Dave

So, today got DD's second leak into the cabin fixed (I hope!). This time, headlining in top right corner of windscreen. Wasn't the ususal spots (windscreen bonding/blocked sunroof drains), so investigated further! Removed the roof rail on drivers side, and found the channel blocked with crap. The factory seam sealer had gave way a tiny bit where the front roof rail mount goes, so after cleaning all the crap out got the joint sealed up and rail refitted nice and tight. Hopefully this will solve the issue. In other news, bought a DAB external ariel wich I'm going to replace the roof mounted oem one with. Will report back with photos when done.

Hi guys. Been thinking lately that although our buyers guide is good, it might be kinda out of date now. The faults listed in it are still relevant, but as time goes on there are newer faults and problems arising with our Civics. Not surprising as the oldest Civic M's are now 26 years old! I did some work on DD today, had yet another leak into the interior when raining. The usual place, headlining at the top right corner of windscreen was wet. In the past, this has usually pointed to blocked sunroof drains, or the bonding around the windscreen had broken down/deterioated. Thanks to Alex (Chandler) excellent guide on removing the roof rails, and Simon (Dr Broon) mentioning earlier this week about seam sealer breaking down and letting water into the rear of his Aerodeck, I thought I'd investigate this on DD. I Removed the roof rails, and there was years of dirt/gunk under the roof rail mounts and also under the plastic roof drains. I cleaned all this out, then examined the area. Sure enough, a tiny little bit of seam sealer around where the front roof rail mounts to the car had gone. Tiny tiny bit, but seems enough to let water in. I've now sealed it all up and dried out the roof lining so will report back if this has resolved it. So this brings me to the guide. I think we could add in what members are now finding are failing on these Civics. We can add them to the list of what to check, but also create a list of preventative maintenance we can now do (like removing the roof rails on Aerodecks to check (still applies to hatchbacks too as they still have seam sealer under the plastic roof gutter drains.) and clean out/seal as necessary. There are other things to add too, like the small design flaw in the scuttle area which if blocked up nwith dirt crap, can allow water to go straight into the heater. I'll make this a sticky, so if you have any things you've had to do to your civic that isn't in the current buyers guide, list it in this topic. We've had 2 or 3 Civics/Aerodecks that have recently undergone full restorations, so if you want to list new areas of concerns for rust or anything else would be mucho appreciated. There aren't any other sites out there that have as much info on these cars, so lets keep the list updating as we go along. New things to add to list: Rust - a real common place is now under the drivers/passenger footwells on the seam. Rust - Lower sills which are covered by the sill protectors, and the outer/side which the covers clip into. Usually possible to get fingers underneath and round the covers to check. Also the wheel arches up from the sills of course! Sticky handbrakes. All bushes will all be really showing there age ARB drop links Bonding around windscreen (if original windscreen still fitted) can be breaking down causing leaks around top and bottom of screen The heater core. Check Passengers/Drivers footwell and remove the sill to check if its wet on the underside of the carpet. The heater core in this cars tend to fail and if the puncture is small you only notice if the carpet is lifted and see if it looks wet. Tell tail it's the heater core is the water will coolant so will have antifreeze colour/smell to it.

Basically, we don't mate! Most of the parts you see that aren't OEM on ours we've either made ourselves (such as projector headlights, black typeR style headlights etc) or adapted parts from other Hondas/other cars. There are mechanical things available as the Civic M's share parts across the Honda range. Aftermarket suspension can be had from the likes of MeisterR, Koni etc for our civics.

At last, shes finally home!!! Looks amazing mate, such a long time coming but oh so worth it!!! Tub, you're looking good gurl!

The hubs for non ABS equipped cars don't have the ABS ring on them, whereas the ABS ones do. You're doing away with the ABS so think you'd get away with the non abs ones? Hopefully someone can confirm this on here. The 1.4/1.5 and 1.6 all used the 4 x 100 hubs, just the 1.8 that was different. The rear bearings/hub come as one unit if I remember right, so you just change the complete hub rather than faff about trying to fit bearings to it. The front on the other hand will probably need a press to push them home, although there are ways to fit them without a press. Are you changing back to 4 x 113 hubs? If not, I would just keep the hubs you have unless damaged (obvs the rears will need changed due to the bearing/hub coming as one unit) And don't worry, any question is complicated if you don't know the answer! So ask away!

