Hello everyone

I have read post here for a few months now, great place

Recently purchased a car, 95 dx with 190,000 miles on it for $ 3,000, Im a first time car owner.
Had it for a year and it is starting to give me problems. About 3 months ago it started to overheat and found out it was the fan sensor and had it fixed. Since I bought the car it has always shaken after about 30 minutes of driving around. The previous owner, mentioned the problem before selling me the car and said he had the car in neutral on red lights and the car would not shake. It worked for a while and now the when ever its starts to shake the engine turn off, happened about 3 times on my way back home. This just happen this weekend and I took it back to the mechanic that fixed my heating problem. So to make a long story short he checked the engine and said that one of the engine mounts was worn out and noticed a small oil leak and is going to see if this solves my problem. For some reason it always shakes on every gear except neutral.

I just have a few questons to ask

Did I pay too much for the car?

Whats the average mile life of a civic engine?
If the engine is near the end what are my option?

What the recomended maintanace at 200,000 miles?

How do you know when to change the filter inside the gas tank?
(Previous owner said I should find that out)

How often is the transmision fluid drain and changed?


thanks to everyone in advance that can help me better understand the situation I am in.

 

id say u payed to much, thats alot of miles on a car, and exspecially one with out any of the nice options. Average life is anywhere from 200,000 - 300,000 id say, but the bodys can be reused. if i were u id just save my self the money and swap the engine, itll be like having a new car.

 

well I think the shaking problem was solved, one of the motor mounts needed to be replaced. I took it to a mechanic and he said that the motor should be fine for another 2 years or so. He took a good look at everything and fixed some of the minor leaks it had, so I get to test it out tomorrow.

My new problem is that the transmission is cracked, was prevoiusly welded. He is said that he is going to try to weld it again to see if I can save a few $, but that maybe I am going to need to get the transmission replaced.

About how much can I get a transmission for

(Mechanic said $ 400-800, depending if I am looking for reconstructed or new.)

Any help will be greatly appreciated

 

You definitly payed waaay to much for that car. The tranny should run you under $400+labor, but it seems like you're getting to be a permanent customer of your mechanic's so talk to him and try to bargain. If the welding does fix the problem it WILL be temporary and saving up to do an engine swap should be in your mind. The least you should be swapping in is a D16Z6 or a D16Y8. Look around your local junk yards and ebay. You might find a really sweet deal. After that and maybe some new suspension parts and a steering rack(which you probably should relplace while the engine is out of the car) and you have a car that will go for another 150-200K.

 

yes you did pay toooo much for it. I only paid $3100 for my 94 EX with 98k miles and the car is still in good condition inside and out.

 

I paid around 3K on my 94EX with 106K miles. $2700 before taxes and fees.

 

I have a 94EX and it has 212,000 miles on it. I ran a compression test and it still has 205PSI in each cylinder. I got a new timing belt and water pump to be safe, and it needs a new IAC valve (only like $100 and easy to install, some engines don't even have them) The only thing that I've noticed that's wrong with it is that the second gear synchro is shot on it. If space out and put it into second too quick it grinds the dog teeth. I should probably just get a new transmission being that I could pick one up for cheaper than it costs to fix it. The guy at the junkyard said $400 for a new tranny, but I've heard that I can get one for $100 if I looked around.

It sounds like your car was abused in the past and wasn't taken care of right. I think that you should just get a D16Z6 (it will hook right up to your current transmission until you get a new one) and the good thing is is that you can pick up a way lower mileage engine than what you have for only around $500 bucks I think. It's an SOHC VTEC, and it has some pretty good punch and is fun to drive around. For the price I think that's your best shot. Just drive it until the transmission falls out then get a new one of those too.

If you have buddies who are good with mechanical stuff, you can have them help you out with the engine swap and save yourself a lot of money!

 

you know you can find transmissions with warranties with less than 50k miles for about $250 including shipping...
just make sure they're big dealers.