EdGasket

My daughter's 1.4 Civic MB is now without any dash lights when the sidelights / side and mains are turned on. She said they went a bit dim at first and now don't come on at all. I have checked the fuse (the 4th one along 7.5A) and it is OK. The next culprit would have been the dimmer control but the car doesn't seem to have one. Any idea what the problem could be? Everything else is working including all side/main/fog/brake lights.

A bit late now but can't you reuse the old head bolts? I heard in general they can be used up to 5 times; i.e. you can take the head off and put it back 5 times before needing new bolts. When you reuse the bolts though you just do them up to a torque appropriate for the bolt, you don't torque and then add an angle because the bolt has already been stretched somewhat.

I've read people on the mercedes board use K-Seal to good effect. I would try and get it all in the engine though, not just the header tank e.g undo top hose and pour in there after syphoning some coolant out.

You must take some responsibility for not checking the new bolts against what came out no? I am a bit confused because you say you did find them 20mm longer when you were torquing, so why carry on especially when you noticed that they had not wound down to the face of the head? Sorry, its a bummer, but we all make mistakes; I don't think you can lay the entire blame on the parts supplier. Another common issue has been different length timing belt tensioner bolts; too short and they strip the threads in the block. Sometimes the tensioner is a bit thicker or thinner than the old; you have to check all this stuff.

Was having starting issues; most likely the ignition switch which I have now changed; I just needed to know about the main relay as that would be my next port of call if the problem persists. Symptoms were firing up and then immediately cutting out; did this several times and then ran; usually only the first start of the day. Exactly like this video:

It's a 1.4; just need to know where it is and how best to access it for removal.

Sounds like the gearbox bearings; you could check the oil level though. When you accelerate you are putting force through the gearbox but not when you take your foot off. If it is quiet when coasting in neutral but noisy in gear and putting power on then it must be the gearbox; nothing else it could be really except amybe CV joints but they tend to click on turning or growl badly. What mileage has it got? When idling does it make a slight noise which goes if you press the clutch down? Civic gearbox input shaft bearings are a 'known' problem.

My Civic has the engine light on due to 'cat efficiency' (P0402 I think ) but I drove it to the MoT in second gear to make sure revs were high and engine hot and it was well within emission limits. I checked both lambda's on a scanner and they track each other showing the cat aint doing much; strange! Well a pass is a pass so just living with the check light on.

The screw doesn't really do anything. Think about it. When you do the wheel nuts up it forces the disk against the hub much more than any screw does. All the screw is for is so that the disk doesn't fall off when changing the pads.

Impact wrench is your friend. If you don't have one I recommend the Clarke mains powered one for around £60; that should shift it.

I don't quite follow what you are saying there about a captive nut and has to come out? Honda support not much good then. I bought a similar bolt for an ancient Rover Montego without any problem from Rover when they were still going.

Have you tried an impact wrench on it? Have you tried heating it up then hitting it with freezer spray? Grinding the head off is a bit drastic as then you don't have anything to grip the remaining threads. Usually with stuck bolts, people are welding a nut on (where the head has rounded), not taking the head off! Can you buy new bolts from Honda? I would imagine with suspension bolts, it is not simply the size that is important but the grade also i.e. how much stress they can take. No point fitting the right size and thread bolt if it is going to shear under load.

Hi Aman, I don't think there will be any benefit in replacing the downstream O2 sensor. The Civic is known to be overly sensitive to throwing P0420 codes and an aftermarket cat would probably be enough to upset it. As I said the downstream O2 sensor does not affect the running of the car, it just monitors how well the cat is working in cleaning up emissions. As far as the check light goes, either tape it over, use a standoff on the secondary O2 sensor or a resistor/capacitor filter in the wiring from that sensor. Whoever fitted the cat must know where the electrical connector is for the downstream O2 sensor as they would have had to remove that sensor from the old cat and transfer it to the new cat. How much was the cat from ECP and do you have a part number in case I need one?

