold plated and changing the grounds improve allot? ummm

4 how about greeseing the moon roof or windows?? any idea where to do that?

5 any advice on power washing the engine, leave it on while I do it or off, and then let it dry for a hour or 2 before starting it?

6 using stabil fuel addative any experience with that?

 
Rep Power: 213

Thats a little extensive for a tune up, but:

-You cant really compare exhaust and intake because they are on two different sides of the motor.
-Putting a good drop-in K&N might give you .5-1 hp and a few extra MPG.
-To improve your steering, since its not a race car just go get a good set of rubbers. Toyo, Falkens, BF etc. If you need something a little more than that, a set of springs and new shocks would do. Teins with tokico blues or anything like that.
-Changing the batt. terminals wont do that much. You would be better off getting a new battery like an optima. A grounding kit would do more than a gilded ground on the batt. On a daily driver I wouldnt worry about any of that.
-Are your windows and sunroof sticking? If not I would not go taking them apart to grease them. You may end up doing more harm than good. You may try putting some grease on the visible tracks of the sunroof. Open it, get out of your car and look back down, I wouldnt put a lot of grease in there though.
-I would not recommend power washing your engine at all. There are too many electronics to get wet. However, if you should choose to do so, do it with the engine off.
-I dont recommend any fuel additives.

Now as for that tune up you asked about:
-Spark plugs
-Seafoam (through a vacuum line)
-Go get some CAM2 110 octane or whatever kind of race gas they have where you live. Buy a half gallon of it, and buy a gallon and a half of pump gas. Pre mix this and pour it into an EMPTY tank. This will clean out your injectors.
-If you prefer the autozone fuel injector cleaner, then go for that. But race gas works way better. Just DONT run straight race gas be sure to mix it.
-Get some good oil and a good oil filter
-New air filter
That should be good for a daily driver tune up

 
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agreed. and the strut bar, tie bars, etc dont really help at all unless your running better-than-stock suspension, such as stiffer, shorter coil springs and better shocks. the bars stiffen and connect vital body roll points to let the suspension do its job more effeciently

 
Rep Power: 234

Dont put in a K&N filter...They let in far to much in...

LC20 and FP60 are additives that a few people here like. These are from lubecontrol.com.

Better terminals and ground wires WILL help your car whether that is smoother shifts or brighter lights etc.

Then read this:

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/7...e-up-mods.html


For anymore information just search, this has all been covered.

 
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okay any directions or failsaif way to seafoam, I have herd a couple things on the forums 1/3 in the engine 1/3 in the gas and 1/3 dribbled in the brake booster, then letting it sit for 15 min then flooring it??? is this correct, then after that change oil sparkplugs....another guy said skip the engine all together and just put 1/3 drip it in booster and the rest in gas tank... is there a how to for a 1.7L civic ex 03??

 
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i personally would not use seafoam

 
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Agreed^^^, especially considering how new our cars are...They really shouldnt be that bad.

 
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so you think I should pass on it and just do the forgotten tuneup in your thread gearbox??
this car has 116k on it and hadn't been touched for 2 yrs since I got it, just drained the atf fluid it was black and bolt was covered in shavings.... air filter was filthy too....doing a mobil 1 oil change tomorrow I think, but I wanted to do the carbon clean out 1st if it would help at all, then put new oil in.

 
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just start using lubecontrol.com products that will be more than enough

 
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I heard about these lubecontrol products but do they really work? I don't see them in any auto stores.

 
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yeah thats the reason why they work lol. actually nothing in the store is even worth using. lubecontrol has been around a long time and fleets of trucks use it to lower their repair costs and gas mileage. the only other product i recommend is autoRx but it doesnt quite work the same as lubecontrol, its more of a one time use flush while lubecontrol is designed to use non stop to keep the engine clean. ive been using lc20 and fp plus from lubecontrol for several years without problem. i put it in every tank of gas and oil change, even in the auto trans fluid. a few months after i started, my highway mpg went from 38 to 42. and my city driving improved a bit also.

 
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Do you recommend the FP Plus or FP 60? We can use these for every fill up right? Thanks

 
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yeah every fillup it also acts as a gas stabilizer. i recommend the plus because thats the newer formula and 2x more concentrated, so it will be like buying two of the old bottles.with the plus, you only use 1oz per 10 gallons of gas.

 
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i got the lube control i think i notice a diff haha at least i PERCEIVE i do :P
anyhow, i was looking at my coolant reservoir and its empty below the min!! ahhh so should I just refill? or should I flush the system drain refill?

 
Rep Power: 228

It depends. For the entire first year of having my car, no matter how much fluid I put in the resevoir there was never any there. I know I was burning and antifreeze bc the rad would still be full. It also depends on when you are checking you fluid. If you check it right after you get done driving it, there will be none there.

Yes I think you should flush it because 116k miles is a lot and who knows the last time it had been cleaned. If you drain the antifreeze and its still green/blue then you can skip the flush and just add new but I recommend a flush regardless. This help fix some unseen problems as well. I have yet to find a thorough walkthrough on draining and flushing a car that didn't have some BS thrown in there.

 
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it should be at MAX when the engine is cold. right after driving, it should go up even more. you still have plenty of space in there for overflow during normal driving. if you are losing and its always disappearing, youre burning it. add some to bring it to max, then keep an eye on it every day. if it drops, you have a leak or its coming out thru the headgasket and burning in the motor. you can buy a simple coolant tester that will tell you if it has enough cold/hot protection. the factory coolant is only rated for 5 yrs i think, maybe more i cant remember. but certainly not more than 10.

 
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ahh its getting hot here in Texas too!! so where is the best diy for the flush? I read so many and i think i have an idea, something about jacking front opening drain then the hard as hell bold to get loose letting it drain then taking a garden hose and sticking it in the radiator and running it until it comes out below (maybe i should use distilled) then adding the coolant until it comes out below then tightening the bolts down and filling it all the way, there is something about turning on the heat on high in there too though im not sure and something about looking for bubbles

 
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just drain and refill. theres a **** at the bottom of the radiator that drains most of it, then a bolt near the oil drain bolt that drians the rest in the head. close those, then add coolant. you can change the overflow tank coolant too if you want. run the car with the radiator cap off til the engine warms up, turn heater on full blast and keep adding coolant to the rad until all the bubbles come out.

 
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yea i havent done any of those haha
i have just been changing fluids and fixing things when i break them