Lith ium

Hey! I just bought my 98' 5 speed LX a few weeks ago from a good friend for exactly a grand. Has 120k on it but Im starting to suspect some of those miles have been rough ones due to a couple of friend's kids colleging it.

So far, I've found that it needs
-a front wheel bearing or two
-it has either a vacuum leak or bad IACV (cold idle 2k rpm + cel says so)
-plugs, wires, filters, the wors
-a battery

What I'm not sure about-
1. It whines. Not just when driving, so hopefully not a throw-out. It sounds 100% like a supercharger, not better way to describe it (lol). I've never heard an alternator sound like this... And it only whines during first 10 min of running.
2. Ticking only when cold as well. Valve adjustment due?
3. Reverse seems to have 2 "notches" in the shifter. And if Im not careful and miss the 2nd notch, it makes a very subtle grinding noise and doesnt go in to gear. Sometimes a single pull-back on the shifter doesn't get that second notch and I have to try again.

The good-
-Not burning oil
-Feels like at least 100 of those whopping 106 HP
-Clutch and trans except reverse feel great, and was a blast to learn how to drive a stick with
- I kinda love it
-timing belt <40k miles

Should I just sell it back? (friends r gud)
Or go ahead and invest in more tools and become a permanent resident here on this site? I've got a feeling you guys will be seeing plenty of dumb questions and direction requests to applicable DIY guides if I keep this thing.

Oh, and what's up with this 2.5-3k rpm rpm at 60mph? That normal?

EDIT- discovered this- Input shaft bearing?

94 Civic Si

Be careful buying cars from friends.

If you value the friendship more than the car, keep the car and deal with what may come...

94 Civic Si

PS: how do you "college" a car?

eh2_Trav

iTrader: (1)

Posting a video of your actually car running when its cold would help us help you tremendously. Where exactly is the whine coming from? tranny side of engine? Pulley side of engine? You paid 1k for a car, I would expect it to need a little TLC here and there. Look to spend $200 bucks as far as a full OEM tune up goes, Youtube how to adjust your valves, is quite easy and only requires a few tools. And Ive personally heard input shaft bearing makes a loud knocking noise and the one in the video you posted isnt that bad at all and could even be the throw-out bearing not the Input shaft bearing. How do you know your wheel bearing are bad? They say to replace them every 100k but, again, Ive personally seen oem bearing on 200k plus cars be fine. Clean out the IACV with some brake cleaner. But we need more details on how or why you think you need all those things done to it.

mk378

When first started cold, it is designed to rev high then slow down. Does it idle normally when warmed up? Don't trust the dash tach for exact readings. The little Civic engine needs to spin to make any horsepower, thus it is geared for about 2500 rpm at highway speed.

Noise stops when you push the clutch down is the input shaft bearing. Noise from the belt side of the engine you should take all the belts off and spin the parts by hand to see if any are rough to turn. If the noise is still there when you start the engine with the belts off, it is something related to the timing belt, which should be fixed immediately.

Lith ium

Thank you for your reply!
I will definitely post that vid next time I start it up. I'm looking foreword to doing the tune-up and valve adjustment, I think I just need to add a shim set to the toolbox :D Should be a good learning experience.

I was thinking the same about the noise that I posted in that vid- could be a lot louder. And I read that if it is one of those bearings, it could go for a while before having to pop open or replace the trans. Two whining noises- the one that happens when clutch is released- waiting for wife to press clutch for me while I check. The other one is only when cold, coming from belt side, and comes on and off 100% randomly. Probably figure that out shortly... It has a brand new alternator so that's good atleast, seeing the location of it. o.o

The wheel bearing noise- I can't rightly say I'm 100% sure that it is a wheel bearing but I've heard 4 of them go bad on other cars, it quickly gets louder at 50+mph and the particular noise just immediately clicked that diagnosis in my head. I'd be happy to catch a highway vid though if you really want to verify
.
Throttle body cleaner cool to clean out the IACV with? First thing I did to this car was fix the sticky gas pedal. It was so bad I pulled the whole TB off and blackened a rag. Guess I really should have cleaned the IACV while it was off lesson learned

TomCat39

Throttle body cleaner should be just fine to clean the IACV.