The cam cover in DD is gone. It was a spare one I bought that was already painted that colour when it arrived mate. Tbh, the paint job on it wasn't the best, but it was only ever going to be a temp one while I got her own one done. Once I finished her own one and fitted it, she now looks like this!

I always get these two which are the original formula: For all brush on: BRUSH ON CLICK HERE And the spray one (which still needs working in with a brush buts gets into wee nooks etc: SPRAY ON CLICK HERE

Just you leave ma gunk alone you, or Gayle will be having words! lmao Deffo recommend it mate, it's awesome stuff. I've done every engine bay I've ever owned with it, brings em up lovely, then just a wee polish and job done. I usually go over the hoses/black plastics/airbox with Back to Black on a cloth

I had the 1.4 MA8 pre-facelift Civic M and tbh, it was a nice revvy little engine and the car felt pretty nippy. Mine was also an auto so not sure iof it would be quicker/slower on take off than a manual 1.4. To be fair, I doubt the 3 secs difference would be that noticeable in the real time world as the 10.6 isn't quick by any standards lol. Be aware that the "vtec" in the 1.6 isn't performance orientated vtec found in the B series, it's more for fuel efficiency. Brakes are easy enough mate. Only thing to be careful of is the abs sensors, don't damage them. Never heard of the abs unit being damaged by pushing the piston in. As long as you have the resevoir cap off, you can push the piston back on easily. Gearbox wise, both the hatchback and Aerodeck use the same gearbox so you're ok there.

That key you have is a Rover style key then going by the photos there of the the Rover one. As far as I'm aware (although its Rover and Honda we're talking about so who knows! ) this was the one area Honda and Rover differed when it came to the Rover 400.Honda Civic marriage. Honda went with the IR Valeo system, and Rover went for the one that uses radio waves (which was actually much better as you didn't need to be standing pointing the blooming fob against the glass to make it work lol). Both fobs looked similar though, being the one on the left you posted the pic of below: That single button one you have isn't one I've seen on either the 400 or Civic before. I'm wondering if the fob can't be fixed/can't get a key chipped using it, if the alternative might be to get a key set/matching fob/matching dome from Civic that's breaking? You could easily change the locks (a pain I know but might be the only alternative) and swap the dome etc over. You might also need the matching immobilizer box from the same car I think.

^^^^^What he said!

Jeese, so many little things and Honda did with individual cars to make things complicated years done the line! Glad you got that sorted mate! Regarding getting a key chipped, I'm pretty sure they need the key that has the chip so they can clone the chip? Not sure if they might be able to do it from the fob, always worth a try. Thanks for writing this up though as all this info is useful right now and even more so in years to come for these cars.

Flicking through the original brochure for the car is awesome isn't it! Love the original books for these. Best thing for degreasing the bay, and I've been using this since the 80's (and my dad used it since the 70's!) is "GUNK". It's availabe in spray on (great for getting into tight areas) and once sprayed on, leave for about 3 mins then work with a brush. Finally rinse off then wash area with normal hot water/car shampoo and dry it all off. It gets rid of caked on oil and all sorts, really good stuff mate! Found some pics of Ruby and DD's bays after I'd "Gunked" em!

