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Not entirely sure what you are recommending I do – when adjusting the valves, I adjusted clearances – you don’t touch timing. I changed the timing belt, etc. about 40k miles ago, so I am pretty sure timing is fine.
For now, the van appears to be running fine. I didn’t get a chance to try the water as a top end cleaner yet – I have run two half-tanks with a large container of techron in each, and am now running a half tank with BG12 in it. I did pull the three large connectors going to the PCM and cleaned them thoroughly using electrical contact cleaner, as well as the three plugs on the PCM. Maybe there was debris in one of the connectors giving me an intermittent contact, maybe the injectors were fouled (lots of crud in the nozzle plates I had to clean off), or maybe one of the intake valves was sticking due to carbon fouling on the valve stem (I was thinking the latter, since the #4 intake runner was so clean when compared to the others – my thought being a sticking intake valve might allow some of the fuel to be pushed back into the intake runner before it closes, which would tend to clean it up). I think the electrical parts (injectors, coil packs, and plugs) are all fine given that shuffling them around didn’t make a difference, and the mechanical seems sound (to the limits that I can test it) based upon the valve clearances being correct, and the compression test being solid, and very uniform cylinder to cylinder.
One thing I have also heard, but never seen explained one way or another, is that the spacers can be hard on the wheel bearings – I guess the thought is that it’s pushing the wheel away from the bearing and changing how it loads the bearing. Pretty hard to envision a small spacer causing enough of a difference to matter, though!
The spacers I worry about are the ones like you showed a picture of which bolt to the hub, then offer their own studs – those are usually larger, and done as an inexpensive way to change the bolt circle (to go from 5×100 to 5×114, for example).
I actually haven’t come across anything where there has been a documented failure due to a correctly applied spacer. I’d also be inclined to listen to the folks who designed the suspension – they should be pretty well aware of what is, and what is not, ok – and if they are saying “no problem” then I am sure they are just fine!
There’s definitely a schrader valve, and I have not removed it. The spec from honda is 120psi min, no more than 29psi difference between cylinders – I am reading closer to 200psi (forgot to hold the throttle open, so maybe a little more than that) with under 10psi between high and low.
I’m intrigued by the water method – I think there’s a video that Eric did here, but I haven’t found/watched it yet
Did a compression test this morning (warmed the van up, pulled the fuel pump fuse, removed all the plugs, then went around, doing 5 cycles per cylinder – checked all 6 multiple times) – compression was nominally identical cylinder to cylinder (about a 4% difference between the highest and lowest)
All of the plugs appear identical – no deposits/ash/oil.
And of course, the van is running beautifully this morning… idle is smooth, no misfires, etc. I just don’t get it.
I am leaning towards maybe the cylinders are carboned up, and for whatever reason, cylinder 4 is particularly bad… considering running a top end cleaner and seeing if that helps.
I don’t have a leak down gauge, so I can’t do that, but the cylinders did seem to hold pressure after each time I checked compression.
I find youtube videos to be very helpful – in particular when I am tackling something I haven’t done before, on a vehicle I am not familiar with, etc. – they give me insight into what I am going to be looking at when I get in there, how things come apart, etc. before I get into the repair. Service manuals are great, but they don’t have info on what to look out for/be careful of when doing a repair. Sometimes, the videos provide helpful tips to simplify a repair – or in some cases, to confirm to myself that maybe something is a bigger task than I want to undertake in my garage given whatever constraints I might have on time, tools, etc.
I don’t like the quick-fix/shortcut videos that you see a lot of on youtube – the ones that gloss over details, etc. – I think those just get folks into trouble because they can be misleading, and result in someone getting in over their head on a repair.
One of the things that really drew me to your videos was the completeness and attention to detail – seeing what might be a struggle, and what is straightforward as you do the work.
It really depends on the vehicle, I would say. Dealerships absolutely can get a new gauge cluster programmed and there are a number of independent/specialty shops that can as well (e.g., http://odo-pro.com) – have you hit up a local Ural dealership to see what they can do or have done?
not a Canadian, but I believe RockAuto ships across the border – they have a dropdown menu for which currency costs are displayed in, etc.
There are always lots of things you can do to your website, but if youtube is your meal ticket, so to speak, that’s where you need to start. I watch pretty much all the videos as they pop up on your site, and while I certainly prefer repair vids, that doesn’t keep me from watching all of them. I like to see how folks do things – it helps me come up with options when I am in a bind.
