Home with VX, Some Q's and comments
 

I just picked up a 94 VX from southern N.H. yesterday. When I went to look at it everything was great. It only had 112K and no rust. It was nearly all stock, including original rims, eng and tranny. It had a 5 wire o2. Only 2 problems 1st- it was lowered...2nd- when I drove it, it missed and ran a little bit roughly in lean burn mode. I had never driven a VX before, so I had no reference, but I knew a honda should run smoothly. It idled perfectly. When you stepped on the gas it paused for a sec, shifted into power mode and accelerated powerfully and smoothly. So I figured it was OK, and that I would tinker around later and figure out what was wrong. On the way home I did worry about it a little bit, thinking it could be something major and expensive, and i was kicking myself for not bargaining it down some more. It would lose speed in lean burn mode, and then you had to really step on it to get it into performance mode. I was guessing it was an ignition problem:either the plugs or the wires, cap or rotor. maybe the o2 sensor. Today I checked the plugs and yes it had bosch plugs installed. So tomorrow I will try and find the right plugs for it and then maybe it will run correctly in lean burn mode. I also ordered a DMM to check the status of the lean burn.

The lowered suspension makes the car handle nicely and sharply. However, up here in N. vermont, we have lots of frost heaves, which were painful on the way home. Also i live on a dirt road, so i need to put it back to stock.

Question: Has anyone removed the springs on a civic hatch before? I should be able to figure it out with a service manual, but i have not ordered one yet.

Another question: How can you tell if the car has the original hi temp thermostat?

Another q: What specs should the spark plug wires have? I know the ones on this car were recently replaced...but do they have the proper resistance?

Some observations: the gearing is nice and tall...1st is not too tall, it is easy to get going. 3rd is quite tall and keeps engine speeds really low in town. Fourth and fifth are fairly similar and both quite tall. The car has much more torque than i would have guessed. It makes my 2.0 camry feel like a slouch, even at 2,500 rpm. The handling is quite good...i forgot how much better the older hondas handle than toyotas. the brakes are also really good. I really like not having power steering. It is really roomy inside. I don't think we will miss the extra 700lbs we were carrying around driving the Camry.

If any VX owners have any advice, let me know.

Cool. Pic's if you got em please.

Pictures
 

I will try and put some pictures up in a couple days.
I haven't done a fill up yet, but it looks like I am getting about 38-42 MPG (really rough guess).

there are a few things that will help with the springs: spring compressors, some kind of penetrant for the rear lower shock bolts, and air tools. this is in order of importance.

James, I seem to recall several other VX owners describing the same behaviour when entering lean burn (speed falls, you have to push the pedal down significantly to maintain speed).

I'm envious. I think if a nice VX popped up for sale near me, I'd have a hard time resisting.

how much was your price range for your vx. ive been tryin so hard to convince my dad to let me sell my accord for a vx. but when he sees the high miles he freaks and dosent trust it.

The shocks should be pretty easy with your VX, just make sure to spray some junk on the lower bolts a day before like jared said so you don't brake anything.

I didn't know you lived up this way...

VX essentials
 

1. Inspect the condition of the timing belt if the seller had no record of the belt change. It's relatively easy to change with hand tools and a Helm manual on CD from ebay - assuming you can get the crank pulley bolt to break free. You wouldn't want to break the belt - interference engine. Carefully remove the cylinder head cover bolts - hit them with an impact wrench first - them suckers are easy to snap off in the head and then you have fun getting them out - oh boy!

2. Lean burn instability is a fact of life if you want 50 MPG. So, don't let it alarm you. AND - VTEC has a mind of its own. You never really know when it's active (except RPM must be under 2500 to activate it). And, you really do need a DVM hooked up to the 5-wire LAF sensor to tell. Also, it doesn't climb hills very well while in lean burn mode. Downshifting into 3rd gets out of lean burn so speed can be maintained up a modest grade.

