New guy introduction w/ a question.

[US Sub Vet.]

Alrighty ya'll, my name is Dustin and i'm the owner of a 00' Honda Civic EX. I was in the Submarine service as a machinist mate and just got out in May, and i've owned 9 cars since i was 15. I bought the car from a neighbor that was getting rid of it, his son owed him for the car and the dad repossessed the title and sold it to me, for 3k (decent deal right?) and now i'm having little issues here and there.

First, here's what it's got.
138kmiles with a 5spd trans. No timing belt has been done yet, so i baby this car...
Well kept motor, no oil leaks, oil condition good (just did a flush using ATF)
Has full exhaust (brand unknown) and looks to be 2- 2.1/4'' pipe, sounds decent i reckon.
Short ram intake, which is pretty much useless i would figure due to the heat off of the radiator.
Lowered in the front with adjustable struts to 2''< stock., i think it has aftermarket upper control arms.
Some cheap kumho tires and some 27% window tint, silver paint w/ Si trim skirts.
Did a simple tune-up: Plugs, wires, cap/rotor, intake carbon cleaner, fuel injector cleaner, and ignition timing is set to stock... it was off about 10' when i first checked.

Not a bad car i guess for the economy (getting 36mpg after re-doing ign. timing)
but here's the issues.
1. Check engine light is on, pretty sure it's an O2 sensor but i'm not interested in blowing $80 on it just to have the light go out UNLESS the ECU may be screwing with engine settings (like "limp" mode or w/e) due to the light being on.
2. My low-beams like to go out after i hit a bump or turning on after car has been sitting for days. The remedy: Punch bottom of steering wheel and lights come on, i have the car in the garage and i'm about to take the shrouds off the steering column to check for loose wires.
3. It is the most annoyingly sounding car i've ever owned (out of 9, including a 944T, RX7, Cadillac, etc...), i've thought about trying to put in a solenoid operated bypass valve around the IACV when i want to silence the noise while in my neighborhood and parking lots. Any adverse effects of this while the engine is at NOT? Anyone done this before?

Thank you for your time and potential answers, also, if anyone has any military questions i'll be happy to answer what i know/authorized to answer.

 

[4bangincivic]

Alrighty ya'll, my name is Dustin and i'm the owner of a 00' Honda Civic EX. I was in the Submarine service as a machinist mate and just got out in May, and i've owned 9 cars since i was 15. I bought the car from a neighbor that was getting rid of it, his son owed him for the car and the dad repossessed the title and sold it to me, for 3k (decent deal right?) and now i'm having little issues here and there.

First, here's what it's got.
138kmiles with a 5spd trans. No timing belt has been done yet, so i baby this car...
Well kept motor, no oil leaks, oil condition good (just did a flush using ATF)
Has full exhaust (brand unknown) and looks to be 2- 2.1/4'' pipe, sounds decent i reckon.
Short ram intake, which is pretty much useless i would figure due to the heat off of the radiator.
Lowered in the front with adjustable struts to 2''< stock., i think it has aftermarket upper control arms.
Some cheap kumho tires and some 27% window tint, silver paint w/ Si trim skirts.
Did a simple tune-up: Plugs, wires, cap/rotor, intake carbon cleaner, fuel injector cleaner, and ignition timing is set to stock... it was off about 10' when i first checked.

Not a bad car i guess for the economy (getting 36mpg after re-doing ign. timing)
but here's the issues.
1. Check engine light is on, pretty sure it's an O2 sensor but i'm not interested in blowing $80 on it just to have the light go out UNLESS the ECU may be screwing with engine settings (like "limp" mode or w/e) due to the light being on.
2. My low-beams like to go out after i hit a bump or turning on after car has been sitting for days. The remedy: Punch bottom of steering wheel and lights come on, i have the car in the garage and i'm about to take the shrouds off the steering column to check for loose wires.
3. It is the most annoyingly sounding car i've ever owned (out of 9, including a 944T, RX7, Cadillac, etc...), i've thought about trying to put in a solenoid operated bypass valve around the IACV when i want to silence the noise while in my neighborhood and parking lots. Any adverse effects of this while the engine is at NOT? Anyone done this before?

Thank you for your time and potential answers, also, if anyone has any military questions i'll be happy to answer what i know/authorized to answer.

If the body is clean I'd just forgot everything wrong with it and swap the motor out.

 

[US Sub Vet.]

I'm not looking to get a speed machine or anything out of this, it's just a daily driver.

My $$ towards horsepower goes to my 1970 Ford Galaxie LTD, 390 V8 w/ Holley 4160.
I just want this to reflect that i'm not some kid with a lil' civic and auto-zone exhaust, i just want a clean car that gets good mileage since my job is 50mins away from my house... my LTD drinks gas. I also know that with the Y8 1.6 it has it's really going to cost alot anyways to get any serious power out of it, thus, it will retain it's motor.

Maybe when a few years roll by i'll probably replace the civic with another 86'+ Porsche 944T like I used to have, Someone however totalled it because they were following too close, hit me, bent up the body and cause it to dog-tail everywhere... i was mad as hell about it.

Anyone know the gear ratios btw for this car? The speedo is off 5mph, this has been verified via GPS and NC State Trooper radar.

*Edit* Just fixed the headlight issue, kid/someone before me had spliced into the power wire for the lights and did a horrible job fixing it. Cut out the old connector, did it the RIGHT way and then added heat-shrink... no more probs. Also fixed some rattles in the front clip... this car has been wrecked once before.

 

[civicfan111]

Ohnestly if ur not looking to get much power I swap an ls in, it's cheap, has more power and is basically bullet proof. Yu would get good mpg, and driving through town and in the freeway will be easier, yu wont have to downshift to merge and pass people when needed and all that.

 

[Genuine Rolla]

what sound is the engine making that's annoying?

 

[US Sub Vet.]

What is an "IS"? I was at least thinking about chipping it, idk if i'd really need to get new injectors or not to fully utilize the chip... or can you even "chip" these cars?

And the annoying sound, that would be the typical loudly resonating "ricer-tone" that you hear at low speeds... around 20mph. When the IACV valve is open the car sounds like it has a quiet sporty muffler and is not an ear-sore when you hear it inside/outside of the cab of the car.

I will give it to the exhaust though that at WOT this thing sounds like my porsche i had, sans the turbo-spool, but is way slower than my porsche and a bit slower than my Ford galaxie.