natemoore

I bought a nice, clean 1998 Honda Civic EX for my 16 year old son. Now he can get a job!

It has 163,000 miles on it. I do not know any of its maintenance history. If I'm unsure as to whether or not the correct transmission fluid is in it, would it be wise to do a fluid change to make sure?

The fluid isn't burnt and it still pretty red (not brown), so I'm guessing that the fluid has been changed at some point in the car's life. But some disturbing things I've found with the car make be believe that previous owners may not have been particular about the fluid used. Someone "fixed" a CEL by moving the bulb to an unused socket, and "fixed" the SRS light by disconnecting the harness at the instrument cluster. I guess they call this "presale" conditioning. My bad for not noticing that they didn't come on when the ignition was turned to "on," but I was so excited to finally find an older Civic that was in really good shape.

Thanks

shotoutacc0rd

As long as you use quality fluid, it would be good to change it. You may also want to look into installing an inline transmission filter, since as far as I know the car's trans filter isn't accessible.

good luck fixing the P.O's mess

Fnix

iTrader: (1)

Sure change the fluids. A cheap cost for piece of mind.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

If you have no records of maintenance then proceed as if no maintenance has been done.

blazzer

+1 i would not second think about a new timing belt. just never know about the unknown

tony_2018

With that many miles you have a list of maintenance needing to be done. Get to it

Nos651

Id do a tune up timing belt and water pump job.

Also if someone took that cluster out to remove cel or move around its possible they rolled some miles off the cluster. Ive seen this happen from working at a shop for a few years and at a dealer..

natemoore

Yes, a timing belt job is in my near future, and a visual inspection sooner than that. May do that tomorrow. I moved the Civic into my air conditioned mancave this evening in preparation for an entire day of fixing and troubleshooting tomorrow.

78F350

Gates timing belt kit.
Along with what was already mentioned, get a good look at the bushings. Most of the 90s Civics/Del Sols I have bought needed: tie rods and boots, sway bar links, control arm bushings, and rear trailing arm bushings. -Not going to kill you on a DD, but makes for a more stable ride.

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

noooooo gates kit. gates belt, yes. gates pump= hot trash. the new impellers are junk.

shotoutacc0rd

Do you have any experience to prove the claim about the impeller? I'll have some experience soon, but I haven't heard of anyone actually using it. Gates says it works better, not that I trust them tho

shotoutacc0rd

Their tensioner seems pretty good too

blazzer

um... oem ftw. why save a few bucks when you get piece of mind and >>>>HONDA OEM<<< which is proven......... over gates. not really an argument.

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

i have experience, as a mechanic. gates pumps now come from china, and have **** cast iron impellers on them. less flow, inferior material. stamped stainless= much better. i have had good luck with gmb branded pumps, but oem is always best.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/oem-vs-keihin-vs-aisin-vs-gates-water-pump-3197052/

shotoutacc0rd

"save a few bucks"

uhhh the Honda belt costs the same as the entire gates kit. Its not saving a few bucks, OEM costs 5x as much. The spring costs more than the kit, the tensioner costs more than the kit, the water pump costs more than the kit.

edit. The ek chassis parts are significantly cheaper, from Honda, than the EG parts. Weird..

shotoutacc0rd

I was there for that, man. If my posts weren't deleted by a mod they're still there.

I agree about the stamped stainless steel being better, but I asked if you've had experience with the gates pump failing or if there's evidence of a car overheating after using one, and its the fault of the pump.

I'm not saying gates is better, but they say its just as good. I have two gates pumps chilling in my car waiting to be put into my B7 and my Z6. Idk if they're as bad as everyone (except gates) is saying they are. Obviously they're not as good, the cast iron is surely a cost saving measure, but what I'm asking where's the trial and error type testing that they are effectively worse?

tony_2018

No god damn gates kit, no nothing just get it straight from the online honda dealership.

tony_2018

Very contradicting, honda belts are the same as gates kit. BUT you also say oem is 5x as much. For the record online pricing is about the same as any of those autozone/pepboys/advanceautoparts/napa kits. Get to know your online searching instead of spending your time spray painting junk stencils.

tony_2018

Instead of going by what you heard, go by what you experienced. That is where the knowledge comes in to play. When you experience a part failure where did you buy it, what is the brand, how long did it last. That is how you can confirm if "so and so" is a failure.

tony_2018

Price out the gates timing belt kit and show me how much you got it for and I'll show you how much an actual complete honda cost.

shotoutacc0rd

want me to post the actual prices? The Honda belt is the same price as the gates kit. When you add in all the other components, aka the tensioner, water pump, etc, its aprox. 5x as much.

p.s. I'm spray painting keys now. Also, I haven't installed either pump yet. I plan to update the thread football helmet guy posted. But as far as I have seen, so far, there haven't been any failures of the gates water pump. It doesn't make cars overheat. So the price increase for OEM seems, well, pointless?

shotoutacc0rd

The gates kit is $65. You can pretty easily have any parts store price match rockauto.com

Honda parts:

water pump: 66
belt: 44
tensioner: 50
spring: 50
+ 5$ handling charge
+ atleast 15$ for shipping
..

total : 220 vs 65

so 4x as much. I forgot that I had a 20$ credit when I got my gates kit. NOT to mention that those are the cheap online dealer prices. If you go to a local walk in dealer, it will be well over 5x as much.

QED. I'm done with this now, OP can make up his mind based on the evidence presented. That thread that was posted is well worth reading. Might as well get the gates kit without the water pump included and spend 100$ for a very good timing belt kit.

tony_2018

Thats with the water pump, without the water pump its less than 100 bucks. Oh btw that spring you said that was expensive its only 4 dollars

tony_2018

God the contradictions in your last sentences. You still haven't shown me actual pricing and what comes with the kit. I just showed you my proof.

shotoutacc0rd

hold the phone..
14516-P08-000 015 001 SPRING, TIMING BELT ADJUSTER 71.53 50.07 Qty

who is selling the spring for that cheap??

final edit.. The price between the z6 and y8 OEM parts are pretty similar. A few bucks less for the belt, a few more for the pump, the tensioner is 1$ cheaper.

WHY IS THE Y8 SPRING 4$ WHEN THE Z6 IS ****** $50!?!?!

why!?!?!?