Well my Gf's dad just got a 96 civic ex i am going to do a basic tuneup on it does anyone have any other ideas on what else i should do for a tune up on this ride. its got 130,000 miles or so and seems to run pretty good i was just goint to do plugs NGK v-power, OEM wires, air filter, oil change and as you have probably read in my other posts i am doing the oil pan gasket along with it. i also need to replace the muffiler and clean the engine bay.

 

I would change tranny fluid, wether its an automatic or manual. If it is an automatic I would replace the trans filter also.

I would check the coolant also, if it needs changing, change it....thermostat also...those cheap aftermarket ones are lame and prone to fail. If you do change the T-stat go OEM honda....

Looks like you got it covered though.

I mean little things like, washer fluid, tire pressure...etc.

 

Ya thanks I have and will check the regular things washer fluid and tire pressure and so on but he can do that him self to. I guess i never though about the trans fluid and yes it is a auto, I may just have him bring it to a shop and have them flush it. I believe that coolant is good but i may do the t-stat i will do like you had stated and get one from honda as i am also getting the oil pan gasket from them to. Thanks

 

check the timming belt for cracks etc. and change the other belts as well, if needed. and if te brake fluid is low, dont just top it off, check the pads first, if they need replacement the fluid level will rise with the new brakes...

 

Check tire and replace them if needed. If the steering wheel shake get the tire balance and get a alignment. Also check the fuel filter and replace them if needed.

Oh yeah and you should just do the trans fluid at home because its simple and fast.

 

I will check the timing belt the brakes were good and fluid was full and the alignemnt and tire ballance is great. over all the car is in great shape the body is just rough but i think i will get to working on it tomorrow night so i hope all goes well and i dont find nothing serious. When you do the trans fluid and filter it dosent get it near as clean as when you fluch it and its got 130000 miles and im sure it has never been done so it may be worth the $65 got get it cleaned properly also when they flush it they flush threw some conditionar with it so i will have to see how cheep he wants it done. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

 

I would also replace the distributor cap & rotor.

 

Sweet, I'm in the same boat with my g/f's '96 Civic EX. Anyone have any good instructions for changing the tranny fluid? Any do's or don'ts? I have almost no experience working on imports, since I sold my turbo-charged '86 Fiero SE, I haven't had anything to tool around with. This Civic definitely needs a tune-up! Maybe this weekend I'll get to it!

TIA!

 

I would just pull the pan i dont know of any drain plug on the trans fluit pan but get a new gasket and fluid and filter and pull the pan bolts out and make sure just to crack the pan loose on one side and drain into a pan wiht out trying to still (you will make some mess) then pull the pan off clean with brake clean scrape surfaces with gasket scraper to make sure all the surface is clean and pull the filter off and put new on and gasket into place and boolt back on torque to spec.

PS>get honda trans fluid.

 

If you plan on changing the trans fluid, don't just drain the pan and refill the trans, make sure you flush the trans. Automatic transmissions have lots of fluid that will not drip out of the trans, so the only way to get all the old, dirty, nasty fluid out is with a flush. This will not be required on a manual trans. If you have a manual trans, look for metal shavings in the fluid. Replace with synthetic manual trans fluid if possible. You can flush it yourself, i've written the procedure a couple times already so use the search feature. Change the fuel and air filter as well. Check the PCV valve.