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UPDATE: Belt looks good?
With 5 cars in the fleet, I finally got around to having an actual quick look at my GSR’s Timing belt (from the top) when swapping valve cover gaskets. Did so just before putting her back on the road last week (post clutch kit install) 🙂 I have owned the car since 2013, only put about 25,000km on it (15,000 miles) in that time and was very pleased to see everything has lasted well. I didn’t really have a history of the car or when the belt was done last, but took it into the Acura dealer to have it inspected shorty after buying. (Didn’t ask for a belt check, just to have any issues found and fixed – Then lets just say bad experiences there brought me here to ETCG 😉 )
Have a look at the pics of the valve train and cover – SOOO clean! 🙂 And lucky for me, the belt maker stamp was in the viewable area (its a Honda BELT! 126RU26 model i think) as well as the “Top” indicators of the Cam gears were visible too and pointing in the same direction (meaning no slippage.) Belt seemed very snug and did not look dry cracked or worn. All to say it MUST have been swapped at least once with OEM. That can’t be a 200,000 KM old belt right?
Anyway, have a look and let me know if you see any gotchas. How old do you think that belt looks? Safe for another 10,000Km or more you think?
***UPDATE!
FINALLY got around to doing the clutch in this car which also gave me a great chance to look at all the oil leaks I’d been having. The inner Bell housing was DISGUSTING with clutch dust and oil. I spent 7 or 8 hours cleaning it out before reinstalling. (Staying dirty made easy! LOL) That oil mud was probably also a factor which exacerbated my clutch failing 🙁
Good news is the rear main seal is bone dry, all the oil was coming from above. Also Looks like other gaskets on the engine were failing (and perhaps not the head gasket at all). After looking it over, it could be the gaskets above it (Cam/valve cover gaskets , cam seals, and VTEC solenoid and maybe more?)
Been a few years since the Starter issue so I did the same “clean” repair to it as before. Should be good to go again! (NOTE: it never failed as bad as before again – but it was a tad dirty though)
Advice: If anyone else starts seeing oil seepage on your honda, don’t leave it for as long as my dumb ass did!!!
Thanks for the advice. I’ll be doing the swap myself and yes sounds like OEM in this case is worth it. Considering these are interference engines (and the VTEC has such a high RPM range) I don’t want to chance a lower cost part if like you say it won’t match up the same. (which is different than a part that works but wears out a bit sooner- I mean a belt not being the same length! OUCH!)
Guess I’ll call the dealer back guys! This makes sense.
I think the flywheel should be in good shape. The clutch isn’t chattering and was only starting to slip when warm (drove great when cool). Car still drives I just didn;t want to push it.
I might have the flywheel checked at a machine shope when I get it out. Car is about to put away for the “long winter nap” If it needs to be swapped I agree, it would be good to go with the same manufacturer.
So just to clarify, was the ground indeed the issue? It does sound strange to me, since the problem you have (had?), sounds very similar to one my Dad had, and during my feverish checks on the web, a bad ground was never mentioned as a cause.
For the heck of it though OP, I do have access to every TSB for these GM cars here so I can check into this more if you are still having the issue. Just putting that out there!
Just went through this last spring with a 1990 cutlass with only 30k original miles! Saw same symptoms, stalling after running. swapped cranks sensors and everything. What the culprit was? Worn fuel injectors. Free cheap test: Pull each of them and test for resistance with a multi meter. We had 2 of them giving infinite readings! All injectors should have the same reading. If they can’t get the signal to fire, car no run. And it seems the resistance got worse when the engine would heat up.
Check this video out from youtube for how to check the resistance – Readings should be 12-16 olms. Any less or more, try swapping. Here in Canada, they actually have a returnable core on them :). To see how to test, see the video below at about minute 2:20
It was my dads car and we spent 3 days sorting this out, throwing sensor parts at it. When we put 2 new injectors in for the bad ones he drove it cross country after that. It works great.
