I trust you are asking about the front struts and the question is actually a 2 part question. To remove the strut take the wheel off and start at the bottom. There are two bolts at the bottom of the strut; one is a thru bolt at the bottom of the strut fork that has a mating nut; the other is at the top of the strut fork that is a pinch bolt that screws into the upper fork. Remove those two bolts, then remove the upper strut bolt at the top of the strut in the engine compartment. You can then remove the strut assembly from underneath the car.
You will need a strut spring compressor to remove the strut cartridge. DO NOT try to take it apart without the spring compressor or you can get severly injured. Do not use a cheap spring compressor because the compressor might break. If in doubt, take the strut assembly to a shop that has the right equipment and pay them to disassemble, remove and replace the strut cartridge. Its cheaper to pay a shop to do the removal and replacement of the strut cartridge than it is for you to buy the spring compressor.
On most cars, you will have to do a four wheel alignment after you replace the strut cartridge because you will change the alignment geometry. You can't do that at home, so you'll have to take the car to a shop to have that done.
Honestly, its just a better deal to have a reputable shop change the strut and do the alignment than it is to mess with the removal and run back and forth to get the cartridge changed and then have to get a alignment after that. Its not worth what you would save in doing some of it yourself
hope that answers your questions
How do you change the struts on a 1997 Honda Civic HX?
The guy before me is right.Be careful with that stock spring it is compressed in there very tight and will shoot off without a tool holding it together.You can do this yourself though with a compressor tool barrowed from some auto parts stores. For the rear struts you drop the control arm down by the inner control arm bolts to make room to remove the strut.Kids do this all the time to the Civics and Integras right in there driveway its not really a big deal just alot of work.Some of the bolts will be really rusty so you might need an impact wrench. Be careful not to snap off bolts with a cheater bar! Ive done that and it sucks!Research it on google or yahoo.Hondas have tons of forum websites with great how-tos and pics.
