Honda civic 03

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

i have 3 questions i have a honda civic 62000 miles

1 should i get the timing belt changed like the manual says after 7 years

2 should i get the brake fluid changed

3them car washs that cost like 12.00 you drive thru is the wax really good

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE

2

1 Yes
2 Yes
3 “Really good?” No, but it’s good enough.

My experience with the fancy drive-thru car washes is you don’t have to pay extra for the wax. So many people pay for it, but the wax is stuck onto all the washing things, and your car will come out waxed whether you pay for it or not.

At least that’s the way it works at my local fancy car wash. I take my company vehicle there once in a while, and I used to pay for the wax, but now I just get the cheapest wash and the vehicle comes out waxed anyway.

Windows, too, unfortunately.

Make an appointment with your mechanic for a timing belt replacement and a brake fluid flush.

Save your money at the car wash.

3
  1. Yes
  2. Yes, every three years is a good interval.
  3. The wax from an automated drive-through car wash isn’t as good as doing it by hand with a good liquid or paste wax, but if you don’t have time to do it right, it is better than nothing.
4

1- yes, you should change the timing belt.

2- yes, you should change the brake fluid. This is not mileage dependant and should have been done 2 times by now if you have an EX model with ABS brakes.

3- wax at the car wash is pretty useless. A hand applied and buffed wax job is much better and lasts much longer. The regular rinse water at a car wash has some wax in it to bead up the water. The wax you pay extra for is just profit for the car wash company.

5

thank you for the reply 1 more thing when i get the TIMING belt replAced should i get a new water pump and the other 2 belts replaced???i dont have A/C
AGAIN THAMK YOU

6

thank you for the reply 1 more thing when i get the TIMING belt replAced should i get a new water pump and the other 2 belts replaced???i dont have A/C
AGAIN THANK YOU

7

thank you for the reply 1 more thing when i get the TIMING belt replAced should i get a new water pump and the other 2 belts replaced???i dont have A/C
AGAIN THANK YOU

8

The deal with the water pump is that when you do all the labor to get to the timing belt, the water pump replacement is -0- more labor, you just are paying for a new part. If the water pump goes bad before the next timing belt change you’ll pay the same labor costs you just paid for the timing belt and a new water pump.

In fact, the water pump with 62K miles might just last until your next timing belt job.
But if it doesn’t then you pay the piper. Since the labor is 2 to 3 times the cost of parts for a new pump most recommend replacing the pump too.

9

On my Civic I get a new water pump with every other timing belt. I do the same with the other belts as well.

Doing it all together will save you on labor since the belts will already be off and access to the water pump will already be available, so it really depends on the price difference between the timing belt job by itself and the timing belt job that includes the water pump and the other belts. If the difference is small, go ahead and do it all.

10

I hate to disagree, but there is [i]some[/i] labor involved in the removal and replacement of the water pump, even after you have the timing belt off already. There is usually a small increase in labor when you include the water pump.