Hi all, I'm a new member. I've had my 1995 Civic Dx for about 2 years. I just recently moved it up from Texas to my new home near Chicago. It has a great engine with about 150,000 miles, so it has plenty more left, but it was purchased with quite a few things that need work. I will post pictures later, but suffice to say, I will be a consistent face around here now. Thanks in advance for all of the help!!

 

Post some pics when you get a chance I just bought a dx myself!

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Here are the pictures. I uploaded a couple of my paint and body problems as well. I am fairly certain I need to replace the shocks. Let's just say I got it for cheap, but ended up paying for it. The springs were cut to lower the car, which means I don't have any mud guards on it... etc... I had the opportunity to grab 16" wheels on it a year ago and (was too naive and) did not down size from the previous 17" wheels.

I will appreciate all the help I can get to get this back up to a normal care. I know it has a lot of miles on it already, but I feel like this car can take care of me for a while and is a good car for me to really start learning more and more about taking care of a car.

By the way, if anybody can help with this... The A/C does not always work... actually it really never works. The light where the button is comes on occasionally, but may vibrate and not come on. Regardless of whether it is lit or not, it rarely works, and I really don't know why it does when it chooses to come on for 5 seconds or so randomly. (this is why I installed the tint, because in Texas, it was WAY too hot to leave the car outside with windows up without some sort of protection)








Above is the sealed up sun roof....

Above is next to the hood on the passenger side

Above is on the trunk, this came up recently, I believe when it was stored outside before I drove it up to Chicago.

 

Bumb...
I was wondering if anybody could help educate me on what the previous owner did with this car.
1) I don't know what the extra "radiator(?)" is on the driver's side. I haven't seen the "double" radiators/fans in the front like what is in my car.... Actually when we got it, that radiator was zip-tied to the frame...
2) what kind of intake do I have? I have seen this somewhere but I really can't tell and don't have the knowledge to figure it out.
3) the A/C doesn't work (most of the time) does anybody have any help on diagnosing and fixing this problem? The mechanic I took it to about a year ago said the freon was full, but they wouldn't touch the wiring because it was all over the place.... Help?

 

Welcome and great to have you here, that car def needs your help but has amazing potential, that first shot is really nice looking haha, make sure you show off the good side when driving! I also like your door handles. @.o

Not sure if this is really the area for it, but I wanna give you a response:

That is part of your air conditioner!

short ram intake. cant tell you tubing or filter, but you NEED a new filter. I use K&N which is a pretty reputable company. looks like 2.5" but that is a guesstimate.

well the fact that fans were zip tied on probably is not a good sign. And wiring being everywhere does not sound good either.

When you press the AC does the driver side fan turn on?

If so then some parts are working...
No cold air comes out I am guessing? There is safer freon now sold at pepboys ect, it will read out how full your system is and you can fill it up, very easy and pretty cheap. Mechanic said it was fine, but what do mechanics know ;P check it yourself, if its full just return the freon.
^If that does not help then youre probably gonna have to check relays and possibly pop the dash out and replace the AC box in the car. See below.

If fan does not turn on...
You got wiring problems, I have not worked on this myself but you can try following the wires with a multimeter and see where things go wrong. Step by step walk through is probably not within my caliber of knowledge but i am sure there is a walk through somewhere.

 

THANK YOU! I'm glad you have faith in me, lol. I am just learning about working on cars and I really love how much I can work on with this car. but I will probably drop in on a LOT of different threads. Where should I move the AC thread to? I want to ask about fixing the paint, but not sure if I should start a whole thread for that...

From my understanding, the door handles are typical for the EG civics... I didn't like them at first... But they grew on me and now I kinda really like them!

Also, the car has 148000 miles on it.... Is it worth all the work?

Sorry I posted in the wrong place.... Thanks again for the help.

 

Well since my car is at 190k i sure it is worth it haha. But seriously, worste case scenarios you need a new engine or frame and both are easily cheaper than getting another car.

As for problems you should really just google and do a lot of research then post what you are trying to do for a fix. You are more likely knowledgable people will be willing to help you when you arent just asking for handouts (not implying you were at all, just a note).

Paint jobs are pricey and you do not want to do it the cheap way, it will look bad, take it to a shop.

Also consider starting a project thread if you will continuosly be working on the car.

 

Thanks, trust me, I have been doing a LOT of research on my own. I actually figured out that the stupid question I asked you was the AC condenser, minutes before you responded... So I felt really dumb about that. I'm guessing many of the people on here are taking the AC out for racing?

You mean I shouldnt try to sand down the area then order the paint code for the model year and spray it on the area? I really don't have the pocket, or the reason to re-paint the entire car when it seems like I can do a touch up in certain areas? Sincerely, is it that bad if it isn't done professionally? It would explain the lack of any threads on touch up paint jobs.

I'll take a thorough amount of pictures and start a thread on it, but it will definitely be a very slow work in progress! Hanks again for the help turtlegrip!