Rep Power: 119

You're asking for trouble going 320K on your original timing belt. I would change it ASAP. You are also running a big risk still using the original tensioner and water pump. From my experience, water pumps and tensioners on these engines fail suddenly and destroy them.

 
Rep Power: 128

ur wrong , i change the timing belt only, .. at 90 k interval and use cheapo duralast 12.99 timing belt.. lasts 90k for sure, might not be gates..
timing tensioner i check it yearly, tension is good, its the original, and original water pump.. much better oem than any aftermarket ..
water pump even though driven by timing belt, it will leak past a bypass when it goes bad.. periodic checks will determine, or noise .... they never seize.. so guess what , 320k miles it runs like it did at 5k when i bought it.

i do like to experiment and see whats real lasting power is.... i use to work at R@D on vehicles, now i might not be honda EZONE knowledge... but i have some brainz..)...

i tested many oem parts on these car and aftermarket, kinda have a good idea when they broke....

i do follow maintenance intervals, the ones that matter, and here I am it still purss like a kitten..

i might keep it for winter vehicle,, i dont think i will get any $$ for it, but i need to buy soon another vehicle as a back up, since i sold my truck... u dont want to break ur only car driving me around)

 
Rep Power: 128

ur wrong , i change the timing belt only, .. at 90 k interval and use cheapo duralast 12.99 timing belt.. lasts 90k for sure, might not be gates..
timing tensioner i check it yearly, tension is good, its the original, and original water pump.. much better oem than any aftermarket ..
water pump even though driven by timing belt, it will leak past a bypass when it goes bad.. periodic checks will determine, or noise .... they never seize.. so guess what , 320k miles it runs like it did at 5k when i bought it.

i do like to experiment and see whats real lasting power is.... i use to work at R@D on vehicles, now i might not be honda EZONE knowledge... but i have some brainz..)...

i tested many oem parts on these car and aftermarket, kinda have a good idea when they broke....

i do follow maintenance intervals, the ones that matter, and here I am it still purss like a kitten..

i might keep it for winter vehicle,, i dont think i will get any $$ for it, but i need to buy soon another vehicle as a back up, since i sold my truck... u dont want to break ur only car driving me around)[.

I dont recomend doing this to anybody, but i guess i take more risks

 
Rep Power: 211

Well, to be fair your wording is wrong..let's review post #21:
"Still original tensioner TB, original water pump, original radioator, original tranny, .. besides the tranny loosing reverse, no other parts have given up."

You made no mention of timing belt replacement and you stated: no other parts have given up. A timing belt is a part.

Gates is not OEM. Duralast may be a Gates or other non-OEM because Duralast are just re-branded parts manufactured by other parts conglomerates.

It's great to know these parts have lasted this long. However, most people feel that it's best to follow the service manual and no one can be faulted for that. I'd say your engine's good fortune is an anomaly and not the norm.

Usually but not always. A water-pump can also become weak and not perform as it should yet, may not leak or squeak.

Doing so at the engine's risk but that's okay it's your car.

Foolish to think that whether OEM or aftermarket that parts will fail roughly within the same amount of time respectively. Again, that's why there is service manual recommendations to repalce parts at a designated time to avoid potential damage.

Maybe?..but, seemingly not the ones listed in the Honda factory service manual for your vehicle.

You kind of come off as bragging about your maintenance prowress. It seems to me you should be bragging about how lucky you have been that your lack of service manual suggested maintenance has played out for you.

 
Rep Power: 368

^ He seem to know what he is doing, and possibly got stuck sometime and made it clear that he is an experimenter, so I would say he is good.

 
Rep Power: 119

I agree. I destroyed the engine in my 2004 Civic because the original water pump failed at 105K miles, causing the engine to overheat and blow up. I now need to change the engine. There was no warning when this happened. I also almost destroyed the engine in my 2005 Civic when the timing belt tensioner locked up and tore the belt off. Again, no warning before this happened. It was an OEM Honda tensioner with less than 60K miles on it. It also failed with no warning. I was lucky that no damage was done, but the timing belt being tore off of an interference engine at 70 MPH on the highway can certainly do major damage. Not saying that OEM parts are bad, just saying that someone who knowingly ignores the maintenance schedule to save $75 for a timing belt kit is taking a huge unnecessary risk.

 
Rep Power: 119

Are you implying that not changing the timing belt and water pump, especially on an interference engine doesn't matter? If so, you are very wrong, as I know first hand. If you are just doing it as an experiment, I get it, just making sure that you are aware of the risks you are taking.

 
Rep Power: 211

I owe him an apology as he did add to his previous post with this: "I dont recomend doing this to anybody, but i guess i take more risks"

 
Rep Power: 368

he did change the belt, he did not change the tensioner

there are opinions that the water pump and tensioner do not really need replacing at the intervals noted, but since we are there anyway, why not?

though you had a pump go, so there are cases. but he took the risk knowingly he could get in trouble so.. just keep that part in mind.

 
Rep Power: 128

wow, am not saying don't follow the official maintenance schedule, i phrased it wrong..

i said i did what i did.. I can vouch for sure thing how long the oem parts last..

i know the risks,, still on the car, .. yes i like to experiment..

