On Wed, 14 Jul 2004 03:09:33 GMT, chibitul <chibitul@eudoramail.com> wrote:

>Hi, I drive a Civic LX manual transmission 2001 which I bought new in
>2001. I live in the suburbs (Connecticut), drive 3 miles to work and
>back and around town. In the weekends I drive sometimes on the highway.
>I estimate 50-50 is highway/suburbs.
>
>I had a free checkup done at the dealer and the car was OK. they said
>the brages were fine, but I don't know how much pads I have left. Is
>there a way to tell? I am about to do a tire rotation myself and I can
>get a caliper to measure the thickness of the pads.

No need for a caliper. When you take the wheel off you should be able to
see the edge of the brake pads - might have to brush off dust with a brush
through the caliper spring and shine a flashlight on it.

>and since I finally moved my lazy ass and finally posted, here are some
>more questions:
>
>what about the clutch? how long does it last on AVERAGE (yes, I know it
>depends a great deal on how you drive). But what is the *average* please?

For friction lining only, without abuse, 150K mile is not unusual but the
pressure plate and/or friction plate springs can go any time before then.
You'll know something is wrong when it happens. Ignore Honda's lack of
specified change interval for the clutch fluid and replace every 30K miles
at the same time as brake fluid.

>what about tuneup? the manual says to geta new timing belt and a tuneup
>done at 105K miles (IIRC). That seems a very long time; I have the
>feeling the car does not start as easy as when it was new, but it
>*always* starts fine. Maybe not in 1/2 second like before, now it seems
>to take 3 seconds or so. Shall I get new spark plugs and wires???

105K is the "normal" service schedule - the severe schedule of 60K miles
covers temp extremes and lots of short trips. For better starting, new
plugs will probably help - wires can easily last 150K miles or 10 years if
not abused by mechanics and kept clean: wipe them off with a rag soaked in
silicone spray. A bottle of fuel injector cleaner in the tank won't do any
harm and might help too. At 60K miles a new distributor cap and rotor is
not a bad idea.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??