2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Hi everyone. I found this site recently and it has been a wealth of information. A big thank you to everyone here! I can't thank you enough really.

I am currently at 76K miles (approx 120,000 km).

I have changed the timing belt, and have followed Honda's suggested schedule for the most part - I generally believe they want you to come in more frequently $$$ - so I use my own judgment.

My question is: What are the big things that I need to stay on top of to get this baby to 300,000 miles? Will an engine generally last that long with regular oil changes? Should I be washing my engine? What about rust, I notice some on the inner wheel behind the hub cap area. Should I be looking under the car for rust and washing under there?

Thanks for any advice!

Section250

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Car is 8 years old, you only put 76k on it so far.
To get to 300,000 miles at this rate, the car will need to last another 24 years.
That doesn't happen very often where I live, the rust worm never sleeps.

The engine should easily go to 300k with routine maintenance (preemptive) and repairs as needed. Will the body and the rest of the car last that long? No idea.
Service the ATF often if it is an automatic.

I service several Hondas with 200k-300k+ miles regularly. Most are older, but some are as new as yours. (I'm sure there are more high-milers out there in my area, I work for a dealer and most people go elsewhere after warranty is out.)

I can think of at least 3 late 7th gens with a quarter million miles or more that I see, these people go like 40k+ per year. Their cars never seem to sit still.

OTOH I see one 8th gen that is rusting away badly already, it spends winters in Michigan. I doubt its body will last another 5 years without developing some gaping holes in it.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it.

So what are my best chances at killing / slowing down the rust worm? Protective under coating? Constant washing in certain places?

The count to 300,000 miles is on! ;c)

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

you live where there is winter climate, winter climate = salt and rust, therefore....

300,000 miles on engine and tranny = possible

300,000 miles on body and frame = impossible

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

If its impossible to hit 300k on a body and frame, how do cars get to 300k?

It won't be show quality, but yes no doubt it could hit 300k.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

like i said, it depends on the conditions the vehicle is driven in, the OP is from calgary where they get alot of snow and driving in snow usually means lots of rust

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

The chances of killing or stopping rust once it has started are slim. In a restoration the standard process is to cut out the area and weld in new metal. An alternative is to sandblast the area to bare metal and then treat with chemicals to remove the microscopic rust. In a restoration this usually works fairly well since the vehicle seldom will even get wet. In a daily driver I would guess there is about a 50% chance rust will reappear.

Protective undercoating can do as much harm as good. If it is done before there is rust and it bonds to the panel it would probably help. If there is already rust you are just sealing it in and it will continue. Most places that do undercoating will not do it after 6 months or if the car has been through a winter.

If they use salt where you live then the best thing you can do is rinse it off as much as possible. If that isn'r possible then leaving the car outside helps. Bringing a salt coated car into a warm garage allows the corrosion to occur at at greater rate. Also when you wash the car focus on getting dirt out of seams and other hidden areas. The wet dirt will hold moisture and increase the chances of rust.

Rust is probably the hardest thing to fix on a car.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Snow alone doesn't promote rust.

How your area deals with snow (i.e. salt, brine spray, etc.) is what causes most of the rust I see. Also similar: Coastal cars, like California and Florida--sea salt spray causes major rust.

The snowy places that don't seem to have huge rust problems use sand and cinders on the roads. People there also have to actually learn how to drive on snow (instead of expecting snowy roads to be clear as a summer day like people do here. We got a bunch of idiots here every time it snows.)

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Just stay up on maintenance and repairs with quality parts/fluids etc and drive it like its the economy car most dont want to admit it is. This will maximize the life of your car imo. As for rust,for the most part pj has it right so treat it as he explained or just live with it as the car gets older. On the plus side Calgary is one of the cities ezone mentioned that uses an alternative to salt so dont sweat that too much.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Im in calgary and in the winters i wash my car twice a week, except for the -35 weeks. And i park my car outside. Even just a quick 3min rinse is better and i always wash under the car, front, back, then both sides. When i take my car to shop and they raise the car, i always get compliments on how clean it is underneath, there is no rust anywhere on the car.

The city uses mostly sand than salt in winters. But theres salt in snow. Eastern canada is much worse where theres 10x mre salt in their winters. Thats why all their cars are always rusted so quickly.

Every few months i spray rust spray on where i see get tiny, super tiny rust dots but i get it off asap. I mean like miniscule tiny, usually in wheel wells or side of car and easy to get off. Was told if i keep doing this every now and then, then i wont have any issue

Was told bad idea to degrease and clean an engine bay in winters so i do it usually right before winter starts and again when gets warmer.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

What is ATF again - auto transmission fluid? What's the point of servicing it often if the body won't last, as we are speculating.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Yes.



