With proper care, these early 2000s Honda engines can truly last forever
Hondas are among the most reliable cars in the world. With regular maintenance and good driving habits, a Honda can easily last hundreds of thousands of miles. This Civic’s engine reached around 250,000 miles before being replaced, and it still looks remarkably clean inside.
The YouTube channel “I Do Cars” disassembled a 1.7-liter D17 naturally aspirated inline-four from a 2003 Honda Civic to examine how the high mileage impacted the engine. Although it needed some obvious maintenance—like an overdue timing belt change—most of the components, including the heads and pistons, were still in good condition.
Naturally, running an engine for that many miles leads to some wear, even with proper care. Despite consistent oil changes, there was noticeable vertical wear on the cylinder walls and significant wear on the main and connecting rod bearings.
Eric, the host of the channel, also discovered debris in the oil pickup tube and, oddly enough, lodged in the water pump’s impeller. Digging further, he identified the main reason this engine was pulled: a faulty head gasket.
According to Eric, these engines can continue running for thousands of miles with a failing head gasket, which was likely the case here. Aside from burning coolant, the engine probably performed well, as shown by the otherwise healthy internals. While the owner could have resurfaced the head and replaced the gasket, given the high mileage, replacing the entire engine was likely the smarter decision.