Hmmm, I does it have full service history (or any at all). This can sometimes give you an indicator as to how difficult solving the emissions issues will be. Full history, shows engine has been cared for so emissions should be easy to fix. No history, engine hasn't had regular oil changes and emissions could be due to wear on the engine due to contaminated oil. Going by the state of the tyres, which are both illegal and dangerous, I'd wager that Civic has been very neglected so doubtful its had any servicing/maintenance done mate. Seller says gearbox is "noisy", so again, probably never had the gearbox oil changed, thrust bearing is on way out or gearbox is worn. Either way, that needs changed. Not expensive, but pia to have to do that. Sounds as though all brakes need replaced. The "front brake fluctuating" is due to the discs being thin/worn so they'll probably be warped. Easy and cheap to replace, if all the bolts come out ok. I think with that fail sheet, you have a lot of wiggle room to haggle the price down lower. Expecting £300 for it is a wee bit cheeky unless body wise it's mint. There are a few folk on FB do transporting so you could search and get quotes for getting the car trailered to you. Thing it, can't see that being any less that £200, so factor in that it makes it an expensive car with buggered running gear that can't be driven on the road until more money is spent on it. If it was me in your situation regarding the distance etc, I'd be walking away from it. You can get these with an mot and running fine for around £500. Yes, the 2001's don't come up as often, but they are out there mate. And with an mot, least you can drive it home.

Haha, same here, and mine is kinda covid related! We went and got our vaccine on Tuesday night. They said some folk are fine with only mild symptoms (basically same covid symptoms) and some get floored by it. Yup, I'm the lucky git who has been floored! My temp has been through the roof, and I've went from feeling freezing cold (to the point it actually hurts) to being so hot I get really angry and pee'd off as I can't cool down. Felt sick, got constant sore head and eyes, sore knees sore feet. And for some reason, a really excruciating pain in the bottom of my back. Can't lie on my side as it hurts so much. Oh, and can't sleep. Either too hot to sleep or too cold, and when I do try to sleep, it's like my mind wont switch off and has forgot how to actually sleep! Said to Gayle, if the 2nd vaccine causes the same symptoms, I won't be getting it. Not putting myself through this again.

Yeah, there are so many seams hidden behind trim on these cars. I'm hoping that's where this latest leak is from lol

Yes, that's what was thinking. Could be the key that's causing the immobilizer issue and not the alarm itself. Always difficult to sort faults out with immobilizers/after market alarms.

Must be driving you nuts the delay in getting Tubs2 back!!

Good shout mate, as things like this will be coming a common thing on our Civics now with the age of them. I did notice that a bit of seam sealer near the scuttle panel/front wing on DD had broke down a bit when I was fixing the scuttle leak. Now that I've fixed that, she's done the legendary Civic M fault of top corner of roof lining now slightly wet near windscreen! Didn't know there was seam sealer under the roof rails so will get them off and check it all out and reseal where needed.

Hi Peter. Really strange problem your MA Civic has got. I had an MA Civic years ago, and the fob is like the standard one all MA/MB/MC Civics have (Valeo type) with two buttons so that deffo points to yours being an aftermarket one. As Simon said, if you have a look under the bonnet and see if you can see the siren as this will have the make/model on it somewhere. Good idea to disconnect the battery, which might if you're lucky reset the problem you're having with the central locking. If a replacement fob can't be had, the only alternative is to have the alarm removed. These Civics have a built in immobilizer from the factory anyways (that's the green flashing key light on your instrument panel). I'd probably take the drivers side door panel o0ff and look for any wires that have been added to the central locking solenoid. It might be one of them has come loose/corroded? On a side note, your key looks different to the standard Civic MA key too? Maybe had relacement locks/key set at some point in it's life? The standard key has a black rubber like top to it with the H logo on it, not a plastic one. Did you get any other key's with the car?

Suppose it's a big heavy car with all the safety equipment it has on board. Diesels probably the best option, plenty torque.

Haha, triple garage would be awesome!! I'd only end up filling it with more cars though! Was browsing a certain auction site last night looking at MK3 Ford Cortinas of all things...........got a real hankering for owning one again! Never gonna happen unless we win the lottery, but bloke can dream ay! Deffo be worth it mate just to keep her away from the worst of the weather when you're not using her.

Sad but true mate. Only way forward for car lovers is to say to hell with the cities and move out to the countryside! Drive what you want out in the sticks!! lol

Yaaaas! Exciting times mate! Hope she passes!

Just noticed the 40/35 split front to rear. Does the car have different profiles front to rear as standard?? Know the BMW's sometimes have wider rears but never seen the profiles being different?