Try speculating the price of a transmission replacement or an overhaul.


Wait, you're right. Don't bother changing the engine oil either, because the body won't last.





:_doh:

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Your car's body will last to 300K miles. It will look like crap with rust around the fenders and you might have holes in the floor but it will get there.

The bigger issue is whether or not you'll be sick of driving a rust bucket. Most likely you will have moved on to something newer way before the car hits 300K.

It's sad that these cars will never reach the point where people will seek them out from junk yards to do full restorations like they do on old Detroit iron.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Most civic drivers ive known or come across, NEVER and never have changed their ATF. They even still run the stock air filter. I know a few with 7th gens, more milage than me, much more and still on stock ATF.

No one in my family has ever changed theirs, but they dont drive Hondas. Same with my cousins, they just change the oil and thats it. They dont even do the filter while theyre at it. Theyre cheap when it comes to their cars, they dont want to spend money if they dont have to.

Most 7th gens i see on the road look like crap and beaten to hell and back. If you see someone driving with a trashed exterior car, you know forsure they dont maintain the inside.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Are you trying to justify neglect of the ATF?
You still need a transmission.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

No but im just saying most people never touch it or even check it!

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

And you wonder why you all B¡TCH about transmission problems...

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

I work with a guy that has a '98 Civic coupe SI that has 400 000 km on it (250k mile) and it looks fine (no rust). It could use a polish and the bumpers are beat up but he says it doesn't even burn or leak oil.

I don't know how common it is for transmissions to use 10 weight oil like Civics do. My Toyota truck used 80 weight and I never bothered changing it.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

To answer your question, it is because we are speculating. You really won't know unless you try. My first suggestion would be to look at cars in your area. If they all have fenders rusting off then I would say the odds are yours will end up the same. If most of the older cars look pretty good then it's worth a shot.

Much of what people think of in terms of rust is from older cars. Primers, coatings and application have improved dramatically in recent years so even in parts of the country where rust was common cars are much better today. When rust occurs it usually progresses pretty quickly. If your car has gone 10 years without rust then I think there is a good chance it can go another 10 with little to no rust.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

You are talking about manual transmissions.
One is FWD, the other is RWD.
Two different animals.
Different manufacturers, different engineering and design, different needs.
Apples and oranges.

Other posts were talking about automatic transmissions.
Apples, oranges, and tangerines.


(Honda used motor oil in their manual transmissions for many years.)

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

So hey, not to off topic here too much....

So all these issues with transmissions, fluid changes and ISB are strictly automatics? My manual Civic has a rigorous changing schedule as well, it's like 2 years/40 000kms. I was stunned when I found out it was 10 weight. I think it says right in my manual you can use 10w30 in a pinch as long as you change it out ASAP.

EDIT: When I changed it out (trans fluid) it looked the same as the new stuff I put in. Maybe 1 shade darker.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Oil in the engine gets dark from the byproducts of combustion (mostly). The trans has none of that going on, so the oil stays clean looking.

Yeah, the book says 30,000 miles for the fluid. Common.

Back in the (late) 80s, normal 10w30 was what we (at the dealer I was at) used for all manual trans and engines. IDK when that changed (I was gone), but the Honda Manual trans fluid still LOOKS like motor oil. No idea what is different, if anything.
You want to be the Guinea Pig?


Manuals have far fewer issues than automatics, in general.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Nope! I'm currently on the 500 000 km plan as well. I'm quite happy to pay for all OEM parts/fluids from my dealer.

Your right though, it does look just like motor oil but it smells like transmission fluid. I almost felt bad for dropping the oil when it didn't look any different though.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Hi! How are you washing under you car? I go to the 'spray your own car' place and just spray soap water first and then rinse. Are you angling the hose upwards to wash underneath if you bend down and get under there?

Or do you take your Honda to a place where it goes through the washing machine?

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

Go to this site and check out the data.
http://automobiles.honda.com/mile-ma...r-stories.aspx

Somebody got 800,000 mi on 03 Civic Hybrid
http://automobiles.honda.com/mile-ma...aspx?Story=614

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

1.7 million miles...... damn


http://automobiles.honda.com/mile-ma...spx?Story=1353

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

I agree with what ezone said.

Rust will kill long before the engine dies.

Trans will probably take a shit before 300k if its an auto.

Re: 2004 Civic long-term - getting to 300K miles (approx 500K km)
 

These stories have inspired me to take my Civic to 300k+ miles.

Good thing I live in So Cal. And good thing I have manual trans.