My FD2 @ 40,000 km service

Last week, it was time to send my Honda Civic FD2 in for preventive maintenance after clocking in nearly 40,000 km in the span of 3 years. As usual, the excellent service and workmanship of Mr Lee and crew at the GS Tay Honda SC (Muar) made it worth the 1 hour drive over there.

Firstly, the key point - it cost me nearly RM1K, using fully synthetic engine oil from Honda. For those who like to get the the conclusion....

For the rest of you, note that this service took around 2+ hours. Besides the usual engine and oil filter swap, for this service, the brake oil and ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) were also replaced. Since this was a Honda SC, the replacements were all original Honda brand.

Also due for replacement was the fuel filter. This thing had the most perculiar location, just behind and under the rear seats, which made it necessary for the techs to remove the whole rear seat and move the boot lid (the piece under which lies the spare tire). For me, this was where my Blaupunkt active sub box was bolted on. Unfortunately, it was necessary for them to cut through the layer of soundproofing to access the fuel filter cover. They were hesitating to do so, and only after I came along and gave them the green light did they proceed with care!

Meanwhile, in the front, there was a squeaky sound which was traced to the auto belt tensioner. This was a spring-loaded device that took up the slack of the timing belt, so that it was tight enough to drive all the pulleys on that side of the engine (alternator, crank pulley, aircon, etc.).

However, even after the service, there was a persistent knocking sound coming from the engine at low revs (below 1,500 rpm) that meant that something was still wrong. In spite being as smooth as ever, with no "check engine light" coming on, no smoke or poor fuel consumption, I made an appointment with Mr Lee to send in my car for detailed inspection. Better not take the chance with a machine that brings you from 0 kph to illegal speeds and keeps you alive so you can blog about it later...! :)

Well, looks like I'll be using my spare car for the duration of the diagnostic. It would be interesting to know what was the cause of the problem, and get it fixed.

Any FD owners out there with similar experience? Maybe I'll try to look this up at 8GCC and the S'pore Honda Civic FD Club forums after this.

On a lesser note, I finally got my "plastic at the left triangle" fixed. This is a common problem for FD owners, where the piece of plastic on the left side of the dashboard (at the triangle shaped window) pops up, especially when after you park under the sun. This involved removing the entire panel and some discreet use of super glue (not to worry, they didn't leave any mess).

More updates after they figure out the problem and fix it, then!