tsx_guy wrote:is that a fox next to the car?
Yes. He comes by almost every evening. Sometimes I'll be working on a car and then look up and notice he's been sitting twelve feet away, watching me with quiet curiosity.
my civic thread
Started yesterday on the the last few steps of tranny-removal prepwork. The half-axles must be removed, which is accomplished by removing the damper fork from the lower control arm and then separating the wheel hub ball joint from same. I completed this on the right side, but it wasn't easy.
This car spent half its life in New Jersey, where I'm pretty sure they just spray sulfuric acid on the roads in the winter, not so much to clear ice as to corrode cars. To those of you who haven't lived and maintained cars from the northeast, consider yourself lucky as you'll likely see 1/4th the corrosion on your vehicles' undersides here in Colorado. Being from PA, I know the score. Still, I was surprised to see how far gone various bushings and other rubber bits were on this car. Worse than my hatchback, which is surprising, as my hatchback is two years older.
I used my harbor freight balljoint separator tool for the first time, but made the noobie mistake of forgetting to put a hex nut on after removing the castle nut, and kinda mashed up the ball joint pin. The tranny removal instructions didn't go into that detail, although in retrospect, it was written up in another section of the service manual. Live and learn, I guess.
If time and weather allow, I'll finish that side today by prying the half-axle out of the differential and the wheel hub on the right side, and then repeat it all again on the left-hand side. After that, I'm supposed to drop the exhaust downpipe, whose bolts are predictably corroded knobs, so that may involve some cutting. Finally, the gear selector linkage comes off, and then it's time to unbolt the transmission itself and carefully lower it while supporting the engine.
This car spent half its life in New Jersey, where I'm pretty sure they just spray sulfuric acid on the roads in the winter, not so much to clear ice as to corrode cars. To those of you who haven't lived and maintained cars from the northeast, consider yourself lucky as you'll likely see 1/4th the corrosion on your vehicles' undersides here in Colorado. Being from PA, I know the score. Still, I was surprised to see how far gone various bushings and other rubber bits were on this car. Worse than my hatchback, which is surprising, as my hatchback is two years older.
I used my harbor freight balljoint separator tool for the first time, but made the noobie mistake of forgetting to put a hex nut on after removing the castle nut, and kinda mashed up the ball joint pin. The tranny removal instructions didn't go into that detail, although in retrospect, it was written up in another section of the service manual. Live and learn, I guess.
If time and weather allow, I'll finish that side today by prying the half-axle out of the differential and the wheel hub on the right side, and then repeat it all again on the left-hand side. After that, I'm supposed to drop the exhaust downpipe, whose bolts are predictably corroded knobs, so that may involve some cutting. Finally, the gear selector linkage comes off, and then it's time to unbolt the transmission itself and carefully lower it while supporting the engine.
So... weather and time did allow me to get a few steps further along. I picked up where I had left off, by trying to get the right side wheel hub 32mm spindle nut out of the halfaxle. It was a bit tricky, I had to get the ball joint pin back in the lower control arm socket before I could even start to get torque on it without simply twisting the entire wheel knuckle. At this point, the other side of the halfaxle was already out of the differential, and so I wound up wedging the biggest flathead screwdriver I had between two lug studs and the caliper bracket to keep the wheel hub from twisting instead of the spindle nut.
The screwdriver bent like taffy between the lug studs, but not before shattering the 15" 1/2"-drive breaker bar. Which was my roommate's... I grabbed a shorter breaker bar and a 4' piece of steel pipe as a lever arm, used the broken breaker bar as a substitute for the bent screwdriver between the lugs and the caliper bracker, and this finally freed the spindle nut. I pulled the half-axle, wrapped both machined ends in plastic shopping bags, and moved on to the left side of the car. This actually went much smoother, although the ball joint boot didn't survive the separation, it was on its way out already.
With the halfaxles removed, the next step was to drop the exhaust downpipe that connects the exhaust manifold to the catalytic converter. Although I gave it a halfhearted try, it was pretty obvious none of the nuts and bolts were going to separate (or even move). My solution to this was to cut the sprung bolts connecting the downpipe to the cat with a dremel tool, and then pull the exhaust manifold off the cylinder head. The entire assembly came off the car relatively easily.
Clearly, I'll have some work to do if I want to reuse the downpipe, some of the fastening nuts have fused with the pipe itself.
At this point, All I should need to do is disconnect the gear selection cable and then unbolt the tranny mount bracket and then the tranny-to-engine bolts securing the tranny case to the block where it covers the flywheel.
Not today, though!
