So I recently acquired a 2003 Civic DX, 214k miles. Was informed it had problems, but since the owner wasn't car savy, there weren't many details. First thing I discovered was the battery was shot. Bought a new one, and that basically fixed it. Ran great for one whole day(aside from needing an alignment, it pulls to the right) and on the way home after work the oil light would flicker (fast and dim) at idle. The the engine light came on and off a couple times, then stayed on. By the time I got home the engine didn't sound too healthy, but was still running ok. Shut it off and left it alone. I don't want to drive it to my mechanic, and a tow is kinda expensive. My friend from work is a Honda wiz(he's the reason I have the Honda bug now) but any help or advice is welcome.

 

did you check then oil ? Hook up another oil pressure gauge but if the motor didn't sound healthy you may want to do some basic tests before you start it . what do the plugs look like ? Head gasket blown ie. goop under oil fill cap .. Compression tests are easy enough just don't tighten the tester too tight down in that plug tube , finger tight ( not even () like the directions say . I don't think they pull because of bad alignment , caliper binding or suspension components could be wacked . I believe my 2003 is a DX model sedan made in canada , no ABS , roll down manual windows . For $300** I figured I'd always get $$ back in parting it out . Still runs , it had it's problems

 

The oil is full. I was told it had a leak, and when I got it it was empty. But I put oil in it and it not gone down at all. My friend and I are (hopefully) going to do some further investigation today. See the if there's any metal particles on the oil drain plug for instance. My mechanic said it could be just the oil pump, or worse. Wouldn't know until he looks at it. The person I got the car from said her mechanic claimed it wasnt worth fixing, but he's the one who sold her the car, so he may have been playing it up just to sell her something else. But my friend says there's nothing wrong with it he and I can't fix, and since he's already swapped and rebuilt multiple cars, including 3 Honda's, I trust him. Worse case scenario, it'll have to wait until income tax return.

 

Just throw a pull a part motor in there.