First of all, hello to everybody from Finland Today I decided to be a part of Honda family, bough a 1997 1.4lsi!

​​​​​I needed the car basically to go to work, but I have a pretty long distance to work and back,yet I wanted a cheap car. I thought that Honda would offer the reliability that I was looking for.

I drove the car home today from a sales rep, about 100kilometers. Noticed a couple of little things,and couple of...worrying things... First was that the blower wasn't working,I mean it makes a sound like it is..but I noticed on a way home that it isn't blowing pretty much at all. Also all the windows were steaming (don't know if the right word but you get the point) up,and I think it was because of the blower not working.

Then when I got home,I noticed when I was taking another tire set from the trunk,that it was moist...I lifted the mat and there was a cover, made out of either wood or cardboard and it was wet as...well it was soaking!! Damn...

Then I would say that it is consuming a LOT of gas...altough I have to see that in more detail this week traveling to work. Also I think the engine is making a bit of a clicking noise, I'd say it's the valves,but I'm definetely no expert.

Then some minor details, inside light is not working (not a big deal), driver side bench warmer is not working (at least the light doesn't come on) and speaker self at the rear is going all over the place and making noises, but with these I'm not worried about.

It's these that I do worry about:

-Wet trunk
-Cold/Hot air blower not working
-Fuel consumption seems to by way too high...but like I said, I have to calculate the exact numbers this week
-Engine making a clicking sound

Does any of these sound familiar and what are your opinions, are those expensive/difficult problems I'm having..I mean of course it could be anything and I'm not expekting spot on answers, just looking for any answers at this point. Car wasn't expensive,and I wasnt of course expekting a new car anyway.

Cheers,

Sami

​
​​​​​​
​

 

Hi from Europe.

First of all, what is driver side bench warmer?

Anyway, do you have oil in your engine, and how much?
Do you when was the last time valves were adjusted? It is not expensive, and you should do it, it could save a little bit of gas, and make a better sound from engine.

Wet bunker? Hm, maybe from taillights, probably.
When it is dry, try pouring water, and see where it leaks.
Probably from gasket from tailights.
And about heater, maybe you have air in your water system? Does your temp. gauge works normal?

 

Thank you for your reply!

I think I have to go and get the valves adjusted. There is oil in the engine,at least the oil stick or what ever it's called..says there is

Driver side bench warmer, well maybe I should have said seat warmer,but here in Finland it's cold as f...k in the winter,so it's nice when you can warm your seat a little bit..and btw,it works.

You gave good advices and I thank you very much for that, but how do I check if I have air in my water system
..I know,I'm such a noob...but that is the reason I joined this forum, to be surrounded by professionals rathers than other noobs (my friends)

Sami

 

Go get valves adjusted, after that, well see what happens. Maybe is not bad idea to see what oil pressure is. Sometimes checking oil pressure can tell you condition of bearings.

Aha, I get it. Damn, only few of Civic have seat warmers in Croatia, wish I had that. If it works, ok then haha.

And for checking with the air, IDK TBH, your water temp gauge should be really steady when the engine is warm.
Try asking for some advice your mechanic when you go see him for valves.

Btw, try to find some Honda Club in your country, to help you with choice of mechanics. It will save you a lot of money, and patience.

Btw, Im noob just like you, there is not much difference between us. :D

 

Remove the blower motor to check for a mouse nest in the air duct.

Fuel economy will be low if the engine is not timed properly. Any newly acquired old Civic should have the timing belt changed. Then set the spark timing with a timing light.

 

Thank you mk378 and Josip!! Your information and advices are highly appreciated here in Finland

Actuallycar isn't 1.4lsi..it is 1.4i with 75 horsepowers, hatchback model. Now I'm already thinking about summer...and new coilovers and alloy wheels, and I'm thinking about fully adjustable D2 coilovers,but I have no clue what model I have,site is askings wheter it's Ek, Es, Ep,Fd, Fb, Fc, Fd1, Fg, Fn or Si...and then Single Cam or Twin Cam?

I was thinking lowering it about 50-60mm, can I use 17" alloys with that lowering,and how wide should the alloys be and with what offset?

-Samppa-

 

Oke oke, hold on, stop!
First of all, you need to fix your car to the max. Then, you can tune it, build it, or something else.