Not sure why you would need any shims, the valves on these cars don't use static setups that require shims. They use a screw lock nut so adjustments can be done for life with nothing more than a wrench and a screwdriver and a feeler gauge set.

Lith ium

And thank you for your reply too!
It takes quite a while for it to warm up for one thing. I figured such a little engine would warm up faster. After about 10 minutes of driving, the 2k idle drops down to 1.2k and it seems to hold on to 1.2k until I've been stopped at a redlight for 5-10 seconds, then it drops. I go, stop, 1.2k, wait, 500-600, go, stop, 1.2k, etc. hope that doesn't sound like spaghetti, I don't know how else to put it

I should have searched first about the highway rpm speed... good to know that it's normal. Seems the Si's are even more "spirited" on the highway haha

I'll check out the pulleys and such tomorrow. There is a second intermittent whining noise coming from the belt side only when cold but I'm pretty sure it's one of the accessories. I'm a little skiddish to run the engine with out the belts and things, isn't one of those belts for the water pump?

Lith ium

Upon looking at a guide for this job, I see what ya mean. Seems easy! I was under the impression that shims=feeler gauges for whatever reason.
TB cleaner it is then. Hope this works.... new IACV are $150-$200 o.O

tony_2018

Burn it

TomCat39

Yeah, maybe in some areas shims could equal feeler gauges. Usually shims are parts used in engines in different spots. Some valves use shims for proper gaping (my old chrysler was like that), and shim bearings are used in the crank etc. So it could be confusing using the term shim for feeler gauges.

Such a hater.

mk378

The water pump is driven by the timing belt, under the plastic cover. The external belts are for the alternator, power steering pump (if equipped) and A/C compressor (if equipped).

White_EG1

Depends how much you paid for it from your friend. Anything over like 1200 I'd try to give it back. But if it was 1000 or lower I'd keep it there's not to many issues most are very easily fixed but once you pay more than a rack you could have got a car that atleast Is running flawlessly maybe a little cosmetic damgage but nonetheless.

2500 rpm 5th gear on d15b7 barely equals 60mph. Highway I drive at 3-3.5k all day long, gives you a bit of merging power.

Lith ium

Just an update in case anyone wants a happy story-

I cleaned the IACV, had the CEL cleared, and it has been off for a couple weeks now. No CEL! NO CEL.

I had a local import specialty shop voluntarily listen to the transmission noise. Same verdict- probably input shaft bearing but it's so subtle that they had to turn off their air compressor to even notice. With my daily driving, it'll might last another decade before becoming a problem. I drive this car about 10 miles a week for work and drive something else for fun/weekend things.
If it gets bad, I'm not afraid to drop the trans and get my hands dirty... already checked out the process of replacing it, a few other commonly worn out transmission things, and clutch.

The other squeaking upon startup just decided to stop. Car sat for quite some months before I purchased it, so probably just needed awakening.

Those two nothches on the reverse gear are apparently normal. It is a safety precaution to prevent shifting to reverse from 5th gear. I'm not convinced that it's supposed to make that awful noise if I miss the second notch, but it only happened a couple times, and my habit is fixed to prevent it from happening.

Replaced the wheel bearing so that I can occasionally stretch it's legs on the highway safely. I plan to do this just to keep it healthy.
Valve adjustment was a back buster but it's done. Seems like it was just one of the valves. Startup is even more quiet now.

She's got fresh NGK ZRF5F11 plugs (replaced after Seafoam treatment), some kind of pretty blue NGK wires, Spectre air filter, new fuel filter, coolant flush (it's blue/green? o.O), high quality oil and filter, new Fel-Pro valve cover gasket and tube seals, new distro cap & rotor, and new tires.
Painted the valve cover blue. I felt like it should be blue.

