I bought a 98 Civic DX about a year ago because I had had bad experiences with other cars (The trannie on my 93 Sunbird went, and the rods on my 95 Cavalier blew in the middle of nowhere) and had already heard that Honda makes a solid vehicle.

I think I got a lemon. In the last year I have replaced the CV joints, the exhaust manifold/catalytic convertor (it got a huge crack right in the front). Now it sounds like a bloody bearing is going (hopefully not in the engine... it doesnt sound like it), my valves need adjusting and a rear brake pad squeaks. Is it normal to have this many problems with Civic with only 145,000 KM?

 

Hondas are 99% of the time hassle free. Keep in mind that your car is older and has been around the block. Have you met the previous owner? If so, that is most likely your answer. All that crap you have been having to replace is common. The problem is most likely the cars last owner didnt do jack squat to maintain it. Unless the brakes have been converted (highly improbable) they arent brake pads. They are drum brakes that only activate when you use the parking brakes. The engine of the car should be fine, unless its been through the gauntlet every day I would just have it looked at. Check the water pump and the timing belt. The crack in the manifold is a common problem. It happened to my 2000 VP which is pretty much a DX but a little more fancy... nothing too much though. When something like that breaks down the road, just replace it with an aftermarket part. Generally you will pay just as much or less on performance parts than OEM parts from the stealership. Honda wanted $400 to replace my exhaust system. Instead, I ran out and got a magnaflow for $340 shipped. Not only does it increase horsepower and sounds nice, it helps give me better gas mileage.

You gotta remember, its not the car being a piece, its the last owner who mistreated it. Once you replace a few things it should be fine. Keeping a Honda under simple, cheap routine maintainance goes a very long way.

I hope that helps, if you have any other questions dont be afraid to ask.

 

Thanks Remmy. I figured the old owner had something to do with it. I bought it at a dealership so all I really know is that it only had one previous owner. It looked like they started to do all the regular maintenance (its noted in the owners manual) but stopped at some point.

I didnt know that the Civic had drums rather than pads in the back. I wonder what is squeaking then.

Unfortunately I couldnt get aftermarket headers to replace the manifold. I could only find one company that made them for the DX (there are plenty for the EX) and they wouldn't ship to Canada. I ended up buying a used manifold.

 

That sucks... too bad you didnt come here earlier. I would have told you it didnt matter if they were EX headers The bottom of the block is the same.

 

Really? I searched around on here before I bought it and read that they are incompatible without replacing the entire exhaust. Damn misinformation.

WHile you're here maybe you have an idea about the question I posted in the Engine section. Someone suggested it might be the bearings somewhere. My Civic is making a very odd rattling sound. It has the following charectaristics

1) It happens at really slow speeds (under 30 km... maybe even lower), and is triggered by accelerating or decelerating (reverse OR forward).
2) It happens when you rev the engine in neutral or with the clutch in. It doesnt happen at all when the engine is not being reved.
3) It comes and goes (sometimes I drive and it doesnt do it)
4) Its gotten worse in the last couple of weeks. Got really bad shortly after (but not right away) I replaced the exhaust manifold.
5) It can be fairly loud.

 

the rattle is probably your heat shield. It happened to mine and I just got rid of it. Like everything else you listed, it's fairly common and not something to really worry about on a 8 year old car.

 

You mean the heat shield on my exhaust manifold?

 

that's the one! the heat shield on the catalytic converter is also a possibility, but it's probably the one on the manifold.

 

Interesting. That makes sense since I just had the exhaust manifold replaced last week. They could have improperly reinstalled the cover (or the used manifold I got could have had a loose cover), which would explain why it got so bad recently.

I know it made the noise a few times before I replaced the manifold too but that makes sense as the reason I discovered the manifold was cracked was when I realized that some lazy mechanic had broken one of the bolts, and left the thing on there with one bolt (which would rattle).

Thanks! I'll have a look at that after work.

 

I too had the rattle issue, so I just went nuts and ripped them all off