Top 5 Problems Honda Civic Sedan 7th Generation 2001-05

So I'm going to tell you the top five problems we found with this seventh-generation Honda Civic. Number one, power window operation. It could be the driver's side, passenger side, or any rear window. But if it's power windows, and you notice that every once in a while, it just doesn't work. You know, it goes up and down. It just out of the blue stops working, and then it works fine for a while. Before you go tear the door panel apart and replacing that window regulator motor, Honda has a big problem with the window switch. The electric switches.

Sometimes they say you've got to really push down hard on it, or pull up extra hard. If that's the case, the first thing to check out is that switch before you go replacing that window motor. Number two, SRS airbag light staying on. Honda had a recall on this, and it's the airbag sensor for the occupancy, which is located inside the seat. So all you need to do is if your airbag light is on, contact your dealer with your VIN number, have it ready, and give them the VIN number. And they'll tell you if the job has been done, if you bought a used car, or if it needs it, and it's free.

Number three is if you own a Honda, you already know this, hood release cable right down here. For some reason, they like to break on the backside. They snap right out. A lot of people use a pair of locking pliers and that's acceptable if you don't want to replace it. Always check the operation of the cable before you replace the handle because you could keep replacing the handle, which does come separately from the dealer. And if the cable is bound up, it's going to break again and again and again.

So let's look at what you need to look at first before you replace the handle. This is the hood latch. And this is where it's located. And it's attached with three bolts to the upper pillar. So I unmounted the front latch. So you can see how the cable attaches and what to look for. So here's the front latch. This is the hood latch. And here's the cable that goes in underneath the driver's side where the release cable is. Now a look on here, the mounting piece back here is broken. That's not separating the mounting part of it. But road salt or water can get in there and cause this cable to seize up. So you want to check the motion. Have two people, if you can, one person pull on the hood release cable, and make sure this is moving smoothly. Make sure there's no binds, or that the mounting piece right here itself is not broken. If this looks good, go ahead and replace that plastic handle and you should be good to go.

Number four, wiper blades stopping in any random position, kind of willy-nilly here. If it stops up here, or it doesn't shut off at all, it just keeps on going back and forth. They don't stop in what we call the parked position. That is when the windshield wipers are down, and they're all the way down in the motion that they sit at right now. If they stop intermittently here, there, or there, a common problem with this Honda is the wiper motor. So before you go into big details, diagnose the motor first and go from there.

The wiper motor is located here underneath this vent shroud. It has the wiper regulator mounted to the wiper arms. And it's what makes the mechanism go back and forth. So right in here, take this plastic shroud up, and you'll see the motor attached to the wiper regulator. Once you access that wiper motor, if you're going to do it yourself, check the connector. Make sure there's no melted wires, or the connector itself is not melted. If it is, it still could be the motor because the windings inside could have heated up, and the motor is defective. But you're going to want to check that and replace the connector itself on the vehicle harness side.

Number five and the last one is code P1457, 1457. It has to do with the emissions, EVAP exactly, Evaporative Emission Control. So if you know anything about cars, in the past 15 years, we have this new technology, new, is that it takes the regulation of the pressure of the fuel vapors in the tank, and the emissions that goes through into the engine, and second burning, triple burning, and coming out the tailpipe.

It's federally regulated, so every car must have it. It is a lot of aggravation for DIYers, and even some of those mechanics out there. You need some certain tools to diagnose them. But the main way to diagnose any of it is with a visual. And that's the best way to do it. So this particular code, P1457, is an EVAP leak under pressure. So you've got your two solenoids back here. One is a two-way valve over here, and this is the canister shutoff valve. This is the charcoal canister, and It is exactly what it says. There's charcoal in there and it filters the emissions.

So you have your two-way valve on this side. And then on the passenger side, you have your shutoff valve. So this code directs it right to this one first to check and test it. I would say at this point, you're going to do a visual. Now, this is a 2001 Honda Civic. And in my experience, what happens is road salt and sand get up inside here, and this valve stops working. Check your hoses for breaks and cracks, especially on the vacuum side, which is over here. On this two-way valve, you've got vacuum hoses going in from the engine compartment. Check for any breaks. Make sure the canister itself isn't cracked and mounting screws.

Now, if I said to you, go out and get this shutoff valve, you're going to run into a lot of aggravation because these mounting bolts are gone and they're going to break off inside this canister. So if it's something you want to repair, it could be kind of costly, but there is a sequence of diagnostic steps. But more than likely, you're going to end up just replacing this whole canister with both the sensors on there, and that is 90% of the time a dealer item.

So if it has to pass state inspection, it's going to need to be done. So, hopefully, this video helped you out some, and you enjoyed it because I know I had fun making it. Please, if you haven't subscribed, subscribe, that way you have access to thousands of videos that we make. And don't forget to ring that bell and turn on all your notifications.