"The Mothership" - 1998 Civic - Maintenance Log
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I just ordered the first piece to my instrument cluster rebuild. Tracking says it'll be a few weeks 
yesterday it said that everything would arrive tomorrow.
Alright, I'll order the parts from Majestic when my next paycheck comes in. As I see it, this will get my toes wet for future maintenance work. I'm going to have to find a time to work on my car while my dad's not home though, I'm living at home for the summer and he's quite against me 'fiddling around'.
yesterday it said that everything would arrive tomorrow.Alright, I'll order the parts from Majestic when my next paycheck comes in. As I see it, this will get my toes wet for future maintenance work. I'm going to have to find a time to work on my car while my dad's not home though, I'm living at home for the summer and he's quite against me 'fiddling around'.
Your not fiddling around. Its necessary maintenanceI just ordered the first piece to my instrument cluster rebuild. Tracking says it'll be a few weeks
Alright, I'll order the parts from Majestic when my next paycheck comes in. As I see it, this will get my toes wet for future maintenance work. I'm going to have to find a time to work on my car while my dad's not home though, I'm living at home for the summer and he's quite against me 'fiddling around'.
I appreciate the vote. Rather than run down exactly how one of those conversations with my dad goes, where he tells me to either drive it until it stops moving or take it to a shop, or discuss how he lost a family member to industrial work, I'll just say that the maintenance will happen but it may be delayed.
LEDs ordered for the cabin and trunk, should be here in about a month.
LEDs ordered for the cabin and trunk, should be here in about a month.
Gaskets are just fine from Autozone, for future reference. I use Felpro, and they're great gaskets. Parts, though, try to go with OEM! Good job on the maintenance though. It's always good to learn this stuff. It will save you thousands down the road.
Thanks TokyoSkies 
Okay, I need to get that straight.
Gaskets are good from a reliable brand.
But things like mechanical parts should be OEM? And OEM means buying them from someplace like MHonda to ensure they're made the same as the original?
I'm pretty sure it's just going to be a learning curve to grasp where the best place to get parts and which type or brand to get, but at the same time.. It sounds like an expensive curve to travel
I plan to check out the local Autozone tomorrow for gaskets, and if I don't purchase from them I'll put the order to MHonda through Sunday or Monday.
Okay, I need to get that straight.
Gaskets are good from a reliable brand.
But things like mechanical parts should be OEM? And OEM means buying them from someplace like MHonda to ensure they're made the same as the original?
I'm pretty sure it's just going to be a learning curve to grasp where the best place to get parts and which type or brand to get, but at the same time.. It sounds like an expensive curve to travel
I plan to check out the local Autozone tomorrow for gaskets, and if I don't purchase from them I'll put the order to MHonda through Sunday or Monday.
Swung past Autozone on my way home from work today.
Got the valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket (~$30). No dizzy o ring though.
Not super sure how I'm supposed to orient the oil pan gasket :-\ Doesn't really make a square
Any suggestions for brand of fuel filter? Or some other small thing to bump the Amazon order with the dizzy gasket up to free shipping?
The weather's awesome... I hope it lasts until I get stuff together to play with my car!
Got the valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket (~$30). No dizzy o ring though.
Not super sure how I'm supposed to orient the oil pan gasket :-\ Doesn't really make a square
Any suggestions for brand of fuel filter? Or some other small thing to bump the Amazon order with the dizzy gasket up to free shipping?
The weather's awesome... I hope it lasts until I get stuff together to play with my car!
autozone has o-ring sets behind the counter, bring them your old one and say "hey hoe, i need this s**t, go get it" and like magic the right one will appear 
oil pan gasket, orient it by looking for the 2 half moon shapes, on opposite sides of the gasket. these will go on the front and back (crank and transmision ends). the rest of it just kinda snakes around the edge in the channel
OEM = Original Equipment Manufacturer. OEM parts are always best, but will cost you an arm and a leg. What I usually do if I'm on the fence on OEM vs aftermarket, is google like mad. Read reviews on what other people are saying about their experiences with the third party brand part, see if any of them have been running it for over a year with no problems etc. Things like distributor, alternator, engine components etc. should be replaced with OEM if you're going to use a stock-replacement. If you're upgrading, aftermarket is better (i.e. aftermarket higher output alternator).
