The forgotten HX - Story of an '01 Civic

[ChazInMT]

The filters sit in little trays, so don't be freaked out like I was when you open the box with new filters and you only have these wimpy looking filters with no thick plastic, they're just inserts. Pop em out and pop the new ones in, Bada Bing.

And Darcane....ewww, gross, does your car work in a coal mine er sumthin?

[darcane]

Originally Posted by ChazInMT

The filters sit in little trays, so don't be freaked out like I was when you open the box with new filters and you only have these wimpy looking filters with no thick plastic, they're just inserts. Pop em out and pop the new ones in, Bada Bing.

And Darcane....ewww, gross, does your car work in a coal mine er sumthin?

Yeah, you can see in the picture that the new filters aren't in the trays, the old filters still are.

No coal mine, just lots of time. I believe those are the original, OEM filters I pulled out of the car. 13 years, 160k miles. If I took a close-up pic, you could tell it is mostly seeds, pine needles, bits of leaves and that sort of thing, and, of course, lots of dust.

[darcane]

Pic of kill switch installed:


Works great. In spite of bad conditions on this last tank (awful traffic, record heat, record rainfall/flooding, return of random miss that put engine in limp mode with 1500rpm idle) I got 47.1mpg.

[cbaber]

You know your a hypermiler if... You get a dorky smile and stare when you spot a Civic HX or VX!

Maybe when I decide to upgrade Civics I will find a nice 7th gen HX. Lean-burn is just awesome for highway driving. I miss it (mine isn't working due to EGR valve).

[darcane]

Well, there seems to be something missing in my car...






I'm doing a pretty major overhaul right now:
New (well, rebuilt) transmission
New clutch
New timing belt, water pump, etc.
New/reinforced motor mounts.


Going through the suspension too:


Struts are completely shot and have leaked out all the shock oil.

It's getting:
New shocks and struts
Ground Control coilovers
New LCA bushings
New ball joints
New sway bar end links.

I think that's everything. Anything else I ought to do while I'm in there?

[darcane]

Well, didn't exactly go smoothly (last guy that did the timing belt tensioner overtorqued it and the threads came out with the bolt, yikes!, also medical issues) but it's done. Which is good, since I was really getting tired of driving the wife's playtoy ('01 Mustang vert).



New Koni STR.T shocks and struts and Groundcontrol coilovers. Anyone know if there are supposed to be covers on the side of the engine compartment? For both the steering rack and where the compliance bushings are? I have none on either side. You can also see my polyurethane bushings on the control arms and engine mounts here.


It rained buckets and had a tremendous thunderstorm while I installed the engine. probably not the best time to be under a steel engine hoist...

Still needs a little tweaking of the coilovers and an alignment, but it is back to being my commuter.

[darcane]

And a couple pics as she sits now:

[night9]

Lookin good!

[darcane]

Small change:


New Optima Yellow top battery to replace my failing battery. In our recent cold weather, it wouldn't start reliably and prevented me from leaving the engine off at stoplights. Plus, every time it got too low, the ECU would get reset and would have to relearn the idle wasting even more fuel.

[justme1969]

Im just joking those snap in caps loosen up over time.
I lost one b4 I learned a trick use a dab of clear silicone sealant on 4 tabs b4 snapping into place.
Recap tube and toss leftovers into spare tire location should remain usable for about 1 year.
If they start squeeking again on bumps and such its time topeel off old stuff and reapply.
Be assertive when popping caps on also or it will turn or pitch smearing your blobs of sealant everywhere. "no workee"