2004 Civic repair thread

[darcane]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Nice fix.

I think my parents' 12 year old Camry will start with any key-shaped item.

(Did I just write that on the Internet?)

It's OK Metro...

Those have a built-in theft deterrent: the badge on the back that says "Camry". It's safe!

Daox:
Clever "fix", the door lock on my Civic is still functional, but just barely. I may need to borrow that idea...

[Daox]

Thanks. It wasn't my idea. Google helped a lot. The previous owner also told me he already did this to the ignition lock cylinder as well. Typical problem apparently.

[Daox]

More work on the transmission tonight.

With a punch, I was able to tap out the bearing. The punch was pushing on the inner race of the bearing. Thankfully, no puller was needed. Its a very light press fit. To get the new bearing in I used a socket and a mallet to press it in. I also did the seal while I was at it. The old bearing didn't seem horrible once I got it out, but it definitely was making noise. There wasn't a ton of excessive play in it though. Also, all the gearing looked fine.







Here is the magnet in the bottom of the transmission. Its got a bit of gunk on it. Before and after pics shared for comparison.







After that its just a bunch of bolts and it was back together. For those who are timid about this part of the work, its really rather easy.

[California98Civic]

Nice write up. A magnet, huh? I have been timid about opening mine up. I should do that already, though. It is why I have an extra. So much to do!

[some_other_dave]

Did that have the snap-ring on the end of the main shaft (I think it was the main?) that has to be removed before the case can be opened up? My 1990 Civic trans did.

-soD

[Daox]

Yep, it did. I had my wife help me out for that step. Reassembly I was able to do myself.

[Daox]

Earlier this week I had another work day on the car. We ended up getting the timing belt and water pump replaced, we also replaced the clutch along with the pilot and throw out bearings. Note to others attempting this, you do NOT pull the pilot bearing out. You remove the flywheel and push it out. I learned this the hard way after breaking the bearing puller I had... oops.

After that we threw the trans on the engine and got it almost ready to put back into the car.

[MetroMPG]

Countdown to start-up?

[Daox]

Haha... I dunno. I only have a week and a half and I'll be leaving the country for a few weeks. I have serious doubts it'll get done before that.

[Daox]

Holy cow its a ghost thread resurrection! Actually, I'm just working on this car again. Yes, its been sitting in my garage untouched for about a year now! Life gets busy sometimes. But, I hope to have the engine back in this thing and have it nearly ready to drive by the end of the long weekend.

Last night I started working on things again. My main hang up was the front control arm bushings are shot and need replacing. So, I attempted to take out the rather large bolts, but the front ones were seized to the bushing's steel tube... not good. I tried a few things, but even my impacts wouldn't take them out. It was so stuck it was starting to bend the subframe metal. So, I didn't want to do it, but I went ahead and went at it with the map gas torch. That freed it up and I was able to get them out. Stinky rubber isn't fun though.





The next step was to remove the bushing so I can replace it. I wasn't sure if I wanted to just replace the whole control arm (new bushing included) or go with polyurethane. The poly bushing kit is cheaper than a whole new control arm, but I didn't know how much of a pain it would be to press out the old bushings. It turns out it wasn't that hard thankfully.

I drilled the rubber out with a hole saw to get the steel bushing out.





Then, I took a sawzall and cut through the bushing's metal outer ring. With that cut, it was very easy to tap the bushing out of the control arm as it is typically press fit.





So, I ordered my poly bushing kit last night. My question for those who have done it (I know Darcane has), is how did you do the rear control arm bushing? I'm thinking I'm just going to leave it as it looks really hard to get out and it really isn't deteriorated like the front one was. But, if there is a good way to get it out (without a press), I'm all ears.

After getting the control arms out and bushings out, I worked on the driver's door lock. I had fixed the lock itself, but it was time to reassemble it. This was interesting trying to remember how everything went after a year of not working on the car! However, with the help of google and some diagrams I was able to get everything put back in place. Yay, now you can unlock the car with the key again!