3. Want 4 valves/cylinder oomph from the VTEC-E? You have to keep the revs up - 2500+ RPM. Stay in 3rd gear and punch it to 5000. It's fun! But, say bye bye to your mpg though.

4. Inspect the front control arm bushings for looseness/wear. I put new bushings and lower ball joints in my 92 VX (145K miles at the time) - not too difficult and much better suspension afterward. Have fun taking the axle nut off the hub if you want to do this job - I needed a 32 mm 6 point socket and 700 lb-ft of torque to remove it (4 ft breaker bar and 180 lbs of amateur mechanic hopping on the end of that bar to break that sucker loose!).

5. Repair the quarter panel rust behind the rear wheels before it gets out of control. I was happy with the repair I did and the reinforced Bondo is holding up pretty good these past two years.

6. Watch out for poor braking on ice or snow. The VX really needed anti-lock brakes - weighs only 2060 lbs. I have been really lucky so far not to have been creamed after panic stops. (Slip sliding away, slip sliding away hey, you know the nearer your destination the more you're slip slidin' away - Thank you Paul Simon! - now that's a singer songwriter for you)

7. Enjoy the ride! I hope my VX reaches its 20th birthday in December 2011. Only 45K more to the 200K mile mark.

first off, the vx does not have a high temp thermostate, altho you can put one in, if you do however, you will most likely not pass emision tests, if you don't have state emision tests, then the higher temp thermostate will give you a slight boost, stock thermostat for this car is 180F.
if it's indeed rust free, try to keep it that way, a few minutes spent washing all the crud out of the wheel wells, and a few dollars on undercoating in a spray can will help keep it rust free, first place that it will rust is the bolds that hold the front corners of the rear plastic bumper to the steel body.
when I replaced my suspention (lowered), I ended up braking a few bolts, and found worn out bushings (210,000 miles at that time) the real rubber bushings are going to give a bit of dampening, compared to urithane after market bushings, so everything is going to last even longer, and ride smoother, I found that the suspention bolds are an odd size in grade 10 (commen hardend bolts only go up to grade 8) and that again, honda dealer was the best, and also cheapest place to get the parts.
I think I paid around $300 to have someone else replace my timin belt and water pump (with parts), and it gave me good piece of mind, altho they did line up the cam pully with the wrong notch the first time, it's worth getting a shop book, or CD first to make sure you know what you are doing, but it's not hard, I just didn't have time.
I also had a simaler problem with keeping a stedy speed up, it was the o2 sensor, altho doing a compleat tune up first is alwas a good idea.

HERE is the thread with almost all of the info you are looking for on your newly found VX.

If you take care of what you have, you will enjoy it for a long time. Mine just rolled past the 330K mile marker and can still maintain almost 50 MPG average with little effort. Although my rings and valve stem seals are showing their age and need replacement within a year or so, I really don't want to let this engine go.

Congrats again on adding another VX to the garage of GasSaver.org!

Thanks so much for all of the info. Unfortunately I don't have an impact wrench (i might be able to borrow one), or maybe some liquid wrench will do. Luckily, the suspension was just lowered (in august or sept) and they replaced the rusty ones, so hopefully they will come off fairly easily.

I will definately clean out the wheel wells, and put rust proofer on all of the spots where it is starting. I still haven't decided whether I will do the timing belt myself or not. I am excited to put the correct plugs in tonight and take it for a drive tomorrow.

I got the right spark plugs in (NGK V-Power), and am excited to try it out, but am waiting till tomorrow, when i go to the dmv to get new plates. I found SEVEN air fresheners underneath the seat...I hate those things. So my VX has no power steering (which is great), but A/C. Were they both options on the VX?

Does anyone have any spring compressors they want to sell?

Has anyone heard of / installed an engine block heater on a D15Z1?

