Project: 1997 Honda Civic HX

[tastypotato]

Need a couple more posts before I can make the images appear inline I guess.

Well, since I just recently joined I figured I should start a project thread about my Civic.

After the untimely death of my last 97 HX

which was in perfect condition.

I set out and found one from a junkyard that was $900 and needed a new head. Thus the project began!
http://i.imgur.com/uwMgK.jpg
This is it at the junkyard. It's not really a looker, but I needed something to get to and from work.

Old head on the second HX - things looking pretty dirty. I'm no expert on this stuff but that much discoloration's got to be a bad thing. :/

Head from first Civic HX put on - just had to get the thing timed and then smogged and I'd be back on the road!

Hm.. Well, I guess that's why it was at a junkyard. $478 in DMV fees really hurt quite a bit, especially since the DMV only takes cash/debit.

I've now been driving the car for about 4 months and have accumulated quite a bit of a fuel log - unfortunately not on this site so I'll just leave a screenshot of the .csv exported from aCar.


Now, a part of the reason I joined this community is to get help in getting more MPG's out of this thing. I know that with lean burn I should really be getting more than 38.081 average MPG so I'm looking for help in squeezing at least 40 out of this sucker.

Problem is, this thing's motor leaks oil like a sieve - there's oil coming out of the distributor area (Tried buying a new inner seal which even a mechanic couldn't drive in properly, which means I might have to buy a whole new distributor for a darned seal) and a look underneath the motor is quite horrifying seeing what looks like at least 50k of nasty gunk under there so I'm sure it's leaking oil from somewhere else. Hopefully it's not the rear main seal, but knowing my luck...


Aside from that I have already attempted to install a warm air intake to see if there would be any kind of MPG increase, and the last two tanks have seen zero increase of fuel economy. I'm considering doing a mod I saw on YouTube with using some PVC piping and bringing "Cold" air up from the ground and forcing it into the end of the warm air intake effectively making it a cold air intake. Any thoughts on that? Or should I just go back to the stock airbox?

Also, I caved and bought an UltraGauge - perhaps my driving style just sucks. I do have to go over a very large hill as a part of my commute. :/

[AndrzejM]

Welcome here tastypotato, and good luck with your project. I'm sure you can set up your goal much higher than 40MPG, and you'll achievie it!

Regarding oil leak, wash your engine completely and drive it slowly or idle for couple of minutes. You should see where the leak source is placed. And slowly, because air flow won't smear the oil all over the engine.

[tastypotato]

Originally Posted by AndrzejM

Welcome here tastypotato, and good luck with your project. I'm sure you can set up your goal much higher than 40MPG, and you'll achievie it!

Regarding oil leak, wasch your engine completely and drive it slowly or idle for couple of minutes. You should see where the leak source is placed. And slowly, because air flow won't smear the oil all over the engine.

Well, I know that the distributor is still leaking oil, but there's another leak that I'm sure is the main cause for the smell of burning oil when I get off of the freeway or anywhere where I'm doing extended driving.

i.imgur.com/B77DE.jpg

Perhaps anyone have some good tips on how to wash the bottom of your motor without spraying yourself in the face with grease? :P

[seeodywhy]

It could be coming from the Vtec switch. I had that problem before. As far as the distributor seal is concerned you have to make sure you either get it from Honda or that you make sure you have the correct dimensions. You need to clean out the orifice with a dry rag and then cover both the hole and the new o-ring clean oil before installing it. I would never buy a new distributor just to replace the o-ring.

[seeodywhy]

To wash the bottom of the motor I would take it to a self service carwash and just use the pressure washer. Just make sure you leave the car running while you clean under the hood.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by tastypotato

Hm.. Well, I guess that's why it was at a junkyard. $478 in DMV fees really hurt quite a bit, especially since the DMV only takes cash/debit.

<snip>

Now, a part of the reason I joined this community is to get help in getting more MPG's out of this thing. I know that with lean burn I should really be getting more than 38.081 average MPG so I'm looking for help in squeezing at least 40 out of this sucker.

Those fees really add up! Ouch!

Is your car originally from California? I remember reading that the 6th gen Civics from California may not actually have lean burn due to emissions reasons (Lean burn has high NOx emissions which is why it's not on any new cars). My 7th gen is from California and does.

[turbovr41991]

Wow, that must have been a hard impact.

Happy to see another HX driving around.

Are both cars california spec?

[tastypotato]

Originally Posted by seeodywhy

It could be coming from the Vtec switch. I had that problem before. As far as the distributor seal is concerned you have to make sure you either get it from Honda or that you make sure you have the correct dimensions. You need to clean out the orifice with a dry rag and then cover both the hole and the new o-ring clean oil before installing it. I would never buy a new distributor just to replace the o-ring.

Problem with that is Honda doesn't sell the distributor inner seals by themselves - you have to buy a whole new housing for $300. So I have to rely on OEM Replacement which as I found out does not work. :/ The mechanic I had try to drive it in said that the housing might have been resurfaced and that since that had been done the opening on the housing might have been made a teeny tiny bit smaller because of the resurfacing techniques that they use.

Originally Posted by seeodywhy

To wash the bottom of the motor I would take it to a self service carwash and just use the pressure washer. Just make sure you leave the car running while you clean under the hood.

I've got a pressure washer at home actually, I just need to get some serious jackstands or something to get it way high off the ground. Might have to keep the local hardware store in business again!

Originally Posted by darcane

Those fees really add up! Ouch!

There, now everyone can see the pics too.

Is your car originally from California? I remember reading that the 6th gen Civics from California may not actually have lean burn due to emissions reasons (Lean burn has high NOx emissions which is why it's not on any new cars). My 7th gen is from California and does.

Thanks about the pictures, a couple more posts and I'll be able to edit it myself.

The one that I crashed originally came from California, but the one that I got at a junkyard came from Texas so this is where I get a little confused regarding the whole lean burn thing.

Since the whole rest of the car is from Texas except for the head, would that mean I still have lean burn? Passing smog was a HUGE pain. (I got 66 of 66 on hydrocarbons, my NOX passed just fine) and involved a new radiator fan, a can of seafoam, spark plugs and cables, and a total of four visits to the smog shop. I was on a first name basis with the guys there by the time that I passed. :x

[tastypotato]

Originally Posted by turbovr41991

Wow, that must have been a hard impact.

Happy to see another HX driving around.

Are both cars california spec?

It was no fun. Changed lanes out from behind a semi into a lane that was completely stopped. No one got hurt thankfully so that's why I feel it's okay to look back at it and laugh.

The one I have now is a Texas HX - but it has a California head on it - don't really know if that makes a difference, but I am pretty sure I have lean burn. Is there really any way to definitively tell that I have lean burn?

[seeodywhy]

I just replaced my seal with one from an autoparts store. I'll see if I can find the dimensions.