The screwdriver bent like taffy between the lug studs, but not before shattering the 15" 1/2"-drive breaker bar. Which was my roommate's... I grabbed a shorter breaker bar and a 4' piece of steel pipe as a lever arm, used the broken breaker bar as a substitute for the bent screwdriver between the lugs and the caliper bracker, and this finally freed the spindle nut. I pulled the half-axle, wrapped both machined ends in plastic shopping bags, and moved on to the left side of the car. This actually went much smoother, although the ball joint boot didn't survive the separation, it was on its way out already.
With the halfaxles removed, the next step was to drop the exhaust downpipe that connects the exhaust manifold to the catalytic converter. Although I gave it a halfhearted try, it was pretty obvious none of the nuts and bolts were going to separate (or even move). My solution to this was to cut the sprung bolts connecting the downpipe to the cat with a dremel tool, and then pull the exhaust manifold off the cylinder head. The entire assembly came off the car relatively easily.
Clearly, I'll have some work to do if I want to reuse the downpipe, some of the fastening nuts have fused with the pipe itself.
At this point, All I should need to do is disconnect the gear selection cable and then unbolt the tranny mount bracket and then the tranny-to-engine bolts securing the tranny case to the block where it covers the flywheel.
Not today, though!
Meanwhile, back on the hatchback civic...
... I was so pleased with myself in correcting the SAAB's SRS light, I decided to try the 'two paperclip' Civic SRS warning reset. There's a special 2-pin lead for a Honda SRS tool, but there's a simple workaround to not having access to said tool: insert a conductor (e.g.: paperclip) in each lead. Short the two together and power the ignition to 'on' (do not start engine). When SRS light is on, keep circuit shorted. When light is off, open circuit. SRS light will then blink twice to indicate reset. Done. And so it went, Civic's back to idiot-light free (for the moment).
I started checking out the AC compressor I bought at upullandpay side by side with the one originally out of my hatchback. Quick recap: my Civic's AC compressor works fine, but its clutch pulley bearing is shot. Looking at the compressor pull, it seemed the reverse might be true-- the pulley was smooth, however, the compressor didn't sound like it was doing much. (My known-good compressor 'pops' as you turn the pulley, this one sorta didn't.) I held a finger over the condenser/hot side outlet of each compressor, turning the pulley; my compressor compressed air, the salvage yard pull did not.
I swapped the pulleys and replaced my compressor in the hatchback and did a vacuum test of the system. For now, that's it, it's considered a good idea to replace the refrigerant receiver/drier after opening a r134a system up to atmosphere. Besides, I need an AC belt, and I might as well replace the idler pulley. Plus the AC belt loops over an engine mount, which is partially shot, so I have a small shopping list before I can actually add refrigerant.
Meanwhile, I'm pondering whether it would be ethical to return to the salvage yard the (likely) non-functional AC compressor with the non-functional AC compressor clutch/pulley I swapped on to it; they do have a 30-day return policy if something doesn't work out...
... I was so pleased with myself in correcting the SAAB's SRS light, I decided to try the 'two paperclip' Civic SRS warning reset. There's a special 2-pin lead for a Honda SRS tool, but there's a simple workaround to not having access to said tool: insert a conductor (e.g.: paperclip) in each lead. Short the two together and power the ignition to 'on' (do not start engine). When SRS light is on, keep circuit shorted. When light is off, open circuit. SRS light will then blink twice to indicate reset. Done. And so it went, Civic's back to idiot-light free (for the moment).
I started checking out the AC compressor I bought at upullandpay side by side with the one originally out of my hatchback. Quick recap: my Civic's AC compressor works fine, but its clutch pulley bearing is shot. Looking at the compressor pull, it seemed the reverse might be true-- the pulley was smooth, however, the compressor didn't sound like it was doing much. (My known-good compressor 'pops' as you turn the pulley, this one sorta didn't.) I held a finger over the condenser/hot side outlet of each compressor, turning the pulley; my compressor compressed air, the salvage yard pull did not.
I swapped the pulleys and replaced my compressor in the hatchback and did a vacuum test of the system. For now, that's it, it's considered a good idea to replace the refrigerant receiver/drier after opening a r134a system up to atmosphere. Besides, I need an AC belt, and I might as well replace the idler pulley. Plus the AC belt loops over an engine mount, which is partially shot, so I have a small shopping list before I can actually add refrigerant.
Meanwhile, I'm pondering whether it would be ethical to return to the salvage yard the (likely) non-functional AC compressor with the non-functional AC compressor clutch/pulley I swapped on to it; they do have a 30-day return policy if something doesn't work out...
