some (now very good) friends gave my wife and i a 1991 honda civic today. it's a hatchback, and has 200k miles. otherwise no rust, and has been taken pretty good care of. will take it in to mechanic tomorrow to get it looked over and oil change.

anyway, i noticed something surprising. it has a 16-valve engine (says so right on top). is this normal for 91 civic's?

originally i had been desiring a VX, but i know they didn't make them until 92, so i'm curious what i actually have and what sort of gas mileage i should expect?

it's a hatchback, and it's clearly not a CRX. it's light blue and it's originally from california.

thoughts?


and further more i'd like to ask what i can/should do to keep this baby running for the last potential 100,000 miles of its life? thanks

 

huh; i read somewhere that the "base hatchback" has a 70hp version of the 1.5L 16-valve engine. is this what i have? i imagine it is.

it's light blue, 4-speed, everything is base: manual windows, door locks, nothing fancy

 

Well just keep up with maintence........def change the timing belt, as the motor is non interfence, so if that snaps the valves get bent by the pistons...........oh and when this motor dies u can get another engine (same one) for about 5-600 bucks with 35K or so miles on it...........the hatch can live forever muahahahah. (Welcome to the forum)

 

thanks. i'll check to see the last timing belt change. i usually change my timing belt at 100,000; should one usually change it again at 200k? is there a way to check if the timing belt should be changed?

what version do i have? looking online it doesn't fit descriptions for DX, LX. EX, or anything. in fact, there is no decal on the back, which i thought was strange, and i don't think it was removed (the honda decal is there and the fellow who gave it to me is the original owner). is this the "base model" hatchback with the 70hp engine? my friend told me originally it was supposed to get 50mpg, but i'm unsure.

thoughts? i'll test the gas mileage myself of course, but i'm curious what i should expect.

and wow, i didn't realize engines could be had that cheap. considering this car has no rust, the paint is perfect, and everything seems to be in solid shape, i might just do exactly that when the time comes, but hopefully plenty of time before that

 

Check to the left of the exhaust manifold, there will be an engine code stamped on the block.....post it up and ill let ya know what youre working with. As far as the timing belt..........a new belt is like 20 bucks,............installed it costs like 300+$ so do it yourself if u can lol.

 

looking at exhaust manifold but don't see any numbers. not sure exactly where to look or what to look for


the engine says 16 valve

 

Welcome aboard, click the thumbnail below for a full sized image, pointing out the area pcupo is talking about..



[IMG]local://upfiles/2331/27484E83C6FD4C47B82218B263E6A7E3.jpg[/IMG]

 

[sm=welcomesign.gif] to HCF. [sm=groupwave.gif][sm=groupwave.gif][sm=groupwave.gif]

 

killin PS ther bud

 

haha, I was irritated at how many people had asked the same question (not just here, but on my other forums), so I whipped that together with haste...