hey guys. i have a 99 honda civic lx manual. 125 k miles on it.
my goal for the car is to make it last as long as i can. it is my daily. keeping it 100% stock. i bought it 6 months ago.

i wanted to know what you guys recommended i should do for the longevity of the motor and tranny.

im not sure when the timing belt was done. i did spark plugs, and fuel filter.
the engine is leaking oil. i believe its coming from the oil pan gasket.

i would love to take out the motor and redue EVERYTHING. i heard its super cheap but the only thing stoping me is time and the need for the car, but IF worth it; i could work around to having another car for a couple days.

or should i just have all the gasket done and do the timing belt and the water pump and anyhting that could be done while i have a mechanic in there?

as for the tranny. i did put fresh tranny oil in there and the only thing that seems to be an issue is that at time it has a hard time going into reverse. i assume this could be syncros going bad? but i dont kno much info to diagnose it.

i figured i could start here and get some opinions from you guys to save some money and see where to start and whats worth it and whats not since im a brand new honda civic owner.

if anyone of you could help me, pm me, or w.e to pick ur brains on these cars so i could understand more.

thanks in advance guys.

 

Do the timing belt job, adjust the valves, and try to find the oil leak. You don't do anything else inside the engine unless and until it is having problems. New spark plugs and possibly wires would also be a good idea.

When the gears grind trying to shift a manual into reverse, that is a problem with the clutch. The transmission input shaft is not stopping like it should when you push the clutch. Reverse gear does not have a synchro, thus the car and the input shaft must be completely stopped to shift into reverse.

 

ahhh gotcha. make sense. the only thing is when it happens also when the car is at a complete dead stop. what i would do is go into neutral and then try again into reverse with a lil more effort, even tho it shouldn't take that much force.



as for the engine, i appreciatethe info. ill start checking pricing on timing belt replace. for the cost is it wise to do the water pump and thermo or anything else while in there?

Thanks

 

Check that the clutch fluid is full. If fluid is full and you still have to pump the clutch pedal (not just press it once) to get it to fully release, that usually means the master cylinder is worn out.

 

Redoing "everything" is pointless and costly. Just a 100K mile service

 

This might help

100K miles service - Car Talk

 

Sometimes when everything is completely stopped turning in the trans and you try to shift into reverse the gear teeth can actually just butt up against each other.In this case no amount of ramming and jambing will get it into gear(basically square cut gears-no syncros).Let the clutch out enough to get things turning a bit and then disengage it and retry reverse.