1998 Honda Civic

1998 Honda Civic questions and answers

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Q: best ways to tune a 1998 honda civic ex?
I have a 1998 honda civic ex, and i was woundering what are some tips to help quicken it up, i already have a cold air intake on it but am not sure what else to do to it.

A: First step is to finish up the breathing... header, cat and exhaust. If you don't mind a little white knuckle turning in parking lots then bypass the power steering and in the cold season bypass the a/c. If it is an auto then swap out the transmission for manual and when you do that put on a lightweight flywheel and/or clutch. Definitely try to get rid of some weight, it can be free and will improve every aspect of your vehicles performance, and make sure to stay away from large rims because they are heavier unless you spend a lot of money on lightweight ones. You could also do carbon fiber parts, lightweight windows, under drive pulleys, camshaft, im, im gasket, wrap the header, tb, injectors, fuel pump, turbo, engine swap, built head, nos and so on. Nos is a nice option for extra power at the push of a button, some will tell you it will burn up your engine but guess what... so will your right foot. If you are responsible with nos it can be fine, you could probably get away with a 35 shot safely on stock internals. Chipping it would be an improvement but you want to do that after you are content with the rest of your mods so that the chip is tuned properly... DON'T BUY OFF EBAY FOR CHIPS, have a reputable shop do it, best option would be to have a knowledgable shop put it on a dyno and tune it right, that will probably earn you about 7 whp. ebay chip = 0-5 whp or maybe even worse than stock if your unlucky. It all depends on your budget and how fast you wanna go.

Q: My 1998 Honda Civic died on me while driving?
My 1998 Honda Civic died on me while driving. I do not have spark at the spark plugs and my battery is only measuring 11.5 volts. does anyone know if I would still get a spark with a low voltage battery, and if so why no spark? I do know I am getting fuel and my timming belt is not broken. Thanks a mill to anyone that can help. * I tried to jump start but it didn't work.

A: Without spark it could be ignition coil, distributor, timing skipped, loose wire alternator

Q: Can my 1998 Honda Civic make a continental road trip--from San Diego to Chicago?
I'm planning a road trip from San Diego to Chicago with my 1998 Honda. It has about 88,000 miles and still runs great, but I'm not sure it will make it that far without having complications. Any suggestions, answers, advise? Has anyone attempted this with an older car?

A: very reliable car, get it fully serviced before you go, check the coolant and oil levels regularly, keep an eye on your warning lights/guages during the trip. might be an idea to carry a tool kit in case of emergencies and a haynes manual to show you how to repair anything. happy motoring and good luck

Q: What things can I do to a plain 1998 Honda civic?
I just got a new used Honda civic, and I want to make it run fast and be good. I already want to get new rims but other than that I'd like to know what can be done and what really is happening when people soup up there cars.

A: Ok, first performance wise. If you want a high performing honda, usually turbo is the way to go. Now you can not just slap a turbo on there and throw a ton of boost, probably bend a rod or blow a piston out of the block. Do an engine swap, like a B series or possibly the H22 swap if you have the money and time, it has more power. From there you need to build the engine up like bigger pistons, and boring it out, but you want flat top pistons because it lower the compression ratio, which is what you want for an optimal turbo setup and it increases the size of the combustion chamber. You also may want to do some head work like cams and springs and valves. After you get the turbo you will also need to get the car tuned because you are putting a lot more air into the cylinder per intake stroke than before so you need to counter the air with more fuel. From there you also need the basic bolt on's like a Cold air intake, Headers (if you don't want a turbo), cat back exhaust, and get hondata (an ecu tuning program). You also will want to make the car a manual transmission if it is an automatic because the real power is the manuals because the automatics are a lot heavier and have a slow throttle response time through the drive train. Then you can do new shocks and lowering springs. Depending on how low you drop it, you will need to get a camber/alignment kit to alter the negative camber which makes the wheels bend inwards and take it to a shop to get aligned. After that you can do new tailights, headlights, possibly H.I.D. with the headlights, the rims you were talking about, you can do a body kit, but personally if you want performance, lowering it is better because you get better handling around turns and if you drop it and get a body kit then it is really low and any pothole will screw all your body kit up. Then you can do you interior like new gauge faces, racing seats, racing steering wheel if you want. Also what a lot of show guys do is they fiberglass the interior dash components and paint a custom color or the actual car color and it looks really good. Hope this points you in the right direction, good luck man.!

Q: how do i know what kind of stereo to buy for my 1998 honda civic 4 door sedan? and is it easy to install?
my stereo got stolen recently but the wire plug thing is fine and so is the little audio looking plug thing. i really know nothing about this but i would really like to get a new cheap stereo asap! how do i know what kind of stereo to get like if it will fit my car and all that and are they easy to install or would i have to pay to get it installed? thanks! i drive a 98 honda civic 4 door sedan if that helps.

A: Any of these units below will fit your car: They also have a video to show you how to install it on the home page of this site..

