We used to have a member called Old Mechanic that gave great automotive advice. Unfortunately, he felt it necessary to delete his account, so he now shows up as USER REMOVED.
He was a huge fan of timing chains.
I have had the timing belt replaced on two cars. There used to be places here where you could work on your own car in a repair shop and rent tools, but no longer. I was also crazy busy with summer school, so I paid a different shop a thousand dollars to do it for each car, although I was unsatisfied with both jobs.
One grand worth of gas would have transported me 14,000 miles in the Forester, but 22,000 in the Civic--with low compression!
So, in a car that gets 36 MPG, you would spend 22.5% of your gas bill in current prices on the timing belt.
I love my HX, but I needed to search high and low for her. It took months! I have averaged 44 MPG over 40,000 miles, but everyone insisted I needed to check my compression, my fuel economy was "horrible!"
Sure enough, two cylinders were at the minimum.
Lean burn is great, but although the 2000 Insight with a manual transmission was rated an ultra-low emissions vehicle, they redid emission standards in 2005, and the government decided it was too dirty, so that was the end of lean burn, although a few members have added it to their cars. People like to point out the CVT Insight was a super-low emission vehicle, it does not have lean burn!
The problem is that the oxygen sensors are prone to going bad (or something). I get a check engine light about once a month. I carry an old cell phone and a bluetooth OBD-II dongle. I make sure it is P1162, clear it, and keep driving. Many people consider Majestic Honda to have the best prices. I have found other dealerships with slightly better discounts, but I did not feel it was worth the extra time.
Someone kindly linked this in another forum:
Honda Automotive Parts
Majestic shows the part, but my local dealership does not. The list price is $416.08 and many dealerships offer a 10% discount when you order on-line, but they ask $278.77, which is 33% off. Everyone who tried another brand sensor has said it did not work and they needed to purchase the expensive one.
Prices fluctuate, though.
Autozone has the exact same one for $255,
Amazon has it for $139.90,
and here is one on eBay for $115.
Those are much better prices than I had ever seen, though.
Unfortunately, this might not fix the problem, and you may need a $1,000 Honda factory ECU replacement, but I am unsure there is more to the problem than the CEL.
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