Alright, 'tis finished.
Culprit: The Distributor, a.k.a "Dizzy"
Convicted of: One count of a totally worn out oil gasket
Sentenced: Six months of hard labor and wanna-be drag racing on public roads.
This is gonna be a long post...And I still didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to.. Brace yourself.
First things first. Raise the ro- ... hood, and chalk the wheels!
The engine bay. In retrospect, it looks a heck of a lot like it does afterwards
Wires. Lets not forget how these go, eh?
Pull of the distributor, I'm immediately assured that it's the source of the oil leak.
Pulled off the cap. Wasn't really sure just how worn the rotor and cap were... So I replaced them (retrospect, a poor decision)
Just for kicks:
The ugly new cap:
Old and new cap gaskets:
Scold and set aside the dizzy. Drained the oil. Removed the oil filter.
Can't see the oil filter area, so I took a picture with my camera to check it out:
Removed the PCV valve:
Removed and cleaned the PCV valve hose:
Nipple to the intake manifold:
New valve:
Installed:
Valve cover off. I honestly felt like I could have just cleaned the gasket off and put it back on with some new RTV. I'm also pretty sure that this is the first time the inside of this cover has seen daylight. Period.
Gross, but not too bad (I mean, for never having seen it before):
Some scrubbing later:
...And after having it cleaned at a shop. Just because:
Getting the new screw-gasket-things onto the bolts was a small nightmare, but eventually worked:
Looks totally different than I had imagined:
The timing belt looked pretty darned good to me:
There was a small delay getting everything back together. So platicwrap.
Got the gasket area as clean as possible. Then applied the Permatex Grey:
New dizzy gasket:
Something seems off.....
When I put the dizzy in wrong... a small layer of the gasket sheared off
I guess I'll get another and wait to see if it leaks again...
Abs-so-lutely
Haven't gotten new wires yet, probably should sometime.
Oil
Jury's still out on whether this stuff helps, but I've used it before and it didn't seem to be wrecking anything...
Tomorrow I'll fire 'er up and see if I did something stupid, like re-wire the spark plugs wrong
Oh, and I got new LED cabin lights!
It was definitely an expensive project, but also worthwhile (well, check back tomorrow to see about that). I'll try to get a cost breakdown up here to help me out next time I try doing something like this.
I'd appreciate any recommendations or suggestions based on what you see. Thanks for sticking through the post!
Culprit: The Distributor, a.k.a "Dizzy"
Convicted of: One count of a totally worn out oil gasket
Sentenced: Six months of hard labor and wanna-be drag racing on public roads.
This is gonna be a long post...And I still didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to.. Brace yourself.
First things first. Raise the ro- ... hood, and chalk the wheels!
The engine bay. In retrospect, it looks a heck of a lot like it does afterwards
Wires. Lets not forget how these go, eh?
Pull of the distributor, I'm immediately assured that it's the source of the oil leak.
Pulled off the cap. Wasn't really sure just how worn the rotor and cap were... So I replaced them (retrospect, a poor decision)
Just for kicks:
The ugly new cap:
Old and new cap gaskets:
Scold and set aside the dizzy. Drained the oil. Removed the oil filter.
Can't see the oil filter area, so I took a picture with my camera to check it out:
Removed the PCV valve:
Removed and cleaned the PCV valve hose:
Nipple to the intake manifold:
New valve:
Installed:
Valve cover off. I honestly felt like I could have just cleaned the gasket off and put it back on with some new RTV. I'm also pretty sure that this is the first time the inside of this cover has seen daylight. Period.
Gross, but not too bad (I mean, for never having seen it before):
Some scrubbing later:
...And after having it cleaned at a shop. Just because:
Getting the new screw-gasket-things onto the bolts was a small nightmare, but eventually worked:
Looks totally different than I had imagined:
The timing belt looked pretty darned good to me:
There was a small delay getting everything back together. So platicwrap.
Got the gasket area as clean as possible. Then applied the Permatex Grey:
New dizzy gasket:
Something seems off.....
When I put the dizzy in wrong... a small layer of the gasket sheared off
I guess I'll get another and wait to see if it leaks again...Abs-so-lutely
Haven't gotten new wires yet, probably should sometime.