Chronological To-Do list=
- Rust-proof the belly
- Battery soon
Has been lightly wrecked by the previous owner's kids...
- Replace the hood with one from a pull-a-part yard
- The grill somehow survived but I need to bend the mounts back in to place if they're not plastic
- Bend the bumper mounts back to where they're supposed to be so that the bumper is no longer bent downward... I hope
- Learn how to fix the rear wheel well rust spots and do it
- Replace front right fender
- Fix the lazy steering (pump?)
- Ugrade the puny horn to something barely legal
- Tint windows to barely legal
- Some barely legally bright headlights
- A decent head hunit and single 10" sub
- Cold air intake
- Y8 intake mani swap
- Upgrade exhaust to one that sounds grizzly but not too loud
- Upgrade suspension the right way, drop 1.5 or 2"
- Some good lightweight wheels to replace these steel/hubcap
- Si spoiler or maybe something smaller
- Headliner needs replaced (other options?)
- Blue-accented Honda badges

Get at least the restoration bits of this list done and I'll drive it more often.



Here's to another 20 years for the old but new Civic, for it is definitely a keeper. :>

Northernlightz

Don't get too nit-picky, it's not a Ferrari. Focus on maintenance and go from there.

If the rust is below the surface, a much cheaper and easier alternative to welding in steel is to rivet in some aluminum. Smooth it out with bondo and your ready to paint.

Lith ium

Totally agreed on maintenance first. Im going to be more detail oriented on maintenance than anything.
Recommend anything in the maintenance department that I haven't done yet? I had a few other things in mind but I was told that they're just replaced when they break and don't cause xtra wear and tear in the meantime. (Water pump, pcv valve, etc)
Thank you for the aluminum/rivet idea. I don't know much about body work... But I have a rivet gun! I'll have to look up a howto on that.

x.l.r.8

If your steering is lazy and you have a whine under the hood check your power steering pump, that would make a whine when dry, Also a noisy air compressor but if your steering fluid is low that won't help, the pump needs fluid to self lubricate.

mk378

If you find you need to add steering fluid, use only Honda. Most third-party fluids will seriously damage the system. Of course if you need to add fluid, that means there is already a leak somewhere.

Northernlightz

You could also change the transmission fluid with Honda MTF, check/replace accessory belts, check coolant hoses around engine that were exposed to previously leaking oil ( it degrades rubber,) endlinks, swaybar frame bushings and clean the end of the main ground. If you want your injectors cleaned, a diesel shop should be equipped for that. A guy I bought parts from once told me he got his cleaned at one for around $100.

Riveting is pretty easy. You cut out the general shape you want, test fit and shape it to the body until it's a flush as you can get it. Use a punch to make drilling holes on each side easier- obviously matching the diameter of the rivet to the drill bit. Make sure to put a peice of wood under while you drill so it doesn't go into the bench. Mock it up and mark the holes on the body. Punch and drill holes into body. Load up a rivet into the gun, apply a good amount of pressure towards the body and rivet away. It naturally kicks back if you don't push enough and the rivet won't be flush. Could always practice before.

TomCat39

I agree with you. However, I would like to add that I have found one alternative that seems to be pretty solid.

Canadian Tire here in Canada has a third party power steering fluid specifically for Honda's and Acura's that also has seal conditioners. Bardahl.

Bardahl Honda/Acura Power Steering Fluid | Canadian Tire

This has been in my wife's power steering unit for several years and I've had zero issues or leaks.

Tylers88

Do not do this, rust doesn't stop unless you cut it out. You can get panel bonding glue and do the rust repair that way if you dont have access to a welder.

Northernlightz

Obviously the rust would be removed before adding new metal.

Yeah the adhesive is another alternative. On the other hand glued joints can fail, it needs to be evenly clamped, meticulously prepped in a clean environment to be effective, it can't be used in certain areas of a vehicle and it takes awhile to cure. The fumes and mess wouldn't be pleasant either I imagine.

​​Rivets are tried and true. No ******* around, just pop them in and you're done. If it can suffice for an airplane, surely it can for a Honda.