Butcher

Had a crack at this today but I'm stuck now... It's all wired up. The central locking still works (which must be a good thing since it now passes through the Hawk box). The Hawk box doesn't work: press lock or unlock on the keyfob, nothing happens. There's a fuse on the constant live from the Hawk box, so I pulled it out a little so I could get the multimeter in and it appears there's no power. So I'm wondering if anyone can confirm a constant 12v live feed from around the fusebox. Instructions from Hawk say white wire behind fusebox is constant 12v. So I found one in a loom behind the fusebox, just out of sight in the picture below, but it give you a good idea of the location (bottom centre of fusebox): This is a picture of the actual wire, connected via scotch lock to the red constant 12v from the Hawk box: Does this look correct? It's a tricky one to get to, so it could just be the scotch lock not connected properly. But if anyone has any pointers I'd appreciate them.

Back to the original topic for a moment. I'm going through the instructions, the Honda servive manual, the How To linked above... It seems relatively straight forward.....until you see there's instructions for 5 different central locking types: Negative LockingPositive LockingSingle Point lockingVacuum lockingActuator interrupt (negative at rest)Having been through the various topics on this forum, it seems it could be pretty much any one of these. The technical sheet for the Honda Civic from Hawk says Multipoint Negative. The How To (linked above) seems to match Actuator Interrupt. Someone else is adamant that their car is wired up to Positive Locking, but they could only get it to work using relays - they also said Hawk told them Honda used 4 different methods, depending on exact model! Is there any way I can find out for sure?? Otherwise I feel like I'm going in completely blind and they're all wired up totally different.

I doubt it. But if you're gonna look stupid you might as well do it properly

While standing on one foot.

Bought. Will see how it goes. Had a look at the schematic in the service manual and it looks easy. But it always does when not shown with the thousand other wires that look almost identical! Was temped by self closing window modules and all sorts, but sod that. Be easier to buy a new car! I'll be happy with my flashy lights and locking doors.

This one? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UNIVERSAL-UPGRADE-REMOTE-KEYLESS-FOR-CENTRAL-LOCK-/330479665244 Looks interesting. I can stomach £20. What's the fitting like? Presumably it's not plug and play. I thought my days of butchering car electrics were over once I discovered ISO adapters for headunits.

This is a long shot, but when I bought the car I was told by the previous owner that he had put the keyfob through the washer and thus it no longer worked. And that he had enquired how much it would be to replace, and that it was in excess of £100. I've never really questioned this... But I feel like such a porper using a key. Who uses a key these days?? Everywhere I look cars are beeping and flashing. Doors and tailgates opening automatically (never mind unlocking!). And there's me, the philistine, fumbling with the key. What an embarrassment. Like a true porper though, I definitely don't want to pay in excess of £100 for the privilege. So I'm wondering if anyone knows if it can be done cheaper?

So. My exhaust...

Yeah, that was probably me!

Yeah. I think I seen you the other week actually. You have a brake light out I'm not that serious really. It's more a case of if I seen one at a good price, maybe I'd be tempted. If the stars align and all that... Just all the stars looked the same to me, hence this thread. It's a bit clearer now. Appreciate the offer though.

Ah. Makes more sense if they were comparing a hatchback to an aerodeck!

Cool. I was gonna say that must just be a case of different trim. But then I went off and read an article about a 1.6 VTI being almost as quick as the 1.8, due to the weight reduction. Is there a 1.6 VTI too? And is it any good? Or have I dreamt reading about this? I know there's the DOHC 1.6, at around 125bhp, but surely that's no match for the 1.8.

Is VTI 1.6, and VTI-S 1.8?

We live and learn!

That's a GTT in the video. About 280bhp stock at the flywheel. 2.5 single turbo, as opposed to the 2.6 twin-turbo GTR. And rear wheel drive. I had the same (albeit older generation) motor in my Stagea. The figure in the video could well be power at the wheels? Would probably be about right. And yeah, cold air feed will make pretty much no difference at all on a Civic. Certainly nothing noticeable. Same with filters and stuff like that. Even on turbos these things only produce marginal gains at best, and even then, as pointed out, can do more harm than good in some cases. Shiny new parts though.....sometimes it's hard to resist

So, a 1.6 SOHC Aerodeck is reliable, practical... that's about it really. As much as I love mine, it has never really ticked the 'interesting' box. And every so often the temptation grabs me, just to have a quick look on eBay and see what more interesting models there are... Thing is, I'm guessing the running costs would be similar. Insurance can't be that much more, and I've heard fuel costs don't vary a lot between models? So really there's no reason for me to be driving around in a dull car! All I need to know, is which ones to look out for when I'm browsing eBay? .

