Greetings from Northern Colorado
 

Recently got a sick and injured 2003 HCH (Honda Civic Hybrid), did some work and decided to keep it as my commuter for the 70 mile daily.

Hope to pick up some great tips and tricks and help folk out along the way, after all, sharing is why forums were created in the first place!

Welcome!

And an HCH is?

Hope you enjoy this place as much as I have (and so many others). I made it a point to only make changes that I was comfortable with . . and that made them permanent. Over time, added some more.

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Welcome! Read/Absorb/Repeat!

Welcome.

I'd be interested in knowing how sick/injured it was and what you did to fix it up.

More and more members here (myself included) are stumbling across excellent $$$ deals on hybrids that need work.

Honda Civic Hybrid. (I edited the non-TLA version into post#1 for clarification.)

As an aside, I'm not a big fan of using TLA's myself - I obviously understand why people use them, but I'm constantly aware that they're a barrier to understanding for those out of the loop.

Just IMO, of course. :D

The car has 237,000 miles, when I got it not only was it filthy with some crappy stereo install, the dash was lit up like a Christmas tree. First signs of a larger issue were the missing coolant overflow cap and a strong odor of coolant. A few times the car wouldn't start and it was clear there was a big problem. Found the radiator a gallon low, filled it, and it started blowing white smoke out the back, head gasket. We pulled the head off, had it milled, it was warped 0.007. New front main seal and a serp belt and she was back up and running. But no heat and there was still something not quite right. Took off the H20 pump and found the issue, no impeller. Honda made them out of plastic to save money/weight and it had failed, broken right in half and was just sitting in the cavity. New water pump and everything was right as far as the cooling system.

Car was still throwing a few codes, P0420, 1600 and 1449. I knew there wasn't a quick fix for the two IMA codes, but I figured we could tackle the 420. Dealer wanted $1100 for a new manifold with the cat, I wanted to try some O2 fixes first. So for $8 I got a set of Spark Plug Anti-foulers from Car Quest, drilled one and bolted them all on the O2. BINGO no more P0420 code.

I tried a recondition on the battery but it didn't help. I'll do a write up on that as soon as I can post links.