2 week dealership fix

[tomasro]

So, as with any car when it's new, it has problems. Especially if you buy one of the first cars off the assembly line. I got my 2006 EX Civic Sedan on December 23rd. I got the VIN number as soon as it was in assembly in October/November. The car is a dream...for me anyway.

I started noticing rattles and such about 2 months after I got the car. After reading a thread on this forum, I noticed the 1400 RPM engine rattle. So, I decided to take the car in and have it looked at for the first time since my first oil change at 3K miles (this was 2 weeks ago). And just today I got it back. Wanna know what took so long?

First off, there aparently is a bulletin on the 1.8L engine about weak oil seals. In order to replace these small little items, it requires the transmission be removed as one is located in that general region, and the other is on the front. This was diagnosed the day after I took the car in...this also took a week to fix.

Secondly, the transmission was leaking fluid. Not a big deal, just replace a seal and fill up the tranny fluid. But we are talking a car with less than 5K miles on it!!!!

Thirdly, all the issues seemed to fall away once the Engine Oil leaks and Tranny oil leaks were resolved. So anyone with these issues might just take their car to their local dealer and demand this service. God knows it helped me.

Lastly, this whole time I was in a rental car. I decided to go with an upgraded car, since I do a lot of driving, and I didn't want to hate my replacement ride in the mean time. So I got a Nissan Altima. Bigger, Faster, quieter, and fun. Problem was that it gets closer to 20mpg, and with gas at $3.20 for unleaded in places down here, that's not a cheap 2 week replacement...even if the rental was free. So, tack on a couple days for paper work, weekends, and sick employees, and you get 2 weeks to fix an engine leak and a tranny leak.

So why, aside from the expensive gas and frequent fill-ups was this last issue an issue at all? Because the car was powerful. With near 100 horsepower than the civic, it really makes me yearn for a stronger engine (of course with better effiency). So the question becomes: How do I squeeze 60 or so more HP out of my ride without killing the gas mileage and making it an annoying buzzer on wheels??? (and without breaking the piggy bank )

[Tyredurgan]

Umm 60HP.... Forced Induction bro.

[06CivEXJon]

Ever thought of tornado air? You can get that, and put in a green drop in filter or k&n drop in air filter links below.

www.tornadoair.com
www.greenfilterusa.com
www.knfilters.com

[webby]

60hp won't happen with just adding parts onto the car link intakes, filters, etc. To really get 60 additional horsepower you'd have to add a turbo or a supercharger on the car = major expense (over 3k) and you will lose fuel efficiency. HP takes 2 things to be made - gas and air. The more gas and air you can get in your engine, the more HP you can get out. Your altima drive that kept you pinned in your seat did it at the expense of MPG.

[radiocontrolhead]

it's called compromise, u want horsepower, u'll have to suffer gas mileage. you can't have both, hell, if thats the way it was, dont u think EVERYONE would have 500 hp engines under there hood? you're damn right.

[tomasro]

you think that small 1.8L engine can take a small turbo's psi? I'm intrigued but warry.

[radiocontrolhead]

like we said, if u want performance, get an si, messing w/ a econ engine like that on ur car will just hurt it. and it woudl be very pointless and a waste of your money.

[PhoenixDown]

My old car had alot more HP than my civic ex and when I first took her for a test drive, I deffinitely felt it. I've been driving it for a few weeks now and once I adjusted, its been fine.