To be fair, for what the car has cost me, in total, since I bought it....I should be pinching myself. The cost of a cheap exhaust is buttons in the grand scheme of things. Just disappointing really. Was offered a stainless steel exhaust at the time, but it seems overkill - I didn't think I'd own the car that long for a start. ...it's just been so loyal, I have no reason to get rid of it! Should probably mention, it's completely standard. 1.6 SOHC Vtec.

Little bit miffed really. Got a new exhaust (cat back) fitted at Tyrespot approx 2 years ago. And today, without warning, it's sheared right through due to corrosion around the welds on the joint at the back box. To be fair, given past experiences, I only expected a 2 year lifespan when I bought it, but still, it's a bit s**t. Anyway. Just wondering on the off chance really if anyone knows any deals on back boxes, or the best course of action - could it be re-welded? I'm a little bit worried too if I get a back box then it's just going to break on the other side of the joint on the centre section eventually. Also, is this a weak spot on the exhaust? It was snapped in the same place when I bought the car. And the Honda based Rover I had years ago suffered the exact same fate too.

Hmmm. Aircon isn't working very well. I'm a bit puzzled by it. I'm not convinced it is any worse than the day it was gassed, so it at least seems to be holding something. In normal ambient temps it blows nice and chilled. Driving to work on a cool morning you can freeze yourself silly with it. But in the hot weather we've had recently it's a waste of time, blowing only very slightly cooler than you'd expect without aircon. It's barely noticeable. At first I just put it down to Honda. As well built as they are, they're not the most refined cars, and not everything works as well as it could. So I'm wondering if it's just a bit crap by nature? (i.e. completely, and utterly useless for its intended purpose!) Either that or it's lost some gas pretty quickly but retained the rest. Or maybe a mechanical fault? It makes a lot of noise since it was gassed (which it didn't do before). I assume this is the gas circulating from the pump or something. It comes from the passenger side of dash, where the resistor pack is. I don't know if this is normal, but it indicates to me that there's still gas in it. Still kinda hoping it's fixable really.

Well I'm glad it's not just me. Feeling relaxed about it again now.

Just fitted a new heater resistor pack. And I cannot believe I waited 3 years to do it! 5 minute job. £7.50 for the pack from eBay. Now I don't have to have the fan blasting everywhere I go.

Yeah, I just got completely paranoid because it's not something I've ever noticed before. Might check to see if the gearbox oil has ever been done though. No harm in doing it.

Having owned the car for 3 years this is the first time I've noticed this, so don't know how normal it is, but I definitely had my paranoid head on today. Driving along, I notice my hand, resting on the gear stick, is warm. Aircon is on (Yay! See other topic) so the interior is cool. I'm puzzled by where the warmth is coming from. Further inspection reveals that it's coming from below. The pleather surrounding the gear stick is really warm! So I assume the heat is rising from the gearbox. It's definitely rising, anyway. Thing to note: this is during a trip to the lake district. Doing a lot of climbing. A lot of descending. 2nd gear climbs. 1st gear climbs (Hardnott!!!) Gearbox ran warm the whole time. Exited the Lakes. Had 30 minutes break or whatever. Gearbox runs cold all the way home, including up the motorway, for over 100 miles near continuous driving. Second thing to note: a couple of times recently I have noticed a burning smell. Not even entirely sure where it has come from. Mainly on big descents (could be the brakes). Noticed a clutch smell upon getting out of the car after climbing Kirkstone pass today, but could even have been someone else's car and the clutch does not appear to be slipping - it has been tested well today! Should I be worried? And should I change the oil?? Car has 125k on it. Full Honda service history up to 80k. Edit: Gearbox itself is running fine by the way. Except for one crunch the other day when I shifted up from the red line! Edit 2: Also realising it could be heat from exhaust? (the heat shield fell off 6 months after I got it fitted!) It was a warm day too, so not much cooling happening. Trip home was evening, so much cooler. Engine water temp was consistent throughout.

Thanks!

Update: Had my aircon re-gassed on Monday (3 days ago now), and it's still blowing cold. So all is positive thus far - just hoping it stays that way! Would maybe be nice to get setting 1 on the fan working now. I know there are topics about this already, but some of them seem out of date. Anyone know where I can get the parts needed to fix the fan control, or instructions on fixing it myself? Thanks