160,000 km PM service for my Honda Civic FD2

It's been awhile since my last Preventive Maintenance update. Somehow, my lifestyle does not require driving frequent long distances all over the country (in spite of Malaysia having more "country" to drive long distances over, compared to, say, Singapore). And so, finally, it's about time the odometer on my trusty Honda Civic FD2 dialed in 160,000km. Well, not exactly, as of course, I make it a point to send all of my cars in for preventive maintenance once within 1,000km of the upcoming service.

Interestingly, although car manufacturers generally set the service intervals as "every X km or after X months", I never really follow the X months part, due to my driving habits just mentioned above.

I called up GS Tay Honda Service Center in Muar as "usual". I'm a regular there, but each time I call up, most likely will be one crew rotation later, so it's a fresh new face each time. You can find their contact on Google Maps. I successfully made a service appointment for the following morning day. 

I arrived roughly 1/2 hour earlier, most probably due to good weather, plus abnormally smooth and sparse traffic. The Service Advisor was courteous and pleasant, and after a quick inspection for "pre-damage", I headed across the back lane to the customer waiting lounge. It was nearly full, but fortunately, I managed to find a seat.

It took roughly 4 hours for the complete service. Apart from the usual engine oil & filter change, I also changed my ATF, inner cabin air filter, engine oil treatment and cleaner - coming up to RM741.05, inclusive of labour and tax. The technician was quite thorough, and the post-inspection report revealed there was a bit more work to be done. Specifically:

- The 12V battery was in poor condition (<70% CCA)

- Rear Right wheel bearing need replacement

- Outer right driveshaft boot torn and need replacement

- Leaking valve cover gasket and timing chain cover

Hmm, not bad, I guess it's to be expected given the age. I asked them to get back to me with a quote for repairs, as looking at the list, it may or may take more than a day to get everything done. The battery replacement I could do on my own, but as for the others, will leave it to the trained experts. Meanwhile, will keep a close eye on things and drive "conservatively" to reduce the chances of mishaps / further damage.

A fine testament to how long cars from those days and these manufacturers were built to last. Well, will update once more once I receive the quote. BTW, my tires are in need of replacement as well, so I'm looking out for a reasonable good tire shop closer to home.

Patching a patched tire

Recently, I noticed that the front right tire of my Honda Civic FD2 was deflating much faster than the other tires. The rate of deflation was alarming (in terms of days) and seems was getting shorter between trips to the gas station (for air to inflate the tires).

Thus, I stopped by Ee Hern Trading at Taman Melaka Baru (you can find it on Google Maps, so I don't need to leave the details here) to get it fixed. I was here two years ago to patch a leak on a Toyota Fortuner (read about it here) with a good experience back then, so hope things are still good after so long. True enough, the helpful guy there wasted no time in removing the tire and checking for leaks. Interestingly, it wasn't a new nail in the tire, but the leak was coming from an previous old patched leak. The young gentleman was quite frank, a repair may or may not work or last, but since it just cost RM10, can give it a try and if still leaking, can opt for tire replacement.

Given that it had been some years since my current set of tires, I opted for the patch. It was a quick fix, done in roughly 15 mins. Well, let's see how long it lasts, and my expectation was to find some time to replace all 4 tires soon. Since the good old days of "tracking" on the Sepang F1 circuit were way behind me, won't need an ultra high performance tire, so will be on the lookout for something "average" - haha, transitioning nicely into "uncle" phase...! :D

Forgot to ask what tires they have at Ee Hern, will try to drop by again one of these days to ask (also if they have ready stock). The shop is a bit small, so I'm worried that they may be overloaded / without stock - let's see.