SOLVED! Post 2853 Leaking Injectors, Dealer Techs Rock! Extended Cranking after Engine Swap 3.4L 5vz

they usually check the "visible" stuff so I suggest you not trust the rest and replace all fluids and filters yourself and grease the front end an u-joints too. just remember, they operate under the "cant see it don't need to check it" rule when inspecting and certifying used cars.

another tip is break loose all the lug nuts and put never seize on them so they will come off when need be and also if they wheels were put on with a air tool they will be super tight and may be super hard and damn near impossible for a woman to break loose on the side of the road by yourself.

lets face it, intended or not it comes down to the employee if he does everything he is supposed to do on every car and we all know they only do what they have to if being watched, otherwise they just say "yea" I checked that,.

in other words, your "certified used car" certification is meaningless and just a sales gimmick so while you got a good car, you still need to treat it like you bought it from slimy used car guy and go over every detail yourself so there are no surprises with anything

 

10 best smartphones in the US

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/ph...-best-mobile-phones-in-the-world-today-645440

I still say use your money to buy more alcohol and just keep your flip phone

 

Hoping there will be enough for both!

EDIT: If not, the alcohol will come 1st

 

Yep. That's pretty much the approach we are taking. Eric's been reading everything he can about the car, and he got a good look underneath it when it was up on the rack and we were given the chance to go back there and look. He said it looks good (CV boots/control arm bushings looked good, no fluid leaks anywhere, all that kind of stuff). We already called Oreilly to see about getting Haynes/Chilton on it, but they said they hadn't released yet. We looked online about ordering FSM, looks like it's $100, so as long as we keep the car, we'll probably get that to be sure we keep it going strong. But in the meantime, we were able to find that the Chilton online is available on it free through our library, score!!

He's going over the car with a fine tooth comb right now, then we'll take it for a long drive in a bit, to be as sure as we can be that it's in the condition it should be.

It wasn't playing our little IPOD mini shuffles yesterday, but he just figured that out. He realized we can download our music to a USB, then it will play, and even display the songs on the little computer screen. Pretty high tech for us, coming from a '93 Civic!!

The other cool thing I like about it is that it's got an automatic transmission, not a boring CVT.

 

Presently, Verizon has a pay as you go program. $45/month for unlimited talk and text, with .5 gigs of data. This is the program I do. Because I auto pay with my credit card, Verizon gives me an extra .5 gig of data. I actually get cash back bonus money from Discover. I'll take my 5% savings on my phone bill.

I absolutely hate having a locked in phone plan. I'll pay as I go.

I previously tried the insurance thing for helping out when I trash a phone. It was a waste of money. I now just go to Craigslist and shop for a 1 yr old phone. Its amazing how cheap you can get a hi end, unlocked phone for at the start of the new phone season. It boggles my mind that someone will buy a phone for $800 and sell it for $100 when the new models come out. Once you buy a phone, it takes little trouble to get it activated.

I have WiFi at the house so the phone uses that data when I want to download something that will eat up a lot of data.

Videos eat up the most data. I try to stay away from U tube when not on WiFi. Not real hard.

With all the pictures you take, you are gonna love having a smart phone handy. I would suggest getting a phone that has removable storage.

 

I think I am ready to start the front wheel bearing replacement once the weather clears up I got all the parts that @BamaToy1997 recommended (see pic). I talked to one of my import parts guys, and he couldn't find the OEM control arm bushings. Do you think these Energy Suspension Bushings (see pic) are any good I figured, once I am in there I might want to replace some of the other pieces of rubber if I see anything going bad...what else should I look for?

 

Are you sure the control arm bushings are bad? Usually the bolts inside the bushings are froze. This prevents you from getting a quality alignment. The control arm bolts are weird. To adjust the camber, the bolts are turned to make the cams move, not the nuts.

If the bolts are cross, you have a big job. The bolts need cut out with a thin disc, electric grinder. Of course the bolts will be destroyed. You will need bushings and bolts in this case.

Because these frozen bolts are so common, the bushings and control arms are getting rare. Every frame replacement requires these parts. Aftermarket parts is your only choice. These are just fine.

 

@lovemytacolots Congrats on the new Civic.

I'm not surprised at all on the brakes thing. These dealerships do this all the time. Other than whats already been mentioned did you check the tread on the tires too against the factory specifications? I know this sounds silly but I've seen used cars at the dealer with 40% tread on them. For the dealer the car, even with a Honda, Toyota, etc certification, only has to pass a bare minimum standard for safety. Odds are lots of things, like the brakes, fluids, tires, etc, will be lower than what you may want.

 

I don't necessarily agree with you on this point. When I used to certify cars, there were many standard requirements that were above and beyond the call of minimum standards of safety. For example minimum brake pad liner thickness was 10% for safety standards, but a car that was to be "Certified" could not have brake pads worn more than 50%. There were many other standards and requirements that went in to a certified car that were not on a standard used car.

 

So you're saying a car with 50% tread on the tires is awesome becuase that's good enough to pass as certified? No offense intended, but while certified cars are definitely better than something worn to crap like you mentioned it still isn't the level I want or accept on my vehicles when they leave the dealer for the first time with me.

Maybe I went to far calling it a bare minimum standard. Maybe a better phrase would of been "good enough to get you through the first year before you have to replace it."

I've never bought a car, new or used, without good new tires and brake pads on it. I also have them check the rotors. It's not hard to get those things into a car deal for much cheaper than the replacement costs anyways. Let them put the well worn stuff on someone elses car. I want to drive and not worry about things that cost a fair chunk of change requiring replacement in the next year.