Last autumn, when I replaced the brake pads on the civic's front calipers, I noticed that the front right caliper pads were worn diagonally, that is, if you held the two pads together and looked down at them along their length, one pad would be shortest at the top, the other pad shortest at the bottom. It seemed odd. At that time, the caliper bolt that held it to the bracket was also bent slightly. I replaced the bolt with a new grade-8 bolt and figured I'd take a wait-and-see approach; perhaps the bent bolt was the cause of the uneven pad wear, perhaps it was another symptom that, along with the pad wear, indicated a larger issue... I renewed the pads, greased the caliper pins, and put it all back together with the new bolt.
Yesterday, some 2000 miles later, I decided I had done enough waiting and it was time to do some seeing. I pulled the wheel off that corner, removed the caliper retaining bolt with some difficulty, slid the caliper off the pads, and examined them. They were beginning to wear diagonally, as before. When retorquing the caliper retaining bolt that helps hold it to the caliper bracket, it 'went loose' while tightening it. Removing it, I saw the bolt had stripped threads out of the caliper bracket.
Well, that was the final straw. I decided to replace both the caliper and the caliper bracket. Since I needed to return the AC compressor and another core or two to upullandpay anyway, I went down there and found an equivalent caliper on a 1998 Civic DX sedan. When I got it come, I quickly determined its slave cylinder seal was shot (I could pull the piston right out of the caliper, rather than needing to use compressed air). Fortunately, its boot was fine, and so I took the remnants of the brake rebuild kit whose boot I tore last autumn and replaced the seal and boot clip on the salvaged caliper, reusing its boot.
Bolting on the rebuilt salvaged caliper, I reused the pads from the old one and bled just that right corner. Taking a test drive, the first few times I braked, it tended to pull to the left, but then the right pad seemed to re-set and braking was firm, assertive, and felt balanced.
I guess I'll see how it goes from here. If the pad wear is still diagonal, then the only remaining explanation would be the caliper bracket mounting points on the wheel knuckle themselves are bent. That said, I'm hopeful I've beaten the problem once and for all this time...
Yesterday, some 2000 miles later, I decided I had done enough waiting and it was time to do some seeing. I pulled the wheel off that corner, removed the caliper retaining bolt with some difficulty, slid the caliper off the pads, and examined them. They were beginning to wear diagonally, as before. When retorquing the caliper retaining bolt that helps hold it to the caliper bracket, it 'went loose' while tightening it. Removing it, I saw the bolt had stripped threads out of the caliper bracket.
Well, that was the final straw. I decided to replace both the caliper and the caliper bracket. Since I needed to return the AC compressor and another core or two to upullandpay anyway, I went down there and found an equivalent caliper on a 1998 Civic DX sedan. When I got it come, I quickly determined its slave cylinder seal was shot (I could pull the piston right out of the caliper, rather than needing to use compressed air). Fortunately, its boot was fine, and so I took the remnants of the brake rebuild kit whose boot I tore last autumn and replaced the seal and boot clip on the salvaged caliper, reusing its boot.
Bolting on the rebuilt salvaged caliper, I reused the pads from the old one and bled just that right corner. Taking a test drive, the first few times I braked, it tended to pull to the left, but then the right pad seemed to re-set and braking was firm, assertive, and felt balanced.
I guess I'll see how it goes from here. If the pad wear is still diagonal, then the only remaining explanation would be the caliper bracket mounting points on the wheel knuckle themselves are bent. That said, I'm hopeful I've beaten the problem once and for all this time...
another day, another drama
Today, some parts arrived for my hatchback civic; I have just about everything I need to put the air conditioner back into service. Drive belt, idler pulley, even a new front-left engine mount (aka torque mount), since I had to remove the old one just to get the drive belt on the crankshaft pulley anyway, and it was in a pretty sorry state (two of four rubber 'bands' inside the original mount were already completely torn).
I jacked the car up, removed part of the front splash shield and the front left wheel to get good access to the belt drive area as well as the motor mount. So far, so good. Putting a socket on the mount bolt, with some difficulty I break the corrosion lock and spin it out maybe 1/3" of an inch. It fights the whole way, then it pops and spins freely, but it still on a nut inside the frame. I switch to the other side and get it maybe 1/4" twisted out before the same thing happens. Now I have two loose nuts inside the subframe.
I remember when working on the other civic that there is a breather or inspection hole with a view of the frame member's internals behind the front bumper. I go ahead and remove it. Taking a look, my fears are confirmed. There's no thread on the frame itself, rather, there were two nuts tack welded to a plate on the inside. These now spin freely.
A cursory search of civic forums suggests this isn't all too uncommon, but there are no easy solutions. An obvious approach is to cut a window in the frame near each nut, remove and then reassemble, and (presumably) weld it back shut with a small plate. Of course, I don't have a welder.
