Major Service Intervals for '94 Civic EX

I'm interested in buying a '94 Civic EX sedan. I assume this is the
125hp motor. What is Honda's schedule for replacing the timing belt and
water pump? Do dealers ever do just the belt? It was supposedly serviced
and the belt replaced at 94k, now has 140k on it, and I'm not sure the
water pump was ever changed. What would a Honda dealer have done at 60k
and 90k miles?

 

Go here:
https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/logon.asp
Choose "Owner's Manuals" from the menu at left, then navigate to your car.
No login required.

This will bring up the Owner's Manual for the '94 Civic. This manual will
contain the maintenance schedule.

The water pump should be replaced at the same time as the belt. If this is
the car's second change, the tensioner should be replaced as well.

 

unless you have a genuine service record, you cant assume /anything/ was
done on schedule. there's no reason why this can't be a perfectly fine
vehicle but you must pay a price that reflects the need to spend money
taking care of what's not definitely been maintained.

 

I understand. I'll be looking at a fax of a dealer service stop, and
making an offer according to what it still needs.

 

Thanks for the link and info.

 

I just checked that online manual, and unless the dealer was
proactive, the water pump was only "inspected," Great...

 

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In Canada the dealers will tell you just about anything you need to
know. You walk in and tell the service writer that 'Joe' is selling /
has sold you his car and you know THEY serviced it, (you provide the
VIN) and eventually you walk out with reprints of the work orders that
they have. You can find the exact date it was sold and the dealership's
number too.

Done it about 6 times.

'Curly'

 

As I wrote earlier, I'll be looking at a fax of a service order
tomorrow. The car was bought and serviced on the other side of the
country from where it is (and I am) now, so it's not as easy. Basically
I wanted to know how likely it was that the water pump was ever
replaced, and I'm disappointed to learn that Honda didn't give a
specific mileage for doing it, like every 90k miles. This gives
cheapskate owners a reason to skimp on service, and then act aggrieved
when I deduct the $600 for that service they never had done, from my
offer...

 

"Inspected" would mean the mechanic spun the pulley by hand to see how
it felt. You can tell if the pump's going bad just by doing that.

Truth be told, the pump will last two belt changes if the coolant is
changed according to the severe schedule, and with OEM fluid. IF...

The reason you change it every belt change is because you have to pull
the timing belt off to get at it in the first place, so the labor is
mostly the same. But, with a $60 part charge, $20 for coolant, and maybe
an additional hour's labor ($180 total for the pump), there's
considerable incentive for customers to skimp on the pump.

Dealers will change just the pump if that's what you want, but it's been
my experience that they will try to talk you into doing the pump too,
which is a great idea, regardless of the perceived "ripoff" factor.

I guess Honda assumes everybody will use Honda coolant and change it
when they're supposed to.

If you have no documented proof that the pump was changed, just keep an
ear/eye on your engine, especially at startup. If there are no strange
squealing noises, no coolant leaks on the ground at the timing belt end,
your pump is still OK.

 

Yeah, that's the plan, but I sure wish other people were more like
me. I have the oil seals done with the belt and pump, if the mileage is
over 100k. My '86 CIvic Si (bought new) is 22 years old and still runs
fine...

 

Then you've got five years on me. I bought my '91 Integra new as well.
It has almost 288,000 miles on it as of today.

I figure I'm sort of in competition with my long-dead Daddy. He got 140,000
miles out of his '58 Dodge, and I've doubled that. So far...

 

I win on age, but you win on mileage. My Civic has only 146k on it.
I'm thinking of selling her now. Any interest out there?

 

Where'd you hear this or see it specified?

 

I think he's going by experience. That's a pretty common assumption
for more than one make. The only problem with it is that people who use
the specified coolant and change it regularly are the ones who usually
have the water pump changed with every timing belt. And, worse, vice versa.

 

honda don't specify a pump change, they specify inspection. based on my
experience, a pump will last a good deal longer than a belt. the urban
tradition of change is that of economics - for $45 extra bucks and
you're already in there, why not?

personally, i inspect if it's first change, but i have the tools and
experience to do the job myself.

 

My experience with older Honda Civics (Gen 1 & 2) is that a waterpump's
life span is about the same as a belt. In fact, I have had to cheat to
get one to last as long as a belt by squirting the shaft with motor oil
in ever increasing frequency. My record for water pump life extension
was about 7,000 miles and it was growling pretty good...

JT

 

This is generally what my mechanic sees.

He does NOT recommend actually leaving it in for two changes though. Too
risky, since almost nobody's cooling system is maintained properly.

 

Sorry, this observation was based on a 60K-mile belt replacement interval,
not the max interval of 105K. My bad.

 

Pardon? So what's this mechanic's counsel for my 91 Civic
(interval of six years/90k miles on the timing belt)?

 

Replace the pump every time you do the timing belt.