Btw, you then have 1.4i. It is D14A3, same as D14A4, only difference is gasket unter TB. Go buy gasket for D14A4, and replace it, and you will have 90HP.
Second, you probably got EJ9. It should be somewhere on the blue stamp plate on the firewall, when you are loking your engine, on the left side.
It is a single cam, and you can see it it is single.
You can usw 17'', but I don't see a reason for it. It would be heaby, tires would be more expensive. And your bushings would absorbe more damage.

I only want good for you and your car, so it would be smarter to fix every detail, learn some things, then go buy aftermarket parts and play with your car.
And learn the limits of your car, don' crash it.

 

Hah, thanks Josip, you sound like my father.. :D Of course I'm gonna get everything fixed before I start tuning, but I'm pretty excited for this car.

I had to google what is gasket...that is how much I know about cars Is is really true that a gasket brings, and is it true that it only costs about 70€ when I googled it?

Anyway, thanks again Josip, I too only want good for me and my car, I have to think which is better with coilovers, 16" or 17"

Merry christmas everyone

 

It's not true about that price, I don't know what you were loking, but you need this.
Don't worry, time by time, you will learn more about cars.

It is better to go with 15, but 16 is okay too. 17 is overkill.


Merry christmas you too.

 

15 horsepowers costs 7 euros, christmas just came early

 

Plus shipping.

But check if previous owner changed that before you buy it.

When you remove air filter you can see it and then you will know, if you dont know, take a picture and post it up.

 

Yeah I'll check it when I get the valves adjusted and blower fixed. I have pretty much decided that I will go 16" alloys with 195/40 tyres. Do you think that 7" wide alloy should be okay,offset is something I dont know...if I recall right, the original offset for rims is 45.

I want the wheels to be in line with archs, I dont want them to come out

-Samppa-

 

You will scrub if you plan to be in line, maybe you should buy camber kit and go a little bit offset so it doesnt scrub much.
And I don'w know what rims do you plan, or want... you're gonan need to ask someone smarter than me. :D

 

Yeah, lowering car and getiing just the right wheels can be a nightmare. Camber kit I will never,ever buy. No camber for me

But this is pretty much what I want the car look like: https://honda-tech.com/forums/attach...1&d=1514067865

 

I'm not sure you know all details about camber kits mate.

 

When you lower the springs, the wheels will camber out strangely. A camber kit lets you set it back to approximately zero.

I would really suggest you get the car working perfectly as stock first before thinking about modifying anything. In my opinion, lowered cars look ugly, and it's impractical for everyday use-- if there is a bad spot in the road you'll tear the bottom of the car out.

 

First of all Josip, I don't know anything about camber kits, I always tought that camber makes the tires look funny because they are in a weird angle

Then mk378, I think that the D2 coilover set has camber adjust also,so I can keep the wheels straight rather than in a weird angle don't know anything about camber kits, I always tought that camber makes the tires look funny because they are in a weird angle And about fixing the car before tuning it, you should read all my posts. My FIRST priority is to fix all problems BEFORE I start tuning it, but the place where I'm taking the car,first they fix the problems,and only when every problem are fixed, they will install the wheels and coilovers.

My question is,I have decided to go Josip's suggestion and get 16" alloys. So how wide should the tires be and which offset? I am thinking 195/40 tires,and tires and my vision is that the tires comes about same line with the archs

 

So this is pretty much how I want my car to look like

 

You are rushing into this, and you shuldn't.
With camber kit, you can, and sometimes need to adjust it.
If you want it to be straight with arches, it will rub, you need just a little bit negative camber.
And I don't know why you want 16, I think 15'' is best for your car, but it's your choice. 17 is overkill.

Btw, maybe you should drive a stock car for some time so you can see how does car go nad behave.
Step by step, increasing speed and modification list.

 

Yeah I know I have to use a little camber,and this is/will be my first low rider I had a VW golf MK2 1991, and that thing was LOW! If i recall right, it was lowered 80mm with 17" wheels, there we had to do enormous work for the archs so that the tires were able to turn,and still they scrubbed on the fenders.

I'm one of those (some call idiots) who really like low riders,and yes I know they are not a pleasure to drive,I have experienced that...but I will do it anyway,that is the reason I'm asking advices from you guys,in that second picture of civic,what size of rims you think it has and how much you thing it's lowered 'cause it's just beautiful