Also, did you check to see if any obd1 codes were present? Just need a jumper wire to read them. In our case there were no codes which made it all the worse for troubleshooting.
Hope this helps. Good luck! 🙂
UPDATE:
* last night I charged the battery on the 2AMPS setting for 24 hours and was getting 13 Volts on it tonight:).
* I disconnected and checked the leads on the alt again, they are all good.
* I re tightened the belt and its in good shape. (its a new belt)
* I put the battery and in and she fired right up fine.
* I got out of the car to watch/ smell for smoke and nothing came. 🙂
* The Alternator was cool to the touch after running it for about 5 minutes.
* The Voltage on the battery was about 14.5V 🙂 while running
* In all, I’m going to keep a close eye on my battery and Alt over the next week or so and test voltages often. Hopefully the “cooking” last night didn’t do permanent damage.
* Other sites mentioned that when your car dies from ALT failure, your battery has been depleted badly as the car has been working from battery only for quite some time. It said You should always test and charge the battery on a charger and then swap the Alt. OR the new alt will “kill itself” trying to charge the battery. It “makes sense” but as Evil-i, and nightflyr said above, jumping a battery from dead never caused the Alt to act like that before. SO strange! I won’t argue with results, but still. There must be something magic about electrical stuff that I just don’t get:-D
Thanks for your reply. I am far from a pro but never had this issue. I was thinking, even though there was 11 or so volts on the battery, there might not be much amps in there left. Hence the brand new alt started life “given-er all shes got captain!” and it was overloaded trying to catch up.
I have taken the battery out and placed it on my trickle (2AMP) charger for the night. Its almost charged now and when it is I’ll check the amperage to see how it compares to the rating. I’m also going to recheck the alt belt in case its too tight.
I guess I could have been abusing alternators all my life with my methods and did not know. Just hope the charging system is not messed up because of this. 🙁 If this should turn out not to be the cause, any other thoughts where this could be coming from?UPDATE 2:
Finally saw a dry day to tackle this today. B)
I replaced the fuel filter. Thank god I bought some extra hose too. I thought I was a quite a smarty pants :blush: and used vice grips to clamp off the rubber hose on both sides of the filter. Well once I got the the new filter in, I must have put a hole in the hose where it was gripped and it started dripping gas when I started it up! 🙁 . (totally used the 3 or 4 pump cycles to prime it College man! 🙂 )
Replaced the hose and clamps and checked for leaks (TWICE 😉 ) and it starts a little better. Seems quieter too! I also found less noise from the fuel pump “prime” so I would certainly say its totally worth the 20 bucks!
Thing is, it still starts and runs rougher than I would think is normal. :unsure:
Also on the list today was to replace the spark plugs and got 3 of the 4 done. They were are all in there so tight! GRRR. I found having the engine a bit warm helped so I’ll tackle the 4th another day. (was getting dark) I found putting them back in I also needed to torque them hard. Its a bad design (they go in on an angle). I sure miss my Honda’s style! 😛
Anyway. Again, the car works a bit better and I’ll know more after a few days I figure. I haven’t put a lot of money into parts so its been worth trying to fix this so far. . Thing is , I have to wonder, do you think this idle issue will have a “silver bullet” that will fix it in 1 repair? Or is it (normally) a bunch of little things that 1 by 1, that once you get them sorted, its then better? Just want to make sure I cut my losses (and my patience) before I waste my time on this $500 rig. Its my DD and works fine. Just hate the “paint shaker” treatment I get at stop lights :angry:
UPDATE:
Finally got under the car on Sunday to have a look. I was glad to see that its not the original 27 year old fuel filter :P. Looks like an easy swap since the hoses going in and out are rubber :cheer: Only thing I did not like is they used the worm gear type clamps which i hear are not as effective. I’ll replace the hose and get the proper clamps.
As for an air leak, I indeed found one after all. There is a valve cover to intake hose that had a crack. Its a special fit and in a tight area. A stright rubber air hose gets kinked so I need to locate a solid elbow at a plumbing store and that should work fine.
