New Civic VX owner

[rickjames8]

Hello all,

I just picked up my 94 Civic VX 2 days ago and am quite pleased so far.

I'd talked with the seller over email and when I went to go see the car, it was a lot more beat up than he described, in terms of dents and rust. It had also been 'riced' out (he did tell me that) but the engine seemed smooth and fine. But I got him down on the price a bit and plan to do some body mods someday which will make the dents go away anyway.

So far I've changed the speedo (it works now), fixed the seat bolster with one from the pull-yard, replaced the massive intake with the stock box, took out the sub and amp, changed the muffler, and started with replacing rust with fiberglass patches.

The exhaust on the car was headers and a large diameter pipe and a HUGE can on the back. I'm searching for a complete VX stock set up, but in the meantime I found a stock exhaust from a 99 Civic at the pull-yard today for $9 and it fits with some minor tweaks and sounds like a normal car again. I've got a couple ads up on CL to see if anyone wants to trade this set up (it's actually nice as far as modified systems go) for a stock VX set-up.

My MPGuino arrived (thanks JCB!) and I'll be putting that in tomorrow-ish. Now that I've got a working odometer I can start getting numbers on FE. It'll be interesting to see what the headers are doing, and how much it changes when I go back to stock.

I've also ordered standard bulbs to replace the HID kit. Those cheap things are awful. I'd like to retrofit some Minimotos some day, but thats a long way off.

The seller threw in some cheap-looking adjustable lowering springs (set of 4). I had planned on selling them on CL, but as I looked them up, it looks like they sell new for $50, so it'd hardly be worth my while to do so. I don't know if I should put them on. I know good lowering springs make a difference, but I'm not sure if the trade off in potentially poor handling from cheap ones would be worth the gain in FE? Any thoughts?

Also, this car came with a convex mirror like this one. I really love it. Although someone has added a passenger side mirror to the car at some point and my wife wants it to stay. She says it's easier to back out of the driveway, and I agree that the convex rear-view does not allow you to see the driveway edge like the outside one does.

So far I'm happy with the car. It really is a bit of a basket case, but I felt somewhat of a duty to rescue it. It had fallen to the wrong crowd and before long it would have been swapped out, never to be efficient again. We've got some work to do, but I want to keep this one and see if I can make the best of it. There is a kammback planned in the future, but thats after we get some other issues sorted first. Hope to have some good posts in the future.

-Rick

[brucepick]

Nice. Looks like you have your work cut out for you. The car definitely has potential.

Very llikely the original wide band oxy sensor is gone and possibly the ECU too. Just a heads up!

Good luck with it!

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by rickjames8

The seller threw in some cheap-looking adjustable lowering springs (set of 4). I had planned on selling them on CL, but as I looked them up, it looks like they sell new for $50, so it'd hardly be worth my while to do so. I don't know if I should put them on. I know good lowering springs make a difference, but I'm not sure if the trade off in potentially poor handling from cheap ones would be worth the gain in FE? Any thoughts?

Congrats on a car with potential. On the coil overs ... All advice I ever have seen is that the cheapies are not worth a thing. He would not have been able to sell them, likely. BUT: if you have time you might use them to experiment with dropping the car, one inch, two inches, and stock. The adjustable ability makes an ABAB coast down test easier, and so you'd be able to know for sure what the value of a set might be. If you decided to keep 'em on, I hear it takes different shocks/struts.

james

[rickjames8]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Very llikely the original wide band oxy sensor is gone and possibly the ECU too. Just a heads up!

Thanks for pointing that out. I searched a bit for info on the wideband and I'm not quite sure what I have. My O2 sensor is a Denso 234000-2180. Aparently this has been superceded by Denso 234-4099 (identical part, new number). It is listed as the stock O2 sensor for the VX. It has 4 wires, and is plugged in to a plug which only has 4 wires. Some things I read on-line indicate that Wideband sensors can be identified by having 5 or 6 wires. I've searched for specs on this sensor, but can not find any range data. I have to assume that it is stock as there would be no room for a 5th or 6th wire in the plug. Also, the fact its listed as the part number for the VX makes me think (hope) its the right one. But I can't be sure. Until an hour ago, I never knew there was such a thing as a wideband sensor. Theres my new thing learnt for the day.

As for the ECU, I'll check it tomorrow and see what I have.

Thanks for your help.

-Rick

[Sven7]

Throw the springs on, get it aligned and leave it low! Remember to take the dust shields off the top of the struts if the coilover sleeves dont fit.

[Titanium]

I wanted to buy a Honda Civic VX a few years ago, but I could not find a clean one that was 100% stock. Very hard car to find in clean 100% stock condition.

I gave up on buying a VX and bought a 97 Honda Civic HX from the original owner and the car was in excellent 100% stock condition. Love this car. I never have driven a VX yet.

[haus385]

Congratulations! I bought mine new, 411k on it now, still looks and runs great. Most important things, good O2 sensor, 5 wire $278 at Auto Zone, VX wheels with 51 lb pressure tires, then put 55 lbs in them. Synthetic oil and trans. fluid, and adjust valves every 15K. I avg 46 to 50 city and 53 hwy. Original engine, still runs great.

[Rusty94cx]

If it only has a 4 wire 02 that's not right. The exhaust isn't going to make a huge difference. If you don't have a check engine light on then you don't have a p07 ecu. Good luck. Love my vx.

[California98Civic]

The Federal VX (for united states not named California) had a 4 wire ECU, I believe, and a different ECU because lean burn boosts NOX emissions and Cali would not allow that, IIRC what others here have taught me.

[turbovr41991]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

The Federal VX (for united states not named California) had a 4 wire ECU, I believe, and a different ECU because lean burn boosts NOX emissions and Cali would not allow that, IIRC what others here have taught me.

I thought it was the opposite. CA spec had the 4 wire and the other 49 states (federal) had the 5 wire. There are many writeups on how to swap these to 5 wire though.