The 1989 Civic hatchback

In reply to Run_Away:

Thanks!

It does look good in pictures but in reality it really rough.

For hating that car you did a damn good job on it. I'd pay you to do mine.

After I adjusted the valves and went to start it it just turned over quickly without firing. It did that a couple times then it fired up. Never did it previous to that and hasn't done it since, until today.

Fifteen minutes of a no start condition. Then it fired up just like normal.

I wasn't in a place where I could diagnose it but it sounds like it's either not getting spark or fuel.

Anyone know how these things act when the fuel pump is on the way out?

Most likely your main relay is on the way out. That will keep the fuel pump from turning on. Very common Honda issue.

In reply to logdog:

Ok, need to pick up a spare to keep with me I guess.

Thanks!

I'm a monumental moron.

Seriously I'm dumb.

I bought this car back in January. Put two new tires on the rear. Had the wheels on and off at least ten times working on brakes and checking out the suspension.

And in nearly eight months I have never.

Not once.

In that entire time.

Checked the air pressure in the front tires. LF had 45psi RF had 74!!!

No wonder the car was harsh on rough and broken pavement. Adjusted properly it's obviously much more compliant. I can not believe I've never checked that. I'm normally so fastidious about such things. The bike gets checked every day. Don't be like me. Check your air pressure.

Finally got around to changing the oil for the first time since I bought it. While under there I noticed some oil seeping out of the oil pan and some drops collecting on the pan bolts. Half of the bolts were barely even finger tight. I snugged them up. Hopefully that'll be enough to stop the seeping. Also went ahead and changed the trans fluid. Again the fill plug wasn't even finger tight, lucky it was still there. 

One weekend I need to go over every bolt I can get to. Seems like someone put this thing back together in a hurry. 

Also tackled a small project I've been putting off for a while. Pulled both door panels to find the rattles and repair the broken door pockets. Much to my surprise half of the mounting screws were missing and the door speakers weren't even screwed in. They were just sitting in the holes completely loose  the good news is with all that sorted it's a much more pleasant driving experience. 

Still need to sort a couple small dash rattles and a big one back in the hatch somewhere. But it's getting there.

Slowly but surely.

Excellent!

RE: intermittent starting. 

I believe these are also notorious for distributors. I'd consider keeping a spare. One not from the FLAPS.

I've got to track down some grounding problems. I've mentioned previously the factory temp gauge is wonky at times. The funny thing is when the temp gauge acts correctly the tach goes wonky but the idle smooths out. 

I doubt it's related to the no start. I'm pretty sure it's the main relay as I can hold it in my hand and cycle the key until I feel it click, then it will start. But again, it very well could be.  I haven't looked into it much but I need to find that ground issue. 

Maybe I'll study the schematics this week.

Tracked down some more rattles. The big one coming from the back is the little pin the the rear seat pivots on. I suspect it's supposed to have some type of bushing, as it is it's metal on metal and very loose. Meaning that every little bump in the road transmitted the clunk directly to the floor pan and it was extremely loud. I've temporarily fixed it by wedging a rag under the seat to keep it tight until I feel like pulling the seats out to fix it permanently. 

Also had to tighten the latch on the glovebox to fix the dash rattles. 

Since it was now mostly quite inside I figured it was a good time to put a radio in it. The cheapest one my local Walmart had would suffice. It actually has everything I was looking for with the exception of a dimmer control. It's a little brighter than I would like at night but it's not too bad. Has Bluetooth, USB and an aux input. No CD so it's super light and big enough buttons to hit easily. 

Right now I'm just running front speakers which are Sony Xplode something it others. I have two sets of reward to choose from if I decide to install them. May or may not.

I did have some issues with the install. When I hooked everything up I had no left speaker. Was getting output from the radio and the speaker tested good. I traced it to a bad crimp in the negative speaker wire in the scoche harness adapter. They crimped the insulation with none of the copper wire exposed. Easy enough fix but too a while to diagnose. 

Oh man, that brings me back. I miss my EF very much.

You've got AC, power mirrors, and a clock!? Living the life of luxury!

Looks sweet! Might be building one of these for 2018 Challenge.

Fun fact time...your power window switch is the same as a gen 1 NSX =)

In reply to Run_Away :

I've got a power mirror switch. It actually has manual adjustment mirrors on it. Surprisingly though the clock and the AC both work! 

It does feel slightly more luxurious now that it doesn't sound like it's falling apart over every single defect in the roads surface!

Thought I'd share a little update as the new owner.  Car now has some 14's with proper sized tires, and an ST rear sway bar. I have gone through a lot of the little electrical gremlins, etc... Still has some issues but that's too be expected.  It's my cheap little daily and so far so good.  Averaging around 32mpg sitting in traffic with the AC cranked. 

The Bouncing tach was fixed by cleaning all the contacts and connections in the distributor / ignitor, etc...  I replaced both the temp sensor and sender, and added new connections and wiring, and added some beefy ground straps, but the temp gauge still only works when it wants.  If I tap the gauge cluster it frequently kicks on, so I'm 99% sure the issue is in the gauge connection.  

I bumped the idle up to around 850 rpm or so and that cured the strong vibes when sitting still.  Steering is a little loose still, going to dive into replacing the ball joints and tie rod ends one of these days. 

Would also love to find a nice OEM front sway bar to help flatten things out a bit more.  But the ST rear bar did make a world of difference. 

love this car.   wanted it, but didn't want it.   glad to see it still getting love.

In reply to tyhackman15 :

Those wheels look good on it! I'm sure having proper sized tires makes a difference too. Looking good!