I'm pretty sure I could cut the bolts off the nuts and then extract the nuts through the inspection hole using a magnetic extractor, but that would only forestall the need to get a wrench in there to hold the nuts at least long enough to tighten the new engine mount bolts in place. And since this particular mount ideally comes off each time you need to change the AC compressor belt, it would be best to re-weld the new nuts down, I assume.
Well, this one is a head-scratcher, but I guess it's going to keep my civic off the road until I can execute some solution. Bummer, I thought I was just installing a mount and a drive belt this evening, in out done.
I jacked the car up, removed part of the front splash shield and the front left wheel to get good access to the belt drive area as well as the motor mount. So far, so good. Putting a socket on the mount bolt, with some difficulty I break the corrosion lock and spin it out maybe 1/3" of an inch. It fights the whole way, then it pops and spins freely, but it still on a nut inside the frame. I switch to the other side and get it maybe 1/4" twisted out before the same thing happens. Now I have two loose nuts inside the subframe.
I remember when working on the other civic that there is a breather or inspection hole with a view of the frame member's internals behind the front bumper. I go ahead and remove it. Taking a look, my fears are confirmed. There's no thread on the frame itself, rather, there were two nuts tack welded to a plate on the inside. These now spin freely.
A cursory search of civic forums suggests this isn't all too uncommon, but there are no easy solutions. An obvious approach is to cut a window in the frame near each nut, remove and then reassemble, and (presumably) weld it back shut with a small plate. Of course, I don't have a welder.
I'm pretty sure I could cut the bolts off the nuts and then extract the nuts through the inspection hole using a magnetic extractor, but that would only forestall the need to get a wrench in there to hold the nuts at least long enough to tighten the new engine mount bolts in place. And since this particular mount ideally comes off each time you need to change the AC compressor belt, it would be best to re-weld the new nuts down, I assume.
Well, this one is a head-scratcher, but I guess it's going to keep my civic off the road until I can execute some solution. Bummer, I thought I was just installing a mount and a drive belt this evening, in out done.
A few moments with a dremel tool cutting wheel, and I've opened a window into the frame. This doesn't do me much good, however; the nuts are too rusted for my breaker bar with 17mm socket to hold them.
On to plan B: cut the bolts out with dremel. A few cutting wheels later:
On the bright side, I installed the new idler pulley and AC receiver dryer, replaced an old and cracked alternator belt, and installed a fresh new AC drive belt. I vacuum out the AC loop to 20"Hg, and, firing up the engine, everything looks and sounds good. I bridge the AC pressure switch harness and turn on the AC to verify the AC clutch works (it does). Now all I need to do is add some PAG 46 compressor oil and about 22oz of r134a and I should have civic air conditioning for the first time since Nov'08.
You may be wondering what I intend to do about the frame cut. Well...
Yeah, I just bought a used MIG welder from a pretty cool retired FAA worker who restores MG roadsters in Lone Tree. He needed a bigger welder to weld aluminium, sold me the welder, gas regulator, and cart for $150. (That's my keg CO2 tank, but I'll need a tank with a different hookup for argon/CO2, in addition to gloves, apron, fireproof clothes, and a welding helmet. Fun fun.)
On to plan B: cut the bolts out with dremel. A few cutting wheels later:
On the bright side, I installed the new idler pulley and AC receiver dryer, replaced an old and cracked alternator belt, and installed a fresh new AC drive belt. I vacuum out the AC loop to 20"Hg, and, firing up the engine, everything looks and sounds good. I bridge the AC pressure switch harness and turn on the AC to verify the AC clutch works (it does). Now all I need to do is add some PAG 46 compressor oil and about 22oz of r134a and I should have civic air conditioning for the first time since Nov'08.
You may be wondering what I intend to do about the frame cut. Well...
Yeah, I just bought a used MIG welder from a pretty cool retired FAA worker who restores MG roadsters in Lone Tree. He needed a bigger welder to weld aluminium, sold me the welder, gas regulator, and cart for $150. (That's my keg CO2 tank, but I'll need a tank with a different hookup for argon/CO2, in addition to gloves, apron, fireproof clothes, and a welding helmet. Fun fun.)
