dgdarien

2000 Civic Coupe.Has about 150,000 miles so far. Besides routine and scheduled maintenance. What are some typical areas to focus on as the car gets older? Alternator? Starter? Fuel pump?

MisereNoire

Body seams that still have original factory Seam Sealer. #2 cause of most water infiltration leaks.

agb22

Doesn't hurt to look for threads before posting! Click link below for factory maintenance schedule. Pretty much all there. In addition to that, I would try to keep the engine bay as clean as possible so its easier to notice oil and / or coolant leaks. Its much harder to notice with a dirty bay. Common leaks are usually around throttle body o-ring, camshaft seal, and oil pan. Keep it clean and check for leaks every so often to be safe. Steering components should be inspected ( tie rod ends for example ), bushings and ball joints for suspension, brake pads, rotors and tires. Timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, and distributor also good for a tune up.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...edule-2053807/

TomCat39

The following thread has wear items in it also as well as engineering short falls and it's not sorted very well but it is pretty comprehensive:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-...areas-3270665/

petr0lb0mb

That is a great list you've compiled TomCat39! Very useful! Thanks for that!

TomCat39

Don't thank me, thank all the contributors. I was merely a steward of the info coming in.

I appreciate the thanks of my stewardship though.

prakhash

One thing to remember is, as your car is getting older, so are you. Perhaps a driver mod?

Chance EG

All suspension bushings will inevitably be rotted and crappy after 20+ years.

CV axle boots will normally be torn up/ripped if they've never been replaced.

Check if the fuel filter has ever been replaced, or if the radiator has ever been flushed.

Just spitballing some "routine" things that most casual owners wouldn't really think about.

Jimi Hondrix

OP you didn't specify transmission type:
If automatic do a 3x3 drain and fill every 30k miles. If manual then replace M/T fluid every 50k miles.
Lube rubber window tracks with Syl-Glide or similar sythetic grease that won't damage rubber. Can use silicone spray too but, doesn't last long. Can use synthetic grease to lube all moving parts of regualtor as well.

For any car/mileage: If your dash temp gauge rises above the halfway mark pull over, turn off engine, put climate control on max heat and fan on max high until engine cools down. Doing this may avoid blowing a head gasket due to a potential overheat situation.

dgdarien

Thanks for the replies. I'm just looking for what to look at that's not covered in routine maintenance.

It's an automatic. I didn't do the 3x3 transmission fluid change last time as I only had enough quarts for a x1 change. But I'll look into doing it again soon.

Radiator has been drained and filled with Honda blue fluid. 1 tie rod and boot was recently replaced; original CV boots still not torn. Radiator hoses changed. 1 rubber motor mount had to be changed due to rip/age. Timing belt and water pump changed. Alternator cap changed, but still on original alternator. AC fan motor changed due to failure.

Fuel filter has never been changed.

Car has never overheated or even gone into the halfway mark.

TomCat39

Did you even look at the thread I linked?

dgdarien

Yep, sure did. Thanks for the link.

tony_2018

Be prepared, not cheap.

TomCat39

All things considered, I have to disagree.

I find the civic to be a relatively cheap car to keep running.

Friends of mine try and keep old Big Money Wasted cars going and man they are down for long periods saving up the cash for parts.

Besides upgrading for performance, the most expensive thing is the body rust typically, and then it's only to do it right and if you can't do it yourself. I guestimate with a custom paint job it will be a good 5000-7500 dollar job if I strip the car to a shell first before sending it off. Oh and custom interior can run you an arm and a leg too. I was quoted about 4000 for the seats only front and rear based on the materials I chose.

Other than that, 5000 can keep the car going for another 20 years easily.

Jimi Hondrix

Considering there seems to be a sh!tload of these in salvage yards, aftermarket parts are cheap and plentiful, and OEM parts are not outrageous..equals pretty inexpensive to maintain for the most part.

dgdarien

Oh yeah, I definitely plan to keep this car forever. As long as there's no critical failure such as the gears in the automatic transmission explodes.

Jimi Hondrix

Any make/model with over 100k miles on an automatic transmission is always a concern. I added Lubegard Red to my (now my son's) '98 Civic EX coupe's automatic transmission over 30k miles ago. It's at 175k miles now (unknown if ever replaced) and seems to be doing well. Does the Lubegard red work? Hell if I know..but, it claims to reduce friction and lower heat.
Throughout the three years i owned that car I did do a lot of work on it but, I sourced a lot of junk parts locally and purchased OEM when needed. I also learned a lot through this forum, other civic forums, service manual, youtubes and the occasional local mechanic shop when necessary (rarely).

TomCat39

For Automatics, it's highly recommended to add an inline Magnefine filter too.

It's how I am going to keep my wife's Auto going indefinitely.

I was wondering about that Lubeguard Red. Was concerned about adding additives to the Honda ATF as everyone says only Honda ATF for their automatics.

dgdarien

That might be something to look into. I have heard there are some sort of mesh filters inside of the transmission; but the only way to inspect/replace would be to open the transmission housing.

autocraig

Oil leaks are common, especially in older vehicles. Check how bad it is to avoid bigger problems or better yet, have your oil seals replaced. You may start using an oil additive that has anti-wear properties to at least extend the life of your car engine and protect the parts. I'm currently using the nano-based Everglide EGS for my 99 Acura. Quite satisfied with it as it lessened the noise and gave me a much smoother ride which is a big deal for older cars. Watch out for electrical problems too. Body rust is another issue.

710times

the wires in the rubber boot that bend when the doors are opened and closed like to break. my 2000 ex coupe has 3 wires broken on the plug to the chassis side. so my driver mirror will move sideways fine but not up and down and my door lock switch doesnt work but i can still unlock/lock it with the stock honda keyless remote. its a booger to fix them i had to pull the fender to get to the plug. but since i dont know how to solder i need to find someone to fix it.

SCoupe 5sp

That's a good tip and I am going to add that. We have a daily driver 2000 Civic LX sedan that sees ~20,000+ miles per year and now has 206,xxx miles still running the original automatic transmission. Bought it with 87,000 miles some time back. At about 100,000 miles, when the water pump, timing belt and other critical maintence parts were installed, I pulled the oem radiator and put in a dual core aluminim unit.. At that time, I changed/severed the routing of the tranny fluid into the radiator. Made a completely separate cooling unit. The trans fluid is routed to front mounted trans cooler from a Toyota Tundra (w/ SR5 towing package, with compatible and easy to use 3/8" tube fittings). So the temp of the automatic transmission never sees 190+ water temps. . About every 15,000 miles (nine months), I drain what comes out of the system and replenish it with fresh oem Honda fluid, ussually about 2 to 2.5 quarts that I buy online for about $6ea. So the fluid is being renewed more often than spec calls for. And it is so friggin easy to do. fwiw, I've never seen any metal bits on my drain plug, just a small amount of some very fine greyish powder. I am not smarter than a Honda Engineer, but I think I am seeing much longer than expected service and have not spent more $100 on this extra attention. What are other guys seeing out of an auto tranny in the way of miles to failure. Is 206,xxx uncommon? Seems like it.

TomCat39

I like the idea of a separate oil cooler for the tranny. That I'm sure helps along with all the fluid renewal you do.