A 1994 Honda Civic will seize with no engine oil. A healthy engine will not only have an adequate amount of oil but a functional and strong oil pump to circulate the engine's life blood. The pump is powered by a drive belt and keeps the oil flowing as you drive. Replace the oil pump when you suspect there is not enough flow.
Drain the oil, disconnect the negative battery terminal and raise the front end safely on a hard level surface.
Locate the crankshaft pulley. There will be a mark on the pulley that must line up with the index mark on the timing cover. This is called bringing the cylinder to TDC.
Locate the timing belt and the timing belt tensioner. The timing belt will be the toothed belt attached to the crankshaft pulley and the tensioner will be a small metal bracket that controls the amount of tension on the timing belt.
Remove all the drive belts, pulley covers and the crankshaft pulley. Note the order in which you remove these parts by writing it down. Keep all corresponding bolts and parts together in a safe place.
Remove the timing belt and the timing belt tensioner.
Locate the oil pump, oil pan and screen. The oil pump will be driven by a small pulley near the bottom of the engine face. The pan and screen will be attached to the pump by a small curved pipe that runs down and turns slightly under the engine.
Remove the pan, screen and pipe.
Remove the oil pump by removing the mounting bolts and lifting it off the dowel pins. Remove the dowel pins.
Apply a thin coat of oil on the lip of the new oil pump to aid in sealing.
Fit new dowel pins and D ring onto the engine block. The new oil pump will come with these parts.
Clean the mounting surface of the engine block and apply a new coat of liquid gasket to the mounting surface of the engine block. If the gasket sits on the mounting surface for more than five minutes, remove it and start again.
Install the new bolts of the oil pump to 9 foot-pounds of torque with a torque wrench inside the five minute window of the setting gasket.
Replace the oil pan and screen. Replace all removed parts in reverse order they were removed. Make sure to research and replace the timing belt properly. Wait 30 minutes before refilling engine with oil.