I did say it wrong i did the timing belt only, no tensioner and no water pump change to date. dont follow this unless u want to risk ..

now in my case i checked often, water pump has a bypass it will leak first. ..

the only weak points i had ,
headgasket started acting up at 255,000 miles,
my valve cam bolt came loose, never touched everfrom factory, must be the rotational force over time.. it did have factory loctite on it .. and no one ever touched it..so at 255,000 k miles so i bent some valves.. I used the time to repair the headgasket and valves...
didnt listen to ezone, so i didnt change the oil rings.. guess what happend at 300,000 miles they got stuck from carbon build up, i burn some oil, not much 1quart every 3-5k miles.
did compression check and leakage its stuck oil rings .. 200 psi compression.

lost reverse this winter at 320,000k miles, forward gears still work fine.

oil pump o ring leaked oil at 200,000k,
i changed brushes on alternator at 180,000k

i have records on all how long it lasted and what failed at what time..

i wasnt trying to offend anyone.. just giving my experience

 
Rep Power: 368

don't worry, we are clearing that up
I understood where you stand

I also like experimenters

 
Rep Power: 128

my roof liner is starting to hang at 320,000k, need to replace it ,
my oem cd player broke at 275,000k , bought a used honda one,
at 200,000k, my driver door, i had to retumble my lock cylinder,
timken aftermarket front bearing seem to last 2-3 years,
duralast bearing front from autozone, **** they must have had bad chinese batch, there was a year i replaced 5 times the bearings, till i decided to upgrade to timkin.

oem struts lasted me to 200,000k
currently run monroe front , and chinese brand in the back, these aftermarket onnly last 50k miles it seems.

i have records if anyone interested..

does it sound familiar as everyone elses typical problems

 
Rep Power: 119

Yup, I agree. I am just the kind of person that would rather change a part before it fails than wait for it to fail and strand me or cause damage.

 
Rep Power: 128

back to the topic,, i think gen 7 is better if not at least as good as 6 th gen ..

i dont know how u got so many problems with your d17vtecpower? early too

I had many civics am puzzled..
I change oil on mine every 3k synthetic mobil 1..
flush radiator per 100k, change plugs when my scanner identifies missfire and i see when they are bad..

 
Rep Power: 368

that i disagree

drove one and felt the difference

 
Rep Power: 128

reliability wise? they drive as good, u got more electronics, only 6th gen u had more aftermarket support to build one

 
Rep Power: 368

not reliability, yeah, forgot this was about it.

they lighter, better suspension, if well built, it slides the tail nicely during corners

 
Rep Power: 519

I'll suggest you research the brand UNITTA, we have that brand name on some of the Genuine Honda timing belts on the shelf at work.
Let me know what you find out about it.

 
Rep Power: 119

I would like to install RSX sway bars in my Civic, but I am concerned that I may be making things worse by doing so. I am not sure of how big is "too big" for sway bars, so please help. The stock sway bars are 16MM in the front and 12MM in the back, and the ones I want to install are 23MM front and 19MM back. Would that be too big? What would the pros and cons of installing larger sway bars be? Here is the video that has me worried about the sway bars being too big:

 
Rep Power: 211

I stand corrected. Thanks

 
Rep Power: 519

IIRC all of the Honda timing belts at work say either Gates or Unitta on them.
Gates, Bando and Mitsuboshi names are on accessory belts.


I think I read that Gates is the only company that is an OEM to just about every vehicle manufacturer worldwide.

 
Rep Power: 128

now why do i think the 8th gen , my dads in the family seems cheaper made..
like interior plastic looks cheaper, aluminum block with crack issues,
the metal on the body, on my 2010 civic in the family looks thinner than my 05 civic..
maybe i will measure it to see diffrence..
intake manifold is all plastic , everything kinda looks like easier crumble vehicle, ..
like not as solid.. so far it performs and reliability is the same..
but looking at some product thickneesess and material looks cheaper made..

and yet 05 costed back in 05 12k, 2010 or new civic cost 20k +
is it just me or toyota and honda got comftorable , and saw hyundai making a taking the market so now, to get decently priced civic they find ways to cheap out on production and still keep the revenues left at the same rate they are a custommed to get per vehicle.?

 
Rep Power: 119

Really can’t go wrong with RSX sway bars. Now if you use some hack method to also lower the car, and you put in a plastic racing seat.. well I hope you have good dental insurance..

 
Rep Power: 211

Yes, it states that on their website.
When I did my mom's 7th gen timing belt (kit) a few months ago I ordered from HondaPartsNow and the TB + accessories were Mitsuboshi.
On my 6th gens timing belt was Mitsuboshi and accessories were Bando.

 
Rep Power: 119

So I would have to go bigger than the RSX's sway bars to be a bad thing?

 
Rep Power: 119

 
Rep Power: 119

LOL, I just wanted to be sure that RSX sway bars wouldn't be too big. Besides price, why didn't Honda do it from the factory? Does it increase NVH or something?

 
Rep Power: 519

IMO I think the RSX probably rides a bit stiffer than a regular Civic, and the stiff sway bars are part of that complete suspension package as a whole.

Some low trim level Civics don't have any sway bars at all.

 
Rep Power: 119

Wow, I did not know that Honda sold some Civics without sway bars. Those Civics must corner terribly. So the only disadvantage to installing RSX sway bars is NVH?

 
Rep Power: 119