Oil
Jury's still out on whether this stuff helps, but I've used it before and it didn't seem to be wrecking anything...
Tomorrow I'll fire 'er up and see if I did something stupid, like re-wire the spark plugs wrong
Oh, and I got new LED cabin lights!
It was definitely an expensive project, but also worthwhile (well, check back tomorrow to see about that). I'll try to get a cost breakdown up here to help me out next time I try doing something like this.
I'd appreciate any recommendations or suggestions based on what you see. Thanks for sticking through the post!
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Great work man! Told ya, that dizzy isn't too hard! It'll only go in one way!
If you sheared the gasket, it's a possibility it will leak. Keep that in mind!
If you sheared the gasket, it's a possibility it will leak. Keep that in mind!
Doing WORK! Great post. Always very clear in your instructions, and great pics. Good job
Thanks guys 
Yeah, it was getting late, I rushed, and definitely took a tiny chunk out of the new dizzy gasket. Now that I know what I'm doing, it's only $4 and ten minutes away from a new one though ^_^
I gave the Permatex 20 of the 24 hours it needed to set, and then my resolve broke and I went driving. I really don't know how to convey the difference. The car absolutely purrs now, and feels way more responsive coming out of stops, it's also several magnitudes smoother on the interstate (could be the tires, they leak and I recently pumped them up). It's possible that I'm re-adjusting from driving my dad's old Mercury for a few days, but in any case, I'm totally infatuated with the changes.
Also, while I was test-driving on the interstate, I passed a small accident and got to help out and put my little pop-up cones to use
Tomorrow I promise I'll get a chance to look over the receipts and upload a few more pictures!
Yeah, it was getting late, I rushed, and definitely took a tiny chunk out of the new dizzy gasket. Now that I know what I'm doing, it's only $4 and ten minutes away from a new one though ^_^
I gave the Permatex 20 of the 24 hours it needed to set, and then my resolve broke and I went driving. I really don't know how to convey the difference. The car absolutely purrs now, and feels way more responsive coming out of stops, it's also several magnitudes smoother on the interstate (could be the tires, they leak and I recently pumped them up). It's possible that I'm re-adjusting from driving my dad's old Mercury for a few days, but in any case, I'm totally infatuated with the changes.
Also, while I was test-driving on the interstate, I passed a small accident and got to help out and put my little pop-up cones to use
Tomorrow I promise I'll get a chance to look over the receipts and upload a few more pictures!
Costs:
Amazon order - $26.53
- Bosch 3312 oil filter
- Transmission drain washer
- Oil pan crush washer
- Dizzy cap gasket
- Dizzy cam gasket
Walmart - $75
- Rolling creeper - $30
- 10W30 Oil - $15
- 4 spark plugs - $20
Autozone - ~$100
- Valve cover gasket - ~$30
- Oil pan gasket - $16?
- Dizzy gap and rotator - $50
Parts cleaning for the valve cover - $20
I recently joined my local engineering club, and got a car decal (matches the WW decal):
I don't like the amount of branding crap that goes on the surface of cars, necessary or not, it just bugs me. I don't really mind the engine though, that's kinda like "hey, we engineered the hell outa this, and if it's running, it should have our name on it"...
Anyway, I used a wire wheel on the valve cover's honda logo:
Amazon order - $26.53
- Bosch 3312 oil filter
- Transmission drain washer
- Oil pan crush washer
- Dizzy cap gasket
- Dizzy cam gasket
Walmart - $75
- Rolling creeper - $30
- 10W30 Oil - $15
- 4 spark plugs - $20
Autozone - ~$100
- Valve cover gasket - ~$30
- Oil pan gasket - $16?
- Dizzy gap and rotator - $50
Parts cleaning for the valve cover - $20
I recently joined my local engineering club, and got a car decal (matches the WW decal):
I don't like the amount of branding crap that goes on the surface of cars, necessary or not, it just bugs me. I don't really mind the engine though, that's kinda like "hey, we engineered the hell outa this, and if it's running, it should have our name on it"...
Anyway, I used a wire wheel on the valve cover's honda logo:
that'll work. I just used some 60 and 120 grit sandpaper, but then again I was taking the letter back to metal after I spray painted the valve cover