I ran out to Home Depot last night and picked up a welding helmet and gloves. I also grabbed some 30mm long M10-1.25 bolts and 17mm nuts for same to replace those I cut out of the engine mount. While I'd've liked to use a product known as a "rivet nut" or "nutsert," they didn't seem to be available anywhere locally, at least not in the size I need for this job. Anyway, they require a pricey specialized tool to install. Not to say I'm ruling it out as a more long-term fix, but for now, here's how I prepped for the new mount install:
This is essentially backwards from how it was OEM; bolts through from the frame inside, nuts on the outside. I used a bar held against the bolt base to tighten the nut against the mount on these bolts. At one point the bar slipped over the bolt head and flew into the subframe, jamming itself inside. Getting that back out was "fun." c_c Anyway, I might want to add some Loctite to the equation, but for now this is fine. This mount absorbs torque rather that supports the engine's weight. I applied some zinc primer and then black enamel paint to a few sections of scraped metal on the frame, and then put the bumper and wheel well back together.
After that, I ran out to O'Reilly auto and bought some PAG-46 AC compressor oil and 24oz of R134a refrigerant. These went into the vacuumed out AC loop on the low side. Happily, the AC now works as well as the day I bought it, this after 3.5 years without. Should make summertime runs to the pickandpull more bearable.
This is essentially backwards from how it was OEM; bolts through from the frame inside, nuts on the outside. I used a bar held against the bolt base to tighten the nut against the mount on these bolts. At one point the bar slipped over the bolt head and flew into the subframe, jamming itself inside. Getting that back out was "fun." c_c Anyway, I might want to add some Loctite to the equation, but for now this is fine. This mount absorbs torque rather that supports the engine's weight. I applied some zinc primer and then black enamel paint to a few sections of scraped metal on the frame, and then put the bumper and wheel well back together.
After that, I ran out to O'Reilly auto and bought some PAG-46 AC compressor oil and 24oz of R134a refrigerant. These went into the vacuumed out AC loop on the low side. Happily, the AC now works as well as the day I bought it, this after 3.5 years without. Should make summertime runs to the pickandpull more bearable.
Back to the 2000 EX sedan AT civic.
Worked the last few bolts off the auto tranny in the sedan Civic. One bolt on the front of the transmission case had very poor clearance, and so I decided to remove the radiator, which I had already drained a few weekends back. In the process of getting the hose off the radiator, a large chunk of the radiator came off with the hose. Damned brittle plastic. That'll be another $75 for and aftermarket radiator, though in fairness this one was pretty battle-weary.
In the end, getting the transmission separated from the flywheel, off its dowel pins, and lowered to the ground was somewhat anticlimactic. It's just not as heavy as it looks. I supported the engine by its oil pan resting on some sections of 2x4 supported by a jackstand, and then used a floor jack and a section of 2x12 to support and lower the transmission housing.
Now I just need to find a replacement transmission and build everything back up. I need to do the timing belt while I'm at it, it was last replaced 115K miles ago, which is a sketchy situation, definitely not one I'd be willing to pass on to a buyer. Know anyone with a 6th gen (1996-2000) civic auto tranny they'd like to get rid of?
Worked the last few bolts off the auto tranny in the sedan Civic. One bolt on the front of the transmission case had very poor clearance, and so I decided to remove the radiator, which I had already drained a few weekends back. In the process of getting the hose off the radiator, a large chunk of the radiator came off with the hose. Damned brittle plastic. That'll be another $75 for and aftermarket radiator, though in fairness this one was pretty battle-weary.
In the end, getting the transmission separated from the flywheel, off its dowel pins, and lowered to the ground was somewhat anticlimactic. It's just not as heavy as it looks. I supported the engine by its oil pan resting on some sections of 2x4 supported by a jackstand, and then used a floor jack and a section of 2x12 to support and lower the transmission housing.
Now I just need to find a replacement transmission and build everything back up. I need to do the timing belt while I'm at it, it was last replaced 115K miles ago, which is a sketchy situation, definitely not one I'd be willing to pass on to a buyer. Know anyone with a 6th gen (1996-2000) civic auto tranny they'd like to get rid of?
Hard to believe it's been a month since the last update on the 2000 EX project, but most of that time was spent waiting for either disposable income for a salvage tranny or luck with craigslist/upullandpay sourcing on a cheaper one. Luck didn't pan out, so I wound up paying the full going rate for a pulled B4RA 4-spd AT from another 2000 EX, this one with 136K and totalled in a rear-end + front smash accident, acquired at Media Auto near Sante Fe for $450 with a 30-day warranty.
The tranny had a broken mount point for the front torque mount, but was otherwise clean looking. Naturally, I hauled it home in the back of my hatchback civic, and dived into mounting it on the engine, a tricky one-man job when done using a single floor jack. I wound up sliding the replacement transmission under the elevated engine bay, and then rocking it forward and backwards, inserting 2x6 or 2x4 boards each time until I could fit the jack under it, and then continued the process using the jack and still more boards until I could start bolting on mounts. It was a pain and a half keeping the torque converter from sliding off... But I got it up, mounted fully (sans the broken one of two bolt-up points on the tranny torque mount), driveplate bolted to torque converter, and so on.
