Noob with '93 Civic VX (and other stuff)

[bikepilot]

Hi All,

My wife has been driving a civic vx for the past 8 years and 135k miles (185k on the car). Its finally gotten to where it needs some work done and I'm poking around here for information. It's getting new struts, front wheel bearings, cv shafts and exhaust. Any recommendations on exhaust are welcome, I think we have the other stuff under control.

The VX has been doing ~40mpg average (winter, city) which suits us just fine, though better (or better performance) wouldn't hurt anything.

I've also got a bunch of motorcycles and a F250 (diesel) to tow the race-bikes around. My daily commuter is a 50-70mpg (all city) DR250SE.

[NachtRitter]

Welcome, and good luck with your VX!

[Ryland]

I buy most of my Honda Civic VX parts from Majestic Honda altho on larger stuff like exhaust systems their shipping tends to be a bit high, at that point I call around to Honda dealerships that are in my area.
I've owned two civic VX's and have gone thru a handful of exhausts and have settled on the stock exhaust from the dealership because they don't cost much more then ones from the parts store (around $150 for a muffler) but they have a life time warranty (to the person who buys it) and when you compare them side by side with other mufflers it becomes clear that they are better built.
I tried lowering my first vx (1.5") and found it to be a mistake, it handled poorly, you could feel every little bump and it started wearing out the rest of the suspension faster so I removed the lowering shocks and went back to stock springs and struts, my personal feelings on it is that it's not worth replacing the springs unless they are broken or wore out because the stock springs don't tend to wear out, the struts do wear out over time and have had good luck with after market struts.
I've never had to replace a wheel bearing but I have replaced a few CV shafts and they are really easy, new after market drive shafts are becoming more common where rebuilt drive shafts used to be common, I've used both and if given an option would buy a rebuilt cv shaft rather then a made in china new cv shaft.

[bikepilot]

Thanks great info. I've ordered a few bits along the way from Majestic Honda - didn't know about the muffler warranty. I know its been replaced before - maybe it was an oem honda and still under warranty. I'll have to ask the Mrs. if she's still got the receipt. Do you know if that's just for the muffler or for the whole exhaust system? The system from the cat back is shot - no major leaks but numerous tiny pinholes all over. I'm pretty sure the whole system was replaced shortly after she bought the car.

I think she'd get stuck on speed bumps if we lowered it

I ordered monotube bilstein struts for the front today - I've used them with great results on other vehicles.

The comments about the re-man vs new (china) cv shafts makes sense - I'll go reman.

The wheelbearing (front right IIRC) is really pretty shot - the wheel has maybe 1/4" freeplay at the top. The other side and rear are just fine though. Front struts have lost their oil and the car bounces all over the place. Rears seem ok.

The AC quit working too so I'll try and fix that once the weather warms up - I've still got a bunch of R12 cans saved up from before the ban

Might have to take it to the shop for this stuff though as she needs it fixed and I'm working long hours for the next several weeks

[Ryland]

The civic VX exhaust has three pipes, a very short heavy pipe bolted to the underside of the catalytic converter that bends under the oil pan, after the oil pan it bolts to the resonator pipe that extends to the rear axle or so where it bolts on to the muffler, I'm not sure why this is not standard on every type of car but Honda uses exhaust pipes with flanges and a lead gasket, so that middle pipe has a flange at either end and a total of 4 bolts plus some rubber hangers holding it in place making it very quick and easy to replace, last time I replaced one it took me half an hour or so laying on the garage floor so if you do take it to a shop ask them not to over charge you.
Really everything on the civic is easy to work on, I spend more time getting the tools out and putting them away then I do replacing a CV shaft, but I also understand not having the time to do it your self so it can be worth asking at the shop you take it to if they will give a discount for doing all the front end work at once because they will already have it all apart.
The warranty info is in the owners manual, then I asked at my local dealership just to make sure that it applied to me buying exhaust parts.
They also have a life time warranty for the life of the car on seat belts, I think due to an early issue with the seat belts not latching.

[bikepilot]

Very helpful thanks! The shop will put the CV shafts in for very little since they'll already be there for the wheel bearing. I've actually done CV shafts on a civic before - they aren't too bad from my memory either. IIRC the wheel bearing is a bit of a pain and has to be pressed in and out. Mostly though I'm working 7am-9pm and have three bikes I need to fix up as well.

[bikepilot]

Its all fixed up now, all new oem exhaust from the cat back, two new (reman) cv shafts, wheel bearing, new bilstein monotube struts and a new control arm on one side (old was was bent - guess the Mrs. hit a pothole at some point).

I've got to say the little civic handles dramatically better than it ever did (we bought it with 50k miles on it) with the bilstein struts - highly recommended. Its also smoother over bumps, really impressive.

[379Kcivic]

I see this is an old thread, but after several searches and lots of research on this site I've yet to find any conclusive answers. Any advice is appreciated. My '95 Civic VX needs a completely new exhaust system now.

Are there any aftermarket systems that show a difference in MPG or should I just go to CarX/Midas/wherever?

BTW, even though the trans is shot (taking care of that at the same time) and it is in need of a tuneup, after 3 fill ups I'm still averaging right at 39.7mpg with no hypermiling techniques and very little highway usage...boy does it need some cosmetic work, though! THANKS

Thanks

[bikepilot]

I ended up going with OEM honda exhaust.