In reply to John Welsh :
Hmm, good thought on a replacement fob. The install look like some time and care was spent on it.
It also has aftermarket seat heaters installed, no evidence of the install yet but they work. So overall I'm not terribly concerned about it all.
New head? Should have a black valve cover.
The battery is not tied down but came with most of the tie down parts in the trunk. Battery is dated 12/23 so that's good.
It had a squealing belt on startup, worse with the AC on.
All the alternator screws were loose and there was a witness mark where the tensioner used to be. So I put it back there and tightened it, should be fixed.
After opening the heater valve manually, I have some warm air. Switches to cold with the temp knob so I know the blend door is working.
It will get a new thermostat when I change the heater valve.
Both radiator hoses are about the same temp but the small tube that goes from the thermostat housing to the throttle body feels hotter. Maybe because it's metal instead of rubber but it tells me that one side of the thermostat ma be hotter than the other.
It warms up quick and the gauge is steady in the middle but the gauge sender is on the cold side of the thermostat.
We had a 2001 EX 5 speed MT of that same body style - man, I loved that car. It was good to us for all of the 225k miles that we had it. Sold it in 2009 to get a new EX, also with a 5 speed MT. Also a great car for us, but always felt a bit more ponderous than the 2001 did.
I'll vouch for the earlier post about replacing the thermostat if heat output is low. Will also chime in to spend the extra few $'s on a OEM Honda one based on past experiences trying to use a lower cost but recognizable name aftermarket T-state on our current Civic. That experience didn't go supremely well until I eventually bought the OEM part.
Heater as still not working.
Replaced the thermostat
Flushed the heater core, it was plugged.
Replaced the heater valve, old one had a loose arm and non functional.
Next I plan to verify heater door function, vents go from cold to warm so it is at least partially working. I have verified that the actuator moves, maybe not all the way. Possible broken door or faulty actuator.
No pics, I'll look into that.
After driving this for a couple weeks my boy tells me he thinks it needs an oil change. Why would he say that?
Well the check engine light came on followed my the oil can symbol. Sure enough it was out of oil.
I poured sea foam down the plug holes, added some mystery oil to the sump and replaced the stuck PCV valve.
Stuck oil rings, it did sit for a while, PCV issue causing it to eat that much oil or a much worse scenario. The number 2 plug had some deposits on it, and a paint pen marking on the valve cover that read 113.5 X. Compression reading?
This car came with a new head on it, PO replaced the radiator due to overheating. The thermostat and heater core had some white gunk in them. Lets see, maybe it overheated, blew a head gasket, had sealer added, that failed, received a new head. Now it still overheats so they dump it. PO buys it adds a new radiator, finds out that the brake lines are rusty and dumps it.
This is where I come in....
Maybe this needs to get moved into the project car section, this was not supposed to be a project.
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