Then the gradual build-up process of wiring harnesses, the new radiator, the intake manifold.. which I screwed up multiple ways. (Incomplete mount, wrong gasket needed '99-'00 specific unique one.. Third time was a charm.) Fuel rail and pressure regulator and injectors, air intake and coolant hoses, throttle cable. Finally got everything in place, refilled the engine oil and ATF, then fired it up and let the various disassembly/assembly solvents burn off the engine.
The tranny had a broken mount point for the front torque mount, but was otherwise clean looking. Naturally, I hauled it home in the back of my hatchback civic, and dived into mounting it on the engine, a tricky one-man job when done using a single floor jack. I wound up sliding the replacement transmission under the elevated engine bay, and then rocking it forward and backwards, inserting 2x6 or 2x4 boards each time until I could fit the jack under it, and then continued the process using the jack and still more boards until I could start bolting on mounts. It was a pain and a half keeping the torque converter from sliding off... But I got it up, mounted fully (sans the broken one of two bolt-up points on the tranny torque mount), driveplate bolted to torque converter, and so on.
Then the gradual build-up process of wiring harnesses, the new radiator, the intake manifold.. which I screwed up multiple ways. (Incomplete mount, wrong gasket needed '99-'00 specific unique one.. Third time was a charm.) Fuel rail and pressure regulator and injectors, air intake and coolant hoses, throttle cable. Finally got everything in place, refilled the engine oil and ATF, then fired it up and let the various disassembly/assembly solvents burn off the engine.
Taking it for a test drive, it was clear this tranny had no problem locking up 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears, but there was still very poor power and it was hard to hit more than 20 mph going uphill. Throttle past 20% didn't add power, only intake noise. Flooring it in neutral, the RPMs crept slowly up, cresting around 4500. I checked some usual stuff-- distributor cap and rotor, spark plugs and gaps, timing belt / TDC marks, even ran some seafoam thru. The compression check read 120-120-120-125 (sounds low, but I think being at 8700ft has a lot to do with it-- every compression check on every car seems low up here. Main thing was, they were consistent from one cylinder to another) No biscuit, I kept searching for the problem.
This led to another two days of diagnosing various vacuum leaks (see above intake manifold commentary), a bad primary HO2S, and ultimately a badly clogged catalytic converter that was probably a lot of what the previous owner believed was wrong. Holding it up to the sun and peering through, easily over 95% of the grid ports inside were opaque to light. Instead of pulsed exhaust out the tailpipe on idle, it slowly wafted very hot gas. I removed the cat and test ran the car, obviously it was loud, but full power.
Unexpectedly, I was able to 'fix' the cat by removing it and blowing 150 PSI air through it backwards, causing billowing grey dust to fly out. I continued this until no more grey powder came free. Now, maybe only 15% of the grids are opaque and the car runs happily. Rear O2 seems OK; the catalyst in the converter still appears to be whole and functional (knock on wood).
This led to another two days of diagnosing various vacuum leaks (see above intake manifold commentary), a bad primary HO2S, and ultimately a badly clogged catalytic converter that was probably a lot of what the previous owner believed was wrong. Holding it up to the sun and peering through, easily over 95% of the grid ports inside were opaque to light. Instead of pulsed exhaust out the tailpipe on idle, it slowly wafted very hot gas. I removed the cat and test ran the car, obviously it was loud, but full power.
Unexpectedly, I was able to 'fix' the cat by removing it and blowing 150 PSI air through it backwards, causing billowing grey dust to fly out. I continued this until no more grey powder came free. Now, maybe only 15% of the grids are opaque and the car runs happily. Rear O2 seems OK; the catalyst in the converter still appears to be whole and functional (knock on wood).
I did some other stuff, I almost forgot to mention, like replacing the lower ball joints with a ball joint press rented from a local O'Reilly Auto Parts. New radiator, new HO2S, new intake and exhaust gaskets, and so on. I checked the valve lashings, only two of sixteen seemed to really require adjustment. Putting the car back together, I allowed myself to become distracted, forgot to remove the breaker bar and 17mm socket on the main pulley bolt, and cranked the starter. The 17mm socket shattered, but not before the breaker bar left a nasty inverse dent on the front left fender behind the headlight that also popped off some paint). See, this is why I can't have nice things.