I paid 3,700$ for this car...it was a 94 with 112K. I should have offered 3,200$ because when i bought it it was running so rough at low rpms...but I was blinded by the nice condition of the body, and the potential for super hi FE.

You can borrow spring compressors from an auto parts store.

You can install a block heater, but I forget if anyone has done it that I know of.

Don't worry about paying too much, we all do it sometimes. It's just money, after all.

Might be a rental fee, but it's better than buying them, I think.

Power steering was not available for the VX at all. A/C, was an option. When the VX and CX came off the factory floor, there was no radio, no antennae, no speakers, no A/C. Most Dealers threw a radio, antennae and two speakers into the cars so they would sell. You then had the option to have A/C installed, two more speakers and fog lights. That pretty much was the list of options that I know of. The car came with the VX alloy wheels and front lip spoiler standard, oh and the rear diffuser/filler panel.

The engine block heater (EBH) was also an option. The OEM ones are hard to find but worth it. They screw right in to the engine block coolant drain behind the exhaust header. You can try www.hondaautomotiveparts.com to see if they have some. Otherwise Ebay can be your friend.

My 93 VX, purchased a month ago or so, was listed for $3800. 131K miles, one owner. I must have been the first to look at it.... drove it.... ran flawlessly and I immediately said I would give him $4K for it if he took it off the market right away... (only had $600 with me on a Sunday). He did and I took the car home the next day and already have a couple thousand miles on it.... mpg range has been from a low of 38 to my best of 55. It is a CA VX though... no lean burn, but I love this car and gladly paid a little more for it.

Just to give some idea, HERE is my photo album of my Civic VX. I paid $1500 for it in the condition seen in the pictures where it was its original color of teal (yucky!). Then replaced the wrong plugs that were installed, new cap, rotor, wires, new pads, rotor, O2 (that was a B-day freebie from a friend and partially due to buying 5 L1H1s when they were only $100 a piece over 5 years ago). I had a Civic Hatchback in Red that had spare body parts to swap the passenger door and fender as well as the rear hatch. I also bought repair panels for the rear quarter panels at a whopping $26 per side and installed those. At that point I didn't even want to take pictures of it because it was teal, red and primered at that point, so I spent $30 at home Depot and painted it the navy blue you see in most of the photos.

So far I believe I have a grand total of ~$2200 into it. Although it has over 330K miles on the drivetrain now, it's still just about maintaining 50mpg without trying too hard. This summer I am going to find a D15z1 or possibly a d15Y5 (HX motor) to rebuild and replace the aging motor I have now. That should only cost about $300 for a rebuild kit as I can usually get the motor for nearly free around here.

So hang in there, it will all be worth it!

I got the new plugs in...It runs so much better, it doesnt miss, and it can maintain lean burn (i think) up slight grades. I also found a small vacuum leak and fixed it lowering the idle and smoothing it out. So next is to inspect the cap and rotor and replace the wires with the stock ones. Also have to fix that suspension.

The first tank, which included the previous owner driving it around town for 100 mi, and then driving home, part of the time in 4th gear to avoid the poorly running lean burn turned out a respectable 47 MPG. I really love this car!

James: nice!

Again I have VX envy. Man, I'd like to try one of these cars.

Congrats James!!! Enjoy it!


Metro, if you are ever in MN I could let you take my VX for a spin. :thumbup:

my vx came with what appears to be most of the options added on, things like mud flaps, the black door bumper trim, A/C, radio, rear cargo cover, clock in the dash, passenger side veiw mirror.
I'm not sure what other options were, but I don't think there was a whole lot left.

Ryland- Whoa yours has a clock!? thats loaded!
I love how these cars come stripped down, and you could order a few options from the dealer. Now I think nearly all cars have power locks mirrors power steering etc. I love not having power steering. I also have the two mirrors. I wish mine didn't have a/c, but it could come in handy someday when we go on a road trip to the south.

I was thinking of taking off the A/C belt, but it is in such a difficult spot. i guess you have to get to it from underneath...but my suspension is lowered.