 

Question, what's the tread supposed to be on a brand new tire? The minimum required tread depth for the "certification" is 5/32. Eric measured the new Civic's tread and it is 8/32.

As far as fluids, we've been hunting down FSM, Haynes, Chilton to check the maintenance schedules on those types of items, then compare it to what's needed to pass the certification and see how the Civic's current condition measures up. Oil is every 7500 miles; otherwise he hasn't found a recommended schedule to follow, but rather just "wait for the light to turn on" in the car, indicating it needs something. That's gonna be a weird adjustment for us. More high tech than I'd like, but I suppose that's just how cars are these days and there's not much choice.

They do a 5 day buyback guarantee, so we have til Wednesday to either return the car if we change our mind, or at least have a bit more leverage to request things like brake pads that are better than barely passing the certification requirement.

With that said, since Eric will take over the maintenance and basic repairs of the car at home for pretty much the rest of it's life, and like any car, eventually all fluids and other basic stuff will need to be done, it's not a huge thing to us with simple/fairly cheap stuff like that if we have to do them in 6 months vs. 6 years.

Tires and brakes though - yep, those are important to me to get the very best we can possibly receive NOW, because we all know tires are not cheap and serve a very important purpose. And brakes? Well, they're brakes for goodness sakes!! I like beefy brakes!! Especially on a car we just chose based on it's impeccable service records and certification! Really meant a lot to me that they went ahead with new ones even though they "technically passed" - then did the rotors too without us even asking for it.

We also have to figure out how the alarm works!! I'm scared we're going to accidentally set it off and we'll be those annoying people we all see from time to time, standing there with a freaked out look, wondering how the hell we turn it off while it continues to scream over and over.

Overall, I am just very happy that now we've started a good relationship with a super nice tech and service advisor at what seems to be the very best of the best Honda dealers in our area (for the lil' Civ!).

And of course, I am still most grateful that we have the very best of the best technicians at the very best of the best Toyota dealers in our area for the Taco! Those guys still are and ALWAYS WILL BE my very most favorite dealer across the board, after what they did for us this spring. I feel guilty we didn't buy from their dealership, after all they did for us with the Taco. The Corolla we considered was at their dealership, and the sales guy we worked with there was awesome - very professional and none of that pushy stuff at all. There were moments during the Civic's purchase that we wondered if we shoulda gone for that Corolla instead, but deep down, as far as commuters go, another Civic was just where our comfort zone was, after the way the last one held together! But I do know what dealer we'll buy our next Taco from!!

Took new Civ for a long drive yesterday and she did great in terms of the important stuff!! But we did notice some of the effects of the "cheap interior" that was mentioned on the 2012s though. The large (plastic?) piece that rests at the height of the top of the backseats and behind them (where the back speakers are) makes this fairly quiet yet annoyingly consistent rattle sound when you are on rough pavement. And one of the interior lights makes a slight rattle noise at high speeds on rough pavement. With a little research on Civic forums and some clever ideas, we might be able to DIY some solutions to that stuff, but in the meantime, we did come up with temporary solution.......

Know what Eric said when I pointed out the rattle sounds? He said, "What would
@koditten advise in this situation?" TURN THE TUNES UP!!!

 

It sounds like the control arm bushings are a real pain in the ass. I was thinking about doing the ball joints while I was in there, but I am not sure if we even need those. I took some pictures of whats going on under there. As far as I can tell everything looks okay, what do you think? It is hard to get a good shot of the control arm bushings. That steering boot bellow has not changed in months (wet w/o any dripping), and the fluid in the pump still looks good. I think its just the wheel bearing on the drivers side. I am hearing a whirring sound when driving, and I get a weird pulsing when I am braking (its not the rotors because I just replaced both pads and rotors a few weeks ago), and it seems like there is a drag when I let off the accelerator.

 

So far this is the closest thing I could find for a maintenance schedule. The on board computer releases a code when it thinks it needs maintenance on certain fluids. And I am pretty sure every ML is timed with an oil change. So an example would be A3 would mean it wants an oil change and transmission fluid change.

 

Have you considered an Aldata account? I have online, aldata accounts for all my vehicles.

They are much better than a Hays manual, but only slightly worse than the FSM. I love how I can research on any of my electronic devices. I can print out sections I need.

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!

CANT POSSABLY STAND THE IDEA OF STARTING ANOTHER CAR SEARCH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foNFATjbf8k

 

11/32's is generally new tire tread depth...so 8/32's is about 1/3 worn...

 

He's checking fluids right now. So far of the brake fluid and tranny fluid, both need to be changed.

Not super happy at the moment. Will be making ANOTHER phone call there momentarily, after he finishes his own "certification inspection." Or returning the car and buying that Corolla instead.

 

If they are changing out these fluids on their dime, so be it, the dang car has 55,000 miles on it...I doubt seriously the tranny needs a change-out, but the brake fluid flush and refill should be done, you live in a wet part of the country, brake fluid is hydroscopic (sic, attracts water), so changing that is a good thing, should be done maybe once every two years or so if you really get anal on it....

The tranny should be good for 100,000 or so, check the owners manual...

Just out of curiosity, how many times did you flush the brake fluid on your expired Civic? And what maintenance did you perform on the tranny? Just throwing this out for reference....

 

What does squeaking brakes have to do with brake fluid? Absolutely nothing.

I have to admit I'm a bit confused. Are you seriously thinking about taking this car back?

The only reason those brakes are squeaking is because the car has been sitting. Brakes rust when car is not driven. Drive the thing, that's the only thing it needs.

 

Is the second pic a pic of engine dip stick?