Hello, new to forum.

Hi. I'm a new owner of an '85 Civic, HB. I finally got smart and decided to find an efficient commuter car that was in my student / worker budget. I have a lot of experience working on my '79 F100, but know little or nothing about the 1.5 in my civic. It has 252K mi and still runs like a top. I'm curious if anyine knows of any notorious problems with these old Civics. I've read keep them from overheating is paramount given the exhaust valve proximity between #3 & #4. I've also heard the carbs are not much to be desired. The one on my car now seems to be fine, I notice it has some minor problems with cold starts, something like the choke pull off is dechoking to quickly. I also need to get the windshield wiper sprayer motor working. Does anyone know how decent the Haynes schematics are? Know of a better source or link? Hey thanks for listening to me ramble. I look forward to learning a lot from this site.
Cheers.

Haynes manuals are fine but you can also find technical manuals and diagrams at redpepperracing.com. I'm not sure what to tell you about the carburetor since I always try to avoid mid '80s carbureted cars and their hellish web of vacuum hoses. As far as overheating goes, I dare you to try overheating it! Unless there is something mechanically wrong with your car it probably won't happen. A while back I drove my '86 CRX SI through the Nevada desert without any problems, and recently while I was fixing something else on my car I realized that the cooling fan was not working. I had been driving my car for a year before I realized this! I fixed it and found that it runs a little cooler, but in the last year it never gave me any indications of an overheating problem, not even in the desert. The wiper sprayer should be a relatively simple fix. I would start by checking the pump on the bottom of the reservoir to make sure the hose is attached and that the wires are still connected (assuming that you have already checked the fuse panel). If still no luck then connect a jumper wire to see if the motor still works and if so then the problem is either in the switch or wiring. I don't think that there are any "notorious" problems with these cars since they were designed really well for their time. The only problems you will encounter are the common problems that come with owning a 19 year old car. And... don't worry about the rambling, I tend to be long winded at times too.

Thanks for the tips for the wiper washer pump. I'll check it out.

Hey tetraruby,
Welcome to mid 80's honda hell. O.K. it's not that bad but they can be a little quirky. First Natorius problem, your rear wheel wells are going to rust out if they havn't already. My sugestion is to remove all plactics mud flaps rear bumber excetera and power wash every thing in and around the wheel wells. Add rust proof paint if you desire. Other problems I've run across with my hondas include but not limited burnt windshield squirter pump, starter, alternator, clogged catilitic converter, broke a timing belt, clogged fuel filters, worn out fuel pump.
Congrats on your new honda, you should be able to pay for it with what you save in gas in to time at all. If you live in a state were emissions are not an issue a sledge hammer approach may be used in around catilitic converters, vacum hoses excetera. Good luck. wagon dude on this forum is really smart does not hesitate to give information. He really knows what he is talking about.

hey, i'm here. it looks as though i am being played up as more than i am. to be honest my knowledge is wider in the second generation honda's and i probably will be a little busy for the next while, today i got an 82 Accord as a donor car for my engine project so this is going to be the start of a fairly big project.

OK, time to read the manual :) I pulled the washer reservoir and jumped the motors and both worked. Long story short, After pulling the column apart, I realized that the washer and momentary wiper switch are on two different circuits. Pull for mist, down for momentary...all else fails, read the manual.

Do you guys know of any good/ bad sources for dash mats?

Got another one: How interchangeable (between years) are the sun visors? Mine are torn up and from what I've seen on evil bay they('84-85) appear to interchange with '87 variety.

ebay......they work with the devil.....

:devil:

Visors are interchangeable. But there are two different colors depending on the year and model, either light grey or medium grey.

Thanks for the reply, lxndr. I'm not to picky about color. I just need some that the sun hasn't eaten up.