Say hello to the Black Mamba!

[Baltothewolf]

So I found this car on CL and I managed to get it, there was 4 familys there trying to haggle him down under 2k and I walked up and said "Enough games, 2k cash money right now, lets go" and he told everyone to have a good day and let me buy it LOL. (copied from my car buy thread). It's interior is actually in extremely good shape too, which surprised me.

Anyway, it has it's issues, as follows:
Car rear ended a truck and broke the headlight, was replaced but, extremely bad job and need to fix this.
Has a wing (ewww).
Electric mirror on the drivers side doesn't work.
It has a disgusting, loud ricer muffler on it, will be getting this removed soon.
And last but not least, something I need your guys help with, it's leaking oil, and I can't seem to figure out from where. I knew it was when I bought it, but the car made it up a 2 mile 6% grade so obviously it's nothing serious, it's just a leak. Any, and I mean ANY help on this would be greatly appreciated, I'm going to continue to drive the Green Goblin until I get this small issue fixed, but until then it stays parked.

Pics below of the car and the oil leak. It's just under the upper radiator hose.

From what I have read, the 3 main culprits would be a valve cover gasket, head gasket and distributor. If I'm wrong let me know but, yea. They are all 3 pretty easy to fix if memory serves me right.

[ecomodded]

The motor needs to be cleaned.
If you power wash the motor clean of all that oil dirt crud the leak will be much more apparent.
Cover the distributor and any exposed electrics with plastic bags before apply engine degreaser/ cleaner and power washing.


that's my tip for the issue , works for me and others.

edit : &
Nice New Ride you have there .. that should give you great mileage !

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by ecomodded

The motor needs to be cleaned.
If you power wash the motor clean of all that oil dirt crud the leak will be much more apparent.
Cover the distributor and any exposed electrics with plastic bags before apply engine degreaser/ cleaner and power washing.


that's my tip for the issue , works for me and others.

edit : &
Nice New Ride you have there .. that should give you great mileage !

Yea I have a guy that I know that will do it for me for 45$, I don't have access to a pressure washer so, I'll just pay him to do it.

Yea, I hope to get 50+ but we will see, I drove a stick shift for the first time today (this car), I had my little brother drive it home when I bought it due to it being a 60 Mile commute. I only stalled once but I'm getting the hang of it. I won't be driving this car to work until I get it fully operational and I'm satisfied with the way it's running, so I won't even bother tracking fuel consumption as I'm sure it will be pathetic with me using it to learn how to drive a manual properly.

Also, there is a green arrow that appears now and then when I'm driving it, does anyone have any idea what it means? I thought it might be a shift light but I just want to be 100% sure.

[digital rules]

Congrats on the new wheels!! Glad to see you got a manual You will learn how to launch the car w/o stalling pretty quickly & never look back.

Hated the 02 Corolla I had with an auto. Switching to a manual was a HUGE driving experience improvement.

[Daox]

Woohoo, congrats on the car, and a HX no less, very nice!

I'm pretty sure all HX models from that generation came with a spoiler. Perhaps it helps aero? Tuft testing will help you know for sure.

[backpacker3]

Nice find! My car has a green arrow too but that's for the blinker most of the time when I've seen manuals with a shift light it's a gear with a + or - inside it. So I dunno

[101Volts]

HELLO, CAR!

Balto, Do you EOC?

[UltArc]

My Insights have all done the /\ for upshift, and \/ for downshift.

What happened to get the standard? I thought that was the reason you didn't go with the other Insight? This seems like a good find, though.

[JRMichler]

An oil leak that collects a thick layer of oily dirt normally is not worth fixing. Just wash down the engine once in a while. When the leak washes the dirt off or leaves puddles underneath, that's the time to fix it.

I would never use a pressure washer in an engine compartment. The high pressure can blast water past seals. I spray it down with Gunk or some other degreaser. Let it soak in, then hose it off.

[Baltothewolf]

Ok lets start from the top, thanks for all the replies guys.

First off, I'm super excited I got a manual, I drove it around town for about 30 minutes yesterday and only stalled once, so I'm getting the hang of it.

Doax: I will be leaving the spoiler on there for the first 2 weeks I drive it, then remove it to see if removing it increases MPG. And yes, I wasn't going to buy a civic unless it was a VX of the first gen or HX of this gen, had to have lean burn.

Backpacker: I'm fairly sure it's a shift light but, meh. Idk I'm not to pressured on figuring out what it is exactly.

101Volts: I gotta learn how to drive a manual first, then I'll be EOCing constantly. Was one of my main reasons of getting a manual, I'll be making a kill-switch for it within the next couple months.

UltraArc: What do you mean the standard? You got me confused O.o. And the only reason I didn't get an insight was because I couldn't find a manual that wasn't ripped apart or wrecked for 2k or less.

Last but absolutely not least JRmichler: I didn't know this. I really don't want to damage anything, so I'll just spray degreaser and wash it with a hose. Got any specific degreasers you would recommend?