Honda Car Forum

chibitul 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.
>
> 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?
>
> 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???
>
>
>
> Thanks a lot guys, you are great!

Brake linings and clutches are very dependent on how you drive.
My 2000 Accord took its first set of front brakes at 90K, but I did a
lot of highway driving. Pads still had 3/16" of meat on them, but the
rotors were starting to warp, so I replaced them along with the pads.
Now I am fighting rush hour traffic on the Baltimore Beltway almost
every day, so I will probably take a serious look at replacing them in
perhaps half that interval. Back brakes will probably last me almost
forever, based on the wear I saw at 110K. Then again, I have seen some
Testosterone poisoned teens with a 93 Accord wear out the brakes in less
than 20,000 miles.

Clutches are variable as well, but the original Honda ones seem to hold
up better than most. I purchased a very well used (170,000 miles) 1991
Civic from my company, which used it as a service vehicle. I talked to
the tech that put most of the miles on it, and he did not remember
putting a clutch in it, though the car saw its share of heavy Washington
DC stop and go traffic. At 223,000 miles, I could detect a little bit of
clutch slippage just a few weeks before I pulled the tired engine out to
swap it with one out of a salvage yard, and the clutch lining was just
barely worn down to the rivets. That car is still going at 290,000
miles, according to the friend I sold it to.

A 1985 Nissan Pickup I used to have went 110,000 on the original clutch,
but about the time I replaced the first clutch, I started towing a 17
foot boat. The second clutch lasted only 20,000 miles, due to the abuse
of towing the boat, the third only 50,000 miles, and the fourth had
about 30,000 on it when I got rid of the truck.

As far as your starting problem, what might be happening is that it
takes a little longer for the fuel pressure to build up in the
injectors, or they may be clogged. Try waiting a few seconds after
putting the ignition switch to "on" to try starting it. You should hear
the purr of the electric fuel pump for a second or two as it pressurizes
the system. Could be a leaky injector is letting fuel dribble out into
the manifold when the car is off. Nothing serious, but something you
might get checked if plugs don't help. Wires are probably a waste of
money on a 3 year old car, Genuine Honda wires are expensive, and a lot
of aftermarket wires are junk.

The timing Belt is designed to go 105,000 miles, but should not be put
off longer. Honda's engines are Interference engines, meaning that the
pistons will hit the valves if they are fully open when the pistons
travel to the top of the cylinders (TDC). Normally this isn't a problem
as long as the timing belt is intact, and the valve timing is correct.
If the belt should break while the engine is running, then chances are
that one or more valves will be hanging open when the piston comes
around to TDC. If you are lucky, only the cylinder head will be damaged.
If not, then the whole engine could end up trashed. The water pump
is also run by the timing belt, and it is a good idea to replace it as
well, since a pump is fairly cheap ($50 or so), and the additional labor
to replace it is minimal if you are already changing the belt.

You have a while before you need to worry about the timing belt thing
though, if you have only put 40K on your Honda in 3 years.

when you hear that squealing sound coming from that little metal clip
theyput on the pad to let you know its time to get new pads...its time to
get new pads.
"Bruce Nolte N3LSY" <brucenol@abs.net> wrote in message
news:4104709F.3020401@abs.net...
> chibitul 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.
>>
>> 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?
>>
>> 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???
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks a lot guys, you are great!
>
> Brake linings and clutches are very dependent on how you drive.
> My 2000 Accord took its first set of front brakes at 90K, but I did a lot
> of highway driving. Pads still had 3/16" of meat on them, but the rotors
> were starting to warp, so I replaced them along with the pads. Now I am
> fighting rush hour traffic on the Baltimore Beltway almost every day, so I
> will probably take a serious look at replacing them in perhaps half that
> interval. Back brakes will probably last me almost forever, based on the
> wear I saw at 110K. Then again, I have seen some Testosterone poisoned
> teens with a 93 Accord wear out the brakes in less than 20,000 miles.
>
> Clutches are variable as well, but the original Honda ones seem to hold up
> better than most. I purchased a very well used (170,000 miles) 1991 Civic
> from my company, which used it as a service vehicle. I talked to the tech
> that put most of the miles on it, and he did not remember putting a clutch
> in it, though the car saw its share of heavy Washington DC stop and go
> traffic. At 223,000 miles, I could detect a little bit of clutch slippage
> just a few weeks before I pulled the tired engine out to swap it with one
> out of a salvage yard, and the clutch lining was just barely worn down to
> the rivets. That car is still going at 290,000 miles, according to the
> friend I sold it to.
>
> A 1985 Nissan Pickup I used to have went 110,000 on the original clutch,
> but about the time I replaced the first clutch, I started towing a 17 foot
> boat. The second clutch lasted only 20,000 miles, due to the abuse of
> towing the boat, the third only 50,000 miles, and the fourth had about
> 30,000 on it when I got rid of the truck.
>
> As far as your starting problem, what might be happening is that it takes
> a little longer for the fuel pressure to build up in the injectors, or
> they may be clogged. Try waiting a few seconds after putting the ignition
> switch to "on" to try starting it. You should hear the purr of the
> electric fuel pump for a second or two as it pressurizes the system. Could
> be a leaky injector is letting fuel dribble out into the manifold when the
> car is off. Nothing serious, but something you might get checked if plugs
> don't help. Wires are probably a waste of money on a 3 year old car,
> Genuine Honda wires are expensive, and a lot of aftermarket wires are
> junk.
>
> The timing Belt is designed to go 105,000 miles, but should not be put off
> longer. Honda's engines are Interference engines, meaning that the pistons
> will hit the valves if they are fully open when the pistons travel to the
> top of the cylinders (TDC). Normally this isn't a problem as long as the
> timing belt is intact, and the valve timing is correct. If the belt should
> break while the engine is running, then chances are that one or more
> valves will be hanging open when the piston comes around to TDC. If you
> are lucky, only the cylinder head will be damaged. If not, then the whole
> engine could end up trashed. The water pump
> is also run by the timing belt, and it is a good idea to replace it as
> well, since a pump is fairly cheap ($50 or so), and the additional labor
> to replace it is minimal if you are already changing the belt.
>
> You have a while before you need to worry about the timing belt thing
> though, if you have only put 40K on your Honda in 3 years.

In article <4104709F.3020401@abs.net>,
Bruce Nolte N3LSY <brucenol@abs.net> wrote:

[snip]
>
> You have a while before you need to worry about the timing belt thing
> though, if you have only put 40K on your Honda in 3 years.

Hi, thanks a lot!

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.

>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?

I just passed 176k miles with the original clutch, and I drive mine
somewhat agressively at times.

Nate