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Atenciosamente e boa sorte!
800,000+ miles and still going strong
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102 Posts
It's funny about the R18, some people like the OP and EdNaviEx go 100's of 1,000's of miles on the original engine but then a few don't even make it 100K miles before the block just cracks.
My opinion though is if any car makes it to 200K on the original engine and trans, they got their money's worth from the car.
Back on page 11 I think, there are photos of the damage. Turns out there was just some piece of metal jammed between the starter pinion and the flywheel, which had locked up the engine.
Kind of reminds me of the time I replaced the water pump on my 95 Corolla. I had almost everything apart (pretty much everything on the top and side of the engine has to be removed, including the timing belt) and why was there coolant leak? Some stupid clamp connecting a hose to the water pump had come loose and I didn't think to check it.
So, a repair that could have taken four minutes ended up taking like four hours, not including a minor complication that happened after all was said and done.
Funny how sometimes we get real deep into a job just to find out it was something simple. Who the hell would even suspect that a tiny piece of crap would be stuck in the starter gear though?
I guess one must rule out even the silliest possibilities when thing mess up.
My opinion though is if any car makes it to 200K on the original engine and trans, they got their money's worth from the car.
Back on page 11 I think, there are photos of the damage. Turns out there was just some piece of metal jammed between the starter pinion and the flywheel, which had locked up the engine.
Kind of reminds me of the time I replaced the water pump on my 95 Corolla. I had almost everything apart (pretty much everything on the top and side of the engine has to be removed, including the timing belt) and why was there coolant leak? Some stupid clamp connecting a hose to the water pump had come loose and I didn't think to check it.
So, a repair that could have taken four minutes ended up taking like four hours, not including a minor complication that happened after all was said and done.
Funny how sometimes we get real deep into a job just to find out it was something simple. Who the hell would even suspect that a tiny piece of crap would be stuck in the starter gear though?
I guess one must rule out even the silliest possibilities when thing mess up.
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I WANT to say the way the car is driven has some bearing on it the block fails. My car normally doesn't go past 3,000rpm and I'm very gentle with it. Beside religious maintenance (oil/filter/ATF/etc), my rig has been good to me. I'm eyeing changing the thermostat and MAYBE the water pump. Jury still is out on that. Yes, they are original.
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102 Posts
Hard to say if the cracked blocks were driven hard. Of course for some odd reason, these younger guys get into a Honda Civic and suddenly Dale Earnhardt's spirit wants to take over.
I would think a rod would be thrown rather than a cracked block but who knows.
The water pump though - you are probably well aware of the difficulties some people have had with that stupid pivot bolt on the tensioner.
I would say if you decide to do the water pump yourself and before it fails, maybe buy the tools like a few 8 mm hex bits, drill bits designed to drill into hard metal (have them at Home Depot and probably other stores), tap, new bolt, etc just in case the worst happens and you have to drill out the old one. Of course budget plenty of time.
You may get lucky and it will come out without much hassle but do not count on it.
If I ever have to do the water pump on mine, I am going to plan as if that bolt will break.
If you can easily afford to have a shop do it (probably $500 or more), maybe go that route.
I would think a rod would be thrown rather than a cracked block but who knows.
The thermostat is easy enough, I did it on mine recently because it was not closing properly. During warm weather it would raise 9 marks on the gauge but come winter it was maybe 4 or 5 usually. Back to 9 now though.
The water pump though - you are probably well aware of the difficulties some people have had with that stupid pivot bolt on the tensioner.
I would say if you decide to do the water pump yourself and before it fails, maybe buy the tools like a few 8 mm hex bits, drill bits designed to drill into hard metal (have them at Home Depot and probably other stores), tap, new bolt, etc just in case the worst happens and you have to drill out the old one. Of course budget plenty of time.
You may get lucky and it will come out without much hassle but do not count on it.
If I ever have to do the water pump on mine, I am going to plan as if that bolt will break.
If you can easily afford to have a shop do it (probably $500 or more), maybe go that route.
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Good to know! The thermostat looks easy to do, although mine isn't "doing" anything. Same with the water pump. Then again, they are original. Some say to leave it alone, others say to replace them for good piece of mind.
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102 Posts
The thermostat is a little trickier than it looks but isn't horrible. Of course it was like 15 F degrees out when I did mine so that didn't help matters.
I do not remember if your car has 2 or 300 K on the clock.
My opinion though is if it isn't broke, do not fix it.
Anyone who has ever fixed anything knows - when you start digging into something, it possibly invites other problems that would not have come up otherwise.
Also I do not know if this applies to our Gen 8's but some water pumps have a weep hole that will start leaking if the pump is on it's way out.
Yeah, "weep hole". Sounds like it could be the name of an adult entertainment webpage. ANYways...
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Yep, i have 300K on the clock. I've drained and filled the engine coolant like 2x now, pretty sure it's due about now. I'm going to have to go over my records to verify. If I tackle this (thermos), it WILL be nice out, I hate wrenching when it's cold out.
Pretty sure our cars have a weep hole.................. that does seem strange typing that............ LOL.
Pretty sure our cars have a weep hole.................. that does seem strange typing that............ LOL.
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102 Posts
Some replacement pumps do not have one for whatever reason.
My 95 Corolla, I had to replace the pump and the new one from O'reiley did not. At one point I thought it was leaking again so I swapped it under warranty and that one DOES have it.
Thing is, on the Corolla when the pump was going out, it was just a real small leak.
My room mate's 2000 Bonneville water pump had one and it leaked BAD before I replaced the pump. One day it was mostly fine and the next it was making huge puddles and going through a gallon of coolant every three days.
When the pump fails on the Gen 8 civic, I wonder how bad it leaks?
My 95 Corolla, I had to replace the pump and the new one from O'reiley did not. At one point I thought it was leaking again so I swapped it under warranty and that one DOES have it.
Thing is, on the Corolla when the pump was going out, it was just a real small leak.
My room mate's 2000 Bonneville water pump had one and it leaked BAD before I replaced the pump. One day it was mostly fine and the next it was making huge puddles and going through a gallon of coolant every three days.
When the pump fails on the Gen 8 civic, I wonder how bad it leaks?
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LOL, I don't want to find out the hard way. With my luck, I'll be 3 hours away when the weeper starts to badly leak. Yep, don't need that..................
The first sign of seepage, the water pump is out. What's good about them is they "tell you" when things are about to "get interesting".
The first sign of seepage, the water pump is out. What's good about them is they "tell you" when things are about to "get interesting".
Once it overheats, the engine block will take a ****. Any signs of coolant leakage not coming from the block has to be addressed immediately in my terms.
I don't really pay attention to it either unless I push it hard. I hope I never have to see the temp gauge go higher than usual on my car lol.
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120 Posts
I would think that the constant expansion and contraction caused by thermal cycling (both metal and coolant) would be a more likely cause than being driven hard. My last Civic, which I suspect had minor cracks but never verified, would leak a little bit every night in the winter but not in the summer. It also was originally an Ohio car - I wonder if northern cars fail more than Southern?
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