I think to address the Youtube views decline, you need to look at what the typical gearhead youtuber is looking for – and those are going to be repair vids and modification vids on Honda Civics, Acura Integras, Subaru WRX, etc. – basically, the fast little cars most younger folks can get their hands on, and want to make better. Older imports that folks pick up that are in need of basic repair, etc. – those are what the younger folks are probably really going for. The folks whom are into restoring an old muscle car (or transforming an older car into one) are few and far between, unfortunately.
So maybe it comes down to whether you want to focus on the things you love, or de-emphasize your favorite thing a little bit, and do what folks are looking for – the sort of things that got you to the position you are in today! I hear you say that you have a year of fairmont vids in the queue and I just cringe – I fear that’s going to really hurt your Youtube stuff. I would recommend mixing it up a bit – maybe do a fairmont vid mid-week and a traditional repair vid on Friday or something like that.
Either way, I’ll watch all of them, but on youtube, I think the plan of doing primarily Fairmont vids for a year is going to hurt, though.
Bummer. Too bad the links to the original post don’t disappear after a few months or something like that… the original poster could always go to their “My ETCG” tab and see a table with all of their posts to find them…
Thanks for the heads up about the blue arrows – will make it much faster to skim through the forum!
I’d stay away from heat, I think – too easy to damage the aluminum housing (while you can heat bolts up so that they are bright red to yellow without much trouble, aluminum is pretty much a liquid at that point…)
Odds are the threads are galled from being overtightened, in which case it may be difficult to get the bolt out with the threads intact (galling can also negate the usefulness of a penetrating oil – the two materials have essentially cold welded together) – you might be stuck using a helicoil or similar after getting the bolt out (thankfully it’s the fill hole. Hopefully you didn’t drain the differential before getting the fill plug off…
I would say the impact is your best option, but an electric probably isn’t going to cut it – you need a good air-driven tool to get it out.
make sure all the maintenance is up to date, and everything is in good shape – it’s hard to say what else to do without knowing the condition of the car – is anything acting up? is it an auto or a manual? if you are doing it in the summer, cleaning and refilling the coolant system as you have is a good idea. I’d also have someone look over the A/C system and check for leaking o-rings, etc. and get those addressed (assuming you’ll be wanting A/C) – I would be reluctant to do anything major just before heading out – make sure you drive around a bit before heading on your road trip to make sure anything that was changed is in good shape. When you did the pads/rotors, you probably flushed and replaced the brake fluid – if not, definitely do that. Make sure you bring tools and extra fluids along with you as you drive. If the car is in good shape, a long road trip on the highway should not be a problem.
can you fish them out? it looks like pieces of a gasket or something like that. Stop-leak usually works by plugging a hole (so as the coolant is pushed out of the hole, it builds up and forms a “patch” of goo over the hole to seal it. It won’t generally form large chunks in your system.
If they are all just loose pieces in the radiator, I would be tempted to remove it from the car, flip it over and try and flush it out (maybe block the upper radiator hose attachment and fill from the bottom, then pull the upper radiator hose and/or cap and see if the pieces come out as the water rushes out) – it doesn’t look like too much of an obstruction, but getting it out of there is probably better than leaving it in
I ended up getting one of the connectors off ebay (auction number 252794180548 – but there are lots of options selling the same part) – I released the sockets from the old connector body, snapped them into the new one, and I was good to go! The connector even came with new sockets and gaskets/seals if one of the sockets on the old plug was damaged or missing.
Sort of alarming how brittle some of the stuff under the hood has gotten!
The third gen transmission was definitely an improvement in reliability over the second generation. 05 and 06 have the same transmission, then they changed it in 2007 to a heavier duty unit (from their truck, I think). We have an 05 and it went 211k miles before needing rebuilt (clutch pack failed) – it also made a whine which was apparently the result of a bearing on the mainshaft. We got a remanufactured unit from H&A transmissions.
The eco mode does cause folks problems, but not generally with the transmission. Many seem to go ahead and disable it (we have an 05 EX, so it’s a non-VCM engine and we don’t have to worry about it) – lots of info over on http://www.odyclub.com
I really hope that means good things for Craftsman tools – quality took a very definite hit when they moved production to China. If I want tools like that, I will go to Harbor Freight (don’t knock them – while much of their stuff is hit or miss in quality, they have quite a few decent tools there – and they are priced appropriately) – it would definitely be cool if they were made in the USA once again!
I have almost all Craftsman stuff – all USA made tools, except for the odd item that has broken (extensions, for the most part) which were replaced with Chinese stuff (can’t really complain too much… the USA parts did indeed break, but the replacements don’t look very well made)