Still, overall, I'm reasonably pleased with the progress. With a much younger (80K fewer miles) transmission and a sound engine, this car should be poised to give someone years of reliable service. I may go out and register the car in Clear Creek County / Georgetown this week in anticipation of listing/showing it via craigslist soon. There are still a few things I intend to do before passing it on to the next owner, including a timing belt / water pump / tensioner replacement, fix the air conditioning, as well as some interior/exterior detailing (and doing what I can about that 4" long inverse scrape). I'm still on the fence about the badly-needed tire replacement. I may list it at a lower price and only do the tires if it seems necessary to sell it (and roll that into the selling cost).
I don't have many photos of the work, above; my hands were constantly too filthy or my cell phone battery too dead to even get snapshots. I'll try to photodocument the end results soon, though.
Still, overall, I'm reasonably pleased with the progress. With a much younger (80K fewer miles) transmission and a sound engine, this car should be poised to give someone years of reliable service. I may go out and register the car in Clear Creek County / Georgetown this week in anticipation of listing/showing it via craigslist soon. There are still a few things I intend to do before passing it on to the next owner, including a timing belt / water pump / tensioner replacement, fix the air conditioning, as well as some interior/exterior detailing (and doing what I can about that 4" long inverse scrape). I'm still on the fence about the badly-needed tire replacement. I may list it at a lower price and only do the tires if it seems necessary to sell it (and roll that into the selling cost).
I don't have many photos of the work, above; my hands were constantly too filthy or my cell phone battery too dead to even get snapshots. I'll try to photodocument the end results soon, though.
Disappointing news on the Civic EX. On Monday, I was feeling pretty good about the way it was running. Sunday afternoon and evening, I had driving it up and down the dirt roads of my subdivision; the transplanted tranny was working as well as could be expected of any automatic (no love there, heh), and with the exhaust-side aspiration issues sorted out, it was breathing well and had very good power across the RPM range, night and day from before.
I decided to go ahead and head out to Georgetown and visit the Clear Creek County clerk/recorder's office. I hit USAA's web site and added the EX to my insurance policy, printed the proof of insurance, and hit the road. I made the trip in my SAAB, which was fortuitous for reasons we shall get to shortly. While at the county courthouse and administrative center, I executed the formal CO title transfer and got temp tags so that I could drive the car around and show it once it was listed for sale, which I planned to do just as soon as CO mailed me the updated title.
Returning home, I decided to get started on bringing the Civic EX's air conditioning back into order. I figured since it'd be legal to take it on the streets now, I'd take it to the local O'Reilly Auto Parts, where I planned to buy some R-134a refrigerant and then return home. Driving it the eight miles to the store, no problems, not even a hint of a problem, I was feeling pretty good about the way it was running. Arriving at the plaza with the store, I pulled in, and then made a hard right to entire the aisle of parking spots in front of the auto parts store. As I hit full lock on the right-hand turn, the engine just cut from idle to stopped like a switch was hit.
Perplexed, I put it in park and turned the key to start. It cranked HARD, like something was resisting internally. I simply could not get it to start again. In synopsis, I got a friend to give me a ride home, returned with tools in my faithful hatchback civic, and spent maybe five or six hours testing different theories. Torque converter locked up? Timing belt fail or tooth jump? Power steering pump lock? Auto tranny solenoid failure? No. No. No. No. At one point, while testing one of these theories and the starter strained to turn it over, it suddenly just... released, and was turning over at the normal starting speed. I started the car, it sounding OK, but there seemed to be a cycling knocking or perhaps a thump...
Video of this (the rattling sound is a loose catalytic converter heat shield, you can disregard that): d16y8_fail1.3gp
I decided to go ahead and head out to Georgetown and visit the Clear Creek County clerk/recorder's office. I hit USAA's web site and added the EX to my insurance policy, printed the proof of insurance, and hit the road. I made the trip in my SAAB, which was fortuitous for reasons we shall get to shortly. While at the county courthouse and administrative center, I executed the formal CO title transfer and got temp tags so that I could drive the car around and show it once it was listed for sale, which I planned to do just as soon as CO mailed me the updated title.
Returning home, I decided to get started on bringing the Civic EX's air conditioning back into order. I figured since it'd be legal to take it on the streets now, I'd take it to the local O'Reilly Auto Parts, where I planned to buy some R-134a refrigerant and then return home. Driving it the eight miles to the store, no problems, not even a hint of a problem, I was feeling pretty good about the way it was running. Arriving at the plaza with the store, I pulled in, and then made a hard right to entire the aisle of parking spots in front of the auto parts store. As I hit full lock on the right-hand turn, the engine just cut from idle to stopped like a switch was hit.