You replaced the cat? If so no point using cataclean as it will still be newish. Cheap aftermarket cats do not work so well as OEM so that may be why the P0420 is getting triggered but its probably good enough for the MoT. You can either fit a standoff for the secondary O2 sensor or put a filter in the wiring; there's a YouTube on how to do that. Cats can cause a bad-egg type smell; doesn't mean there is anything wrong though. BTW where does the secondary O2 sensor plug into? The wire just disapperars through the floor on mine; is it easy to get to the connector?

PO420 can just be an oversensitive downstream O2 sensor. I regularly get that code but it passed the MoT emissions fine. It doesn't affect the drive whether the light is on or reset. I just live with it on. The downstream O2 sensor doesn't affect anything, just supposed to check that the cat is doing it's job which it must be as it passes the MoT however the car thinks otherwise. If your car is running bad it could be something else entirely as a P0420 should not affect it.

Presumably if I replace with poly-bushes there is even less reason to remove the complete trailing arm? Just cut all the rubber out and sand/grind what remains and then press the new poly-bushes in; is that correct? Also with poly-bushes does the old bush centre (the part that bolts to the chasis with two bolts) just get hammered into the centre of the poly-bush once the poly bush is sitting inside the old sleeve in the lowered trailing arm? Ah just found this guide; very useful: http://www.energysuspensionparts.com/Installation_Instructions/Energy_Suspension/17339.pdf

Well I have some bushing tools so I want to do it on the car. Also if that fails, I can use a sawzill to cut through the old bush casing to make pressing or banging it out easier.

Well I used some Cataclean and it passed the MoT emissions so fortunately I don't have to worry about it for another year. I turned the engine light off again and it has not yet come back on after the Cataclean but its only a couple of days so far. Yes the wire would appear to come up quite far forward behind the centre console; not sure if it can be pulled through from below; it's possible but i saw a thread somewhere where the connector was attached to the bulkhead so I really can't say.

What is the best way to access the big RTA bushes without taking the arm completely off? I have seen a YouTube video where they drop the back end by undoing a few bolts and making sure the brake hose is not stretched too far but have also read a suggestion of simply taking off the 'bolt at the front' and the handbrake cable bolt which sounds easier. Which bolt at the front would that be; the inner or outer one (I think the inner is the toe adjustment so maybe not that one but perhaps the outer is not accessible?) and has anyone done the job by just removing the 'front' bolt and handbrake bolts only? (obviously in both cases the two bushing bolts have to come out).

I have an MB2 with a downstream O2 sensor plugged into the back of the cat. It is likely I'll need to change the cat as it keeps throwing a P0420 (cat efficiency) code and setting the engine check light. The problem for me is that the downstream O2 sensor sits on top of the cat and the wiring disappears into the floor and I can't see how to disconnect the O2 sensor wiring so that the cat can be removed. It looks like the wiring goes through the floor somewhere behind the centre console. Can anyone tell me how I can access the downstream O2 sensor connector plug? I think there must be an easier way to change the cat than to have to remove the centre console! How do exhaust places do this job?

I used some high-temp silicon sealant as well as the water pump rubber seal for good measure; don't want to have to do that job again. For timing I just put whiteout on the pulleys and old belt, then take off the old belt and transfer the marks to the new belt. Seems a much easier way of doing it and no chance anything can be a tooth out so long as you count the teeth between marks carefully between old and new belt in addition to laying them on top of each other.

If the pump has been 'lying around', chances are that the seals have gone. Air-con is supposed to be used every week.

I got the same on my MB2, seems to be internal to the cat as all the heatshields are secure including the one round the cat. Mine is also throwing a P0420 showing cat efficiency down.

Sorry if it is a stupid question but why would OBD (assume you mean On-Board diagnostics) affect the gearbox which, unless it is auto, has no electronic components? For info, I have an MB2 and it is OBD2 with a secondary lambda sensor and a proper 16-pin working diagnostic socket.

Make sure you inform your insurers; they won't like it at all! I would imagine either outlet would work as internally the pistons are spring loaded to take up slack or complete failure in either system.