Q: what do need to do to my 1998 honda civic with d16y8 engine so i can run a turbo with more boost?
i have been told you should only run a civic with 6 psi of boost. i want to know what do i need to do so i can run alot more boost and how much it will run me, and how much hp will i endup with?

A: not a smart thing to do on a d16..

Q: I have a 1998 honda civic with alighnment problems after an accident.?
I have a 1998 honda civic. I recently had an accident where I hit a curb. I took it to get aligned and it worked fine for a while. It keeps wearing the inside of my tire down. I took it back and the mechanic said that I need a after market camber kit. My question is is where to look and what exactly comes with a camber kit? By the way it is for the front of the vehicle. Would you agree that this the way to fix the problem?

A: Any mail order company that sells aftermarket suspension parts for the Civic should have a camber kit. Check http://www.nopi.com for something. IMHO, this would just be a bandage for a bigger problem. It sounds to me like the guy that aligned your car didn't really look at your suspension closely... you've probably got some major damage to the entire suspension geometry. Find a different mechanic, like at a dealer, and have it checked more closely.

Q: 1998 Honda Civic that sat for around 3 months without being started.Cranks but wont start. Not a battery issue
Canks like there is plenty of juice, just won't fire.

A: It could be bad fuel. Gas goes bad after a while>

Q: What performance upgrades can I do to my 1998 honda Civic?
It an automatic. But i want it to perform better. Speed and Acceleration. I have a budget of around $3000

A: I assume it's a dx or lx? If you want to keep the stock engine then the first thing I would do is convert it over to manual transmission with shorter gear ratios (civic ex tranny). Next I would swap the stock head and ecu out for the vtec head. Once you have the tranny, vtec and ecu in you should concentrate on typical bolt-on mods like intake, header, high flow cat and exhaust. You should be able to accomplish this for around 3k if you do the work yourself (other than exhaust... unless you weld) and do some shopping around for good deals. You will notice a substantial difference from these, about 25 hp over what you have now and shorter gears. Now if you want to get even better performance (for about the same price) then upgrade to a B series. You could install (yourself) a B16 engine, tranny, ecu, axles, etc for about 2k then use the rest of your money to finish off the I/H/C/E. This would be a major difference, about 40 hp more than the first list of mods and even shorter gearing, 65 hp over what you've got now. This will actually not be any more difficult than the previously mentioned, actually in my opinion it's much easier. There are a lot of mods you can do but it is best to start with a good platform to do other mods to and a longer geared automatic is not a very good start for performance.

Q: How can i fix the instrument panel light in a 1998 honda civic ex?
What fuses can i change or how can i change the bulb?

A: Pound The Dash...lol Jk But You Might Need To Remove The Dash Sepending Where It Is Then Change Lightbulb

Q: What service do I need on my 1998 Honda Civic (4-Door, LX) at 90,000 miles?
My 1998 Honda Civic (4-Door, LX) is about to reach 90,000 miles. What service do I need to get done? Following are some recommended options: 1) Major Maintenance (Replace various Filters/Oil + Inspections) 2) Timing Belt + other belts 3) Water Pump What is really necessary at this point? Some dealerships I talked to told me that since replacing Timing belt requires lot of labor, I should do Water pump at the same time so to reduce costs in future. Is this really a good idea? Also, how much should I expect to pay. The quotes I get so far are like: *Maintenance => $290 - $380 * Timing belt => $240 - $390 * Timing belt + Other Belts + Water Pump + coolant => $520 - $650

A: try getting an estimare from other shops besides the dealer and ship the water pump till it goes out if ever just get reg maintence more than likley the technician will go over the car top to bottom, one key to any car maintaince dont go in and tell shop what to do and replace think about it it would be like you going to the doctor and telling him how to do his job only thing just tell shop you would like the 90,000 serv

Q: how do you change the O2 sensor on a 1998 honda civic EX, the one before the converter?
I have been told this is very easy to install. I have purchased the OEM sensor with the plug in tip, so no wiring needed. I need to do this to pass an emissions test and update my registration. A step by step guide would be incredibley useful.

A: first remove the exhaust manifold heat shield to access the wrench flats on the sensor---only a few small bolts holing this on ...........then remove the sensor.......if i recall a 7/8 inch wrench works nicely. happy wrenching.

Q: About how much will a timebelt replacement for a 1998 Honda Civic cost?
Just want to know the average cost I am looking at, just in case I get quoted an outrageous price.

A: Most shops have a standard time book on all repair jobs - ask them what their book says for time. THey will then mulitply for the labor rate. You can also propose that YOU bring in all the parts. Sometimes they mark the parts way up though they already get a discount from the parts store. If you want it done right and you are willing to spend a few more dollars, order your parts from a discount Honda dealer like Majestic Honda. You can call them and ask for all the recommended parts to be replaced during a timing belt replacement: water pump, camshaft seal, timing belt, and balance shaft belt - if it has one, are some of the most common. They may also recommend the timing belt tensioner and possibly the crankshaft seal. The other parts like the AC and alternator belt are fine to get from the regular auto parts store, along with some anti-freeze. As to your main question: $200-350 seems about the going rate, about a 4 hour job.