Perplexed, I put it in park and turned the key to start. It cranked HARD, like something was resisting internally. I simply could not get it to start again. In synopsis, I got a friend to give me a ride home, returned with tools in my faithful hatchback civic, and spent maybe five or six hours testing different theories. Torque converter locked up? Timing belt fail or tooth jump? Power steering pump lock? Auto tranny solenoid failure? No. No. No. No. At one point, while testing one of these theories and the starter strained to turn it over, it suddenly just... released, and was turning over at the normal starting speed. I started the car, it sounding OK, but there seemed to be a cycling knocking or perhaps a thump...
Video of this (the rattling sound is a loose catalytic converter heat shield, you can disregard that): d16y8_fail1.3gp
The sound was worrysome, the sound was new. Was it rod knock, was it something similarly troublesome? I didn't trust the car, though at that time, I was still operating under the theory that this was a failing torque converter, so I took it for a spin or two around the parking lot. It ran at full power, but then, while letting off the gas, the engine abruptly stalled again. It started again, but then stalled and was back to the hard turnover on starter and wouldn't fire up and run.
I spent a few more hours playing with things, got it to almost start once or twice, but something was simply dragging it down. I drove home in my good civic around midnight, feeling pretty demoralized. The next day after work, I hired a local tow company to drag it the 8-10 miles home for $105. I jumped back into the problem, still forcing myself to feel optimistic it'd be something simple to overcome. At this point, the engine could be started, but made a pretty awful sound. If anything, it sounded as if it came from the front of the engine, not the torque converter as I had initially thought, and so, I pulled all the accessory belts off the main pulley, hoping it was actually one of these. Firing it up sans belts:
d16y8_fail2.3gp
Pretty bad. At this point, I shut down the engine and was resigned that it was going to have to come apart before I'd know what I was truly in for. I figured, if I was 'lucky,' it'd be a seizing oil pump, but the main "big end" bearings or rod bearings were as, if not more, likely culprits.
Remember my embarrassing anecdote of the breaker bar on the crank pulley when the starter was kicked? Well, that came back to haunt me in at least one specific way. Because the D16 motor crankshaft turns counterclockwise from the front of the engine, the breaker bar and 17mm socket effectively tightened the hell out of the bolt when they stopped and the crankshaft kept turning. Naturally, by this point, I was suspecting I had landed the fatal blow in that episode, but the more immediate concern was taking the crank pulley bolt out.
I could not make it turn. Not with a 18" breaker bar. Not with a 4' cheater bar. When the socket finally did rotate, I discovered I had merely stripped the bolt. Now I have an Irwin bolt extractor set on order, but in the meantime, I went ahead and dropped the oil pan.
So that's that. I'm still not sure which bearing(s) are gone, but there's a generous quantity of metal to be found in there. So much for a quick sale of this car, at the very least, this is looking like a partial bottom-end rebuild, now. I still hope I can get out of it with some new bearings, but for all I know, the crankshaft is bent...
I spent a few more hours playing with things, got it to almost start once or twice, but something was simply dragging it down. I drove home in my good civic around midnight, feeling pretty demoralized. The next day after work, I hired a local tow company to drag it the 8-10 miles home for $105. I jumped back into the problem, still forcing myself to feel optimistic it'd be something simple to overcome. At this point, the engine could be started, but made a pretty awful sound. If anything, it sounded as if it came from the front of the engine, not the torque converter as I had initially thought, and so, I pulled all the accessory belts off the main pulley, hoping it was actually one of these. Firing it up sans belts:
d16y8_fail2.3gp
Pretty bad. At this point, I shut down the engine and was resigned that it was going to have to come apart before I'd know what I was truly in for. I figured, if I was 'lucky,' it'd be a seizing oil pump, but the main "big end" bearings or rod bearings were as, if not more, likely culprits.
Remember my embarrassing anecdote of the breaker bar on the crank pulley when the starter was kicked? Well, that came back to haunt me in at least one specific way. Because the D16 motor crankshaft turns counterclockwise from the front of the engine, the breaker bar and 17mm socket effectively tightened the hell out of the bolt when they stopped and the crankshaft kept turning. Naturally, by this point, I was suspecting I had landed the fatal blow in that episode, but the more immediate concern was taking the crank pulley bolt out.
I could not make it turn. Not with a 18" breaker bar. Not with a 4' cheater bar. When the socket finally did rotate, I discovered I had merely stripped the bolt. Now I have an Irwin bolt extractor set on order, but in the meantime, I went ahead and dropped the oil pan.
So that's that. I'm still not sure which bearing(s) are gone, but there's a generous quantity of metal to be found in there. So much for a quick sale of this car, at the very least, this is looking like a partial bottom-end rebuild, now. I still hope I can get out of it with some new bearings, but for all I know, the crankshaft is bent...
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