Butt-kicked by a CIVIC!!!

[DrEntropy]

I "volunteer'd" to change out the cam belt on friends' Civic last weekend. "Ol' Blue". Ordinarily this is a no-brainer job, heck it's only got ONE bump-stick, right? A couple hours' work and it's beer-thirty! Did it to this car at 120K miles, now another 60K has amassed. Had water pump and new belt on-hand, all ready to go. Could NOT get the crank pulley bolt to budge. All my tools are fifty miles south so had to beg use of a "windy" (pneumatic impact gun) from friends. All apart/together again and it wouldn't start... first thing to mind is: "Okay, moron, what'd ya do to it?!"

Back on the jack stands, pulley, belts, gizmos and shrouds back off... hmmm... looks to be spot-on. Good tension on the belt, marks all line up, reassemble! No go. Do it all AGAIN, 'cause I just ~know~ it's my fault... So much for Saturday. :madder:

I let it sit and consider it's transgressions overnight. Sunday AM, and STILL no vroom... check for fuel pressure... but I just KNOW it's somethin' stupid that ~I~ did... good pressure at the injectors. Hrumpf. Put a plug from my extensive "collection" of odd, old ones in the #1 wire and have 'smits spin it up. OUCH!!! *GREAT* spark. :shocked:

But th' plug holes/wells have oil in 'em. Mop that out, pull th' plugs. EEWWWW!!!! 60K+ miles. Gap enlarged to 0.070+"!!! No wonder it didn't light. BAH! Off to a local parts monger and crank in a new set of igniters, still NO joy. Sheesh! This is gettin' SILLY.

Off with its dizzy cap. ugh. Heavy material transference on the 'trodes. Scrape, grind, clean that and put it back.

VROOM!!!

HUH?!?! It ran IN here, it ran FINE.

Serves me right, I TOUCHED it. One whole day doin' the drill of multiple disassemble & reassemble, another half a day spent scratchin' me pate over somethin' I was convinced I'd done wrong and it ends up bein' another issue entirely.

Second guessing myself. Baaad Juju. But I bet I can R&R a cam belt in a Civic now usin' th' Braille method, in well under two hours :laugh:

 

[AweMan]

Been there done all O that N more! I don`t have the nick AweMan for nuttin! Hence AweeeeeeeeeeeeMannnnnnnnnnnn why me?

 

[14dna]

Doc;
I worked on Hondas for 25 years here in Canuckville. I've seen the old no start too many times.
Just a word to the wise, check the coil. If you pull the coil out, there is a steel shroud around it. Pull it off and check for a large gray spot. This means the coil is burning through and will cause an intermittent no start.
Boy can it be aggravating, don't ask how I know!
Hope this is of some help to you.

Dave

 

[Banjo]

Never fails, ya replace the rubber band on one end, an meanwhile the gremlins are holdin court on the other side.
I got a Mazda I'd like to push off a cliff right now. 01 626. everything I touch causes multiple other unrelated issues. doing a fuel injection service has now through a cascade of events resulted in a check engine light for an IAC problem and the A/C to quit working a few days later (Both could be the fault of a bad PCM, or more likley a ground I disturbed)
GYAAAH!
This is one of those "if I told ya the whole story you wouldent believe it" cars. between the owner, and the car itsself.

 

[DrEntropy]

Yeah, Dave, I've been thru the coil issue in the past. And the control module too... Now I have a spare module here for the NEXT one. This was a straight-forward issue with plugs and cap. I'd not started it for a week, it's humid enough here ya can just about swim in air... all added up to a problem I couldn't see for th' TREES. :shocked:

Why they decided stuffing all that into the dizzy is well beyond my ability to logic it out.

Benny, I know th' feeling. Some of the old EuroTrash I've rescued would qualify for epic story material.

 

[RonMacPherson]

Oh you mean it wasn't the thermostat ground.. Seen a number of them loosen in high humidity environments.

 

[DrEntropy]

These "new" things have more eel-ectronics aboard than the Apollo spacecraft did. All just to get th' groceries. feh.
There's gonna be a reckoning.

 

[Nunyas]

an youin's though it was bad to let the smoke out of yer LBC wires.... Jus wait til you let the smoke outa some unseen bit under the dash on one of these new fangled deals!

 

[DrEntropy]

It's actually refreshing that you've deigned to post here again, bub.

"DEATH to all ECM's!!!"

...'cept YOURS, Rob. :smirk:

 

[Nunyas]

hmmm... I'll just deploy the ECCM to counter the ECM

 

[Banjo]

These "new" things have more eel-ectronics aboard than the Apollo spacecraft did. All just to get th' groceries. feh.
There's gonna be a reckoning.

Back at Toyota now... I just took the New Model technical preview test for the 2010 third generation Prius. You would NOT believe some of the stuff this thing does/has! Remote A/C, lane keep assist, it will self park, parrallel or perpendicular! EEE Gads! these are gonna be a nightmare when grandma buys one and tries to figure out how to use all this stuff. not to mention when they get older and rack up the miles.....
the entire electrical system is on a CAN/ BEAN system one ECM is the hub for the other 30 or so ECMs. These things are literally a rolling computer. And I find them absolutly facinating. I can't wait to be able to really get into some of them.

 

[DrEntropy]

When they incorporate flight and stealth capability, I'll consider one. :smirk:

 

[TRDejaVu]

I guess that's why we like our LBCs, as they have to be driven without any artificial assistance.

 

[Banjo]

I guess that's why we like our LBCs, as they have to be driven without any artificial assistance.

Unless, of course, you have a prosthetic limb.