Metro MPG- you can come drive the VX if you are ever in northern vt. Im guessing its at least 200 or 300 miles to eastern ontario, we are 1.5 hrs from montreal.

Tom O- Thanks for all of the VX info. Its great to see that you are still getting 50mpg and with 300K! Awesome, keep it up. I may ask for more help with the lean burn indicator when my DMM arrives.

no problems, and thanks. SVOboy is very knowledgeable as well as a few others when it comes to electronics and cars.

More Q's
 

I noticed a smell of coolant in while driving, but only with the window open. It seems to come from the passenger side dash. I think it is a small leak from the heater core or attachments or hoses to it. So I am going to go under there and check it out. I just ordered the cd service manual, so that should help. If anyone has any experience with this it would be appreciated.

Also, I am thinking of replacing the cap and rotor. I know the Vx wires are special, and i should get honda ones. should i look for a special part or an official honda part, or should i just get it from napa?

The MPGs are looking good so far, this tank should be at least 55.

I hope you didn't pay much for the CD service manual. There are ways of getting the Manual for much less.

Aa far as the Plug wires, any parts store will have them, just tell them the motor is a (your year) Civic Si. The d16z6 uses the same wires.

You're on the right track with the coolant leak. Check all the connections (2) at the heater core on the firewall, the lines running from the back of the block near the VTEC solenoid to the Throttle Body to the IACV (Idle Air Control Valve) (7 total connections for that line) and then the connections on the upper and lower radiator hose. Also check the Radiator cap to see if it's still good. Take it in to a place that will check it or get a new one if it's allowing coolant to boil into the reservoir.

I paid 1.99 for the CD service manual but 5 for shipping. I have dial up so i figured it would take forever to download, and this is not my computer so i didnt want to save it.
I am thinking the leak is in the heater core itself, because I can't smell or see coolant leaking from any of the connections by the firewall, yet i smell coolant in the glovebox. While driving with all of the windows up i cant smell the coolant, even with the heat on, but the second i open the window, the smell of coolant comes in. I am thinking of being cheap and lazy and just putting in a bottle of the radiator seal stuff. I am assuming the access to the heater core is underneath the passenger foot well. I should probably replace it.
I got the spring compressors today. Maybe in a couple days i will find some time to give the front springs a try.

Also, I was a bit optimistic when i said the rough running in lean burn was 90 percent fixed. I would now say about 50% improvement, but I think some other things need to be addressed. I will get the SI wires in the next couple days, maybe also cap and rotor, dielectric grease the contact points, then maybe the O2 after I am sure there is no big coolant leak. I am just praying the head gasket is ok!

On the leak, in the long run it would be best just to fix it. In the short run, until you can get to it, you can take about a tablespoon of black pepper and put it into the radiator. It will seal up any small leaks. It seems hoaky, but I used to have a Ford that had a gap down the side of the radiator, but if i put in a small can of pepper every couple of month's, it would hold Ok.

I doubt that your head gasket is what is causing the problem. More than likely it's a hose, clamp or something like that.

My only experience with the liquid coolant leak stopper was on a 500 dollar oldsmobile that we drove across the country a couple times. I can't vouch for it over the long term, and i am skeptical to put it in a honda, but on that olds, there were 3 leaks to start with and after adding the bottle there were none for the next 9,000mi. I then put new tires on the car and sold it for 700$.
I took off the cap on the VX and took a look. It looks really old, the contact points are scarred and there is a white circle around each point where the rotor hits. I will replace that, along with the rotor as soon as possible.
Is a cap and rotor from a chain auto parts store good enough?
I will also put SI wires on. I am excited to see how it runs after that.

