Well, I bought the Civic and got it home last night. Ugh, what a time trying to get it all in my name. Had to go here, get a piece of paper, go another place, get it signed, then I forgot another piece of paper, had to run and get it, blah blah.. That took longer than expected, but I got it done before the motor vehicle office closed. The guy gave me a ride out to the car, I literally dumped my piece of shit Taurus off at a friend's house. I got in her, cranked the engine, and I was off! Of course, it was low on gas, so I had to stop for some fuel. I felt a bit embarrased, because I didn't know how to get the fuel door open. The guy who pumped the gas had a Honda, and he showed me where it was. Then he told he to shut off the engine before he pumped the gas, some sort of regulation or something. Another little goof on my part, I didn't hear it running. $25 canadian of gas at 79.9 cents per litre took the gas gauge from empty to full. Finally, I got it out on the open road. This car is quite peppy, I'm lovin' it. I like how the enhaust note changes as speed rises in gear. The suspension is kinda firm, but it doesn't hop or skate over bumps like my Taurus did. I think the seal around the hatch is broke or torn, there's a lot of wind noise coming in from the rear of the car. Overall, I drove about 280 kilometers yesterday, and it still has a bit more than a half tank of gas left, sweet. Now, to the root of this thread. The guy who had the car before me said that the oil hasn't been changed in a few months, it's a dirty black color. So I'm going to be changing it this weekend, I think I'll put some Quaker State in it. Are there any oversize oil filters available for the 1.5 engines? I've heard that older import cars needed to have their valves adjusted every 15,000 mles or so, what does that mean exactly? Does my Civic need to have it done too? Apparently, the guy who sold me the car said he had service records for the car, but I forgot to ask him for them, I'll go and get them this weekend.

yes you need to adjust the valves , best thing to do is go to your local parts store and pick up a haynes manual , tells you everything you need to know about doing that and a bunch of other stuff

Get a real manual - www.helminc.com nothing better than the Honda Edition. It has all the information you need, including valve adjustment how-to. ALL honda 4-bangers need to have their valves adjusted. There are larger filters to use, I would suggest using a filter relocation kit since there isn't much room where the filter normally sits. More important than anything is a timing belt replacement @90,000miles - HIGHLY suggest replacing water pump with t/belt.

Ok, so what's involved in a valve adjustment? Is it something I could do myself, or would it be better left to a good mechanic? The timing belt was replaced 95000 kms ago, about 4 years. It wouldn't be due again would it?

vavle adjustment is easy to do , just pick up a repair manuel for your car and as far the the timing belt goes , how many miles do you have on your car now?

I've got 324000 kilometers, or 201000 miles on it. the belt was replaced at 233000 kms, or 144000 miles.

i would change it around 230,000 , if you have the service history that shows it was changed at 144,000

My car probbaly has NEVER EVER EVER EVER had a valve adjustment done. If I was able to change my own head gasket, do you think I'd be able to adjust my valves alone? Would it help in gas milage at all? I am known for crying about my crappy gas milage. Also lately I have been hearing pinging when ever my engine is cold. It stops when the engine has warmed up but when the engine is cold and I first turn it on, I hear nothing but pinging. I am using 93 octane gas which did not help the problem. Let me know what i can do about the pinging and what benefits I can get from adjustting my valves. Thanks all

Timing belt every 72 month - 90,000 miles/144,00km which ever comes first.

Valve adjustment is very simple if you can follow directions & have the proper tools. You can get an idea from this . . . . . . .for a D series
http://www.binghamtonlife.com/manual/2gsm/images/91-6-30.jpg
http://www.binghamtonlife.com/manual/2gsm/images/91-6-31.jpg
links from a 91 crx/civic Honda repair manual - www.helminc.com

If a valve adjustment has never been done, it wouldn't be a bad idea also any other skipped maintenance. There is a summer blend & winter blend fuel(depending on location) the winter will usually get 3-5mpg less than summer.

I've only ever heard of summer blend and winter blend for diesel fuel. Up here, Petro Canada sells what they call 'Winter gas' which is normal gasoline with gas line antifreeze blended in, I guess.