Coolant Sealer
 

A while back, I had a '90 Beretta GTZ with the Quad-4 engine. It was losing coolant and sprung a leak in the rad. The sealant stopped the rad leak, but the head gasket turned out to be blown (at 80K miles, 2nd owner). On that one, the oil was mixing with the coolant to make what looked like "chocolate milk coolant" and exhaust vapor would be present on warm starts (like what you would see in the Winter, normally). I promptly traded it on a Civic DX Coupe.

A mechanic mentioned a trick to test the head gasket (saw it first-hand on a K-car Wagon) -- caution dangerous -- remove the rad-cap when safe to do so, make sure the stat is open/functioning - warm engine, and rev the engine. If coolant spews from the cap opening, then the gasket is likely blown. (not sure of the accuracy on that one :rolleyes: )

RH77

Ya, on head gaskets you have a few different possible symptoms.

Chocolate milk or mayonnaise coolant or oil
Big fog cloud at startup
The amazing disappearing coolant

I like that it is pretty easy to diagnose. Unlike weird EGR stuff...

The oil looks fine. I have to take a closer look at the coolant. It does have the magic dissappearing coolant symptom. I can smell coolant in the interior, but not in the engine bay, so i am guessing heater core. I did notice that when it was missing in low rpm lean burn mode, there was a puff of mist out the tailpipe...but that was on a rainy day with 100 % humidity so who knows. I will go look at the coolant now.

the coolant looks fine too. I am pretty sure now that the head gasket is fine, but will now check the tailpipe during warm startup. Thanks for the info. I am excited now to get the cap rotor and wires to see if lean burn runs well.

Sounds like heater core to me too.

If you think it might be the heater core, before you spend any significant money, you could just get a 2' piece of 5/8 heater hose and loop it, to bypass the heater. That way you could tell if your problem is engine related or heater core, before you fix something that may not be the problem.

Ooo, I like it. Good idea.

Doesn't sound like a headgasket from your description, but thought I'd share my experience with blown head gaskets to help you troubleshoot.

Not sure on the D series engines, because so far I haven't had to take mine apart, but the B series engine has an open deck, meaning the cylinders are in their own little island in the block and the head gasket seals the cyclinders to the head. My Integra blew the head gasket last fall. There was no oil in the coolant because it blew between the cylinder and the head, and there's no source of oil there. It also didn't blow white smoke. This was mainly because the combustion gasses were blowing into the cooling system and overpressurizing it. It would blow coolant past the radiator cap and overflow the resevoir. The radiator would ventually get low (and the resevoir would be overflowing) and then the car would start to overheat. I was losing about a pint every 50 miles or so.

To proove it was the head gasket, I took it to a gas station that tests for CA smog, and they stuck their smog sniffer above the open radiator cap while the engine was running. They detected hydrocarbons which indicated combustion gasses were getting into the cooling system. This meant blown headgasket or cracked block/head. Apparently there is a type of dye you can buy at an autoparts store that can test coolant for hydrocarbons that could do the same thing.

I had a head rebuilt and 15 hours later (could probably do it in 1/2 the time now that I know how to do it) I was back on the road.

If it is your heater core leaking coolant into the interior, you'd want to get the wet carpet cleaned or removed. An old roommate had this happen in an 80s Subaru and the carpet started to mold. An indescribable smell seemed to be permanently embedded in the car after that.

Good Ideas! My VX does not have the overfilling resovoir problem. Since I have started driving it the radiator is always full, and when the engine is warm after driving, the resovoir is still near the bottom, not much if any higher than if the engine was cold. Also, it doesnt seem to be leaking enough to get the carpet wet. I can see no drips, and am guessing that when i take the plastic panels off i will find a little puddle that maybe evaporates at the same rate that it fills (just a guess). I wont buy a heater core until i see that the heater core is leaking. the leak is minor so it is fine to drive the car.

could a head gasket leak just a little bit? could it cause hesitation at low rpms in lean burn (i think this is just the o2 sensor, but who knows)?
it is still hesitating a little in lean burn mode after plugs wires cap and rotor.