As for Air intake, well gosh! UGLY!. There was a flex pipe leak that got beyond tolerable so I cut it out and replaced with a jobber piece last month. But now I realized the intake must have been sucking up all that exhaust for a few months! :blink: The air filter was BLACK! So I swapped that and cleaned the intake, MAF and the intake hose. Then cleaned out the throttle body. WOW instant HP! 😉
Then I ran the gas tank treatment in and it does seem to help a bit so indeed I should look at doing the filter since it will be a easy job. Only trouble is I figure I’ll need to “burp” the fuel system when its finished. I went peaking around already for a banjo fitting somewhere before the fuel rail but couldn’t see one. Saw a rubber hose leading up to it though so maybe I can do it from there?
Anyho, Its almost full on Northwest rainy season so I’ll be waiting for a dry day to check it out. Stay tuned.
Well I am now thinking fuel could be the issue.
I found a rough Factory manual online for the car (message me and I can e-mail it to you) and I see the fuel filter is up under the car (near the frame). I’ll have to jack to get at it.
Before I start there, I decided to try
1) check and clean air intake (have some MAF cleaner)
2) Shucks, might as well do the air filter since I am in there.
3) Then I bought some fuel line cleaner to see if that helps. Thing is I doubt this will fix the issue, but I do want to truly nail down the system that could be at fault. If the gas additive cleaner helps even a bit, I can then suspect fuel and keep troubleshooting. I am fearful of what those gas lines would be like to get off.!I parked the car at the my local parts dealer and when I came out (20min and 20 bucks later) I actually had a hard time to start the car. It was parked on a slight hill facing down. I cranked twice and no dice. I had to push the throttle pedal (about half way) and crank to get it going actually! Car has 1/2 tank of gas! So this says to me it is starving for fuel.
Stay tuned, I’m off for the weekend and I’ll update soon. tomorrow or Sunday.
Thanks College Man!
I do notice a longer than normal “whine??” of the fuel pump at start up. Never even thought this could be fuel related 😉
Great video Eric (as always)
Will overbuilding make it awesomer? YES. I love seeing and hearing about someone who had lots of forethought into building something beyond the “it looks better” or “an advertisement says it gives X more horsepower”. Just seeing a well thought out plan, and its even better when you see one that shows after thoughts of “if it breaks” or something that makes it easier to service in the future.
And I loved the phrase “How fast do you want to spend”. MY 1970 C10 is a great example to this. The answer is 5 to 10 years but maintain it as a DD as much as possible. I need that time to get better at the craft and time to plan what I want to do. Meaning with the easy stuff my rule is “do no harm to the future”. For example, the truck came with the switch for the defroster fan broken off. I checked around to find that I’d need to buy the whole $250 console for just one plastic lever 🙁 And in that same mind, fixing the one I had doesn’t have a ETCG video yet 😆 and if I can’ t find another one when money becomes no issue again, well, I need to do something else.
I ended up making my own work around. I bought a small spool of 16Ga wire, an inline fuse, and a Hi/LOW/OFF switch from the parts store, all for about $40. I ran a wire from the positive battery post, to the inline fuse, to the positive terminal on the blower motor, then ran a line through an existing hole in the firewall, then mounted the new switch in an exiting hole near the old lever. and then ran to a ground. Voila. I have a blower. The workaround is safe, the inline fuse will ensure the motor’s safety (I’m using a 4A fuse as was stated in the fuse box), and I didn’t hurt any of these hard to find parts if they turn into repairs and not replaces. When the money tree arrives, I can remove all of this and no one will know the wiser.
Love ETCG1 Eric and keep up the great work on Oliver 🙂
Thanks as always Collegeman:)
I watched Eric’s video start to finish now (once anyway) and REALLY liked his in depth descriptions. In Eric’s video he didn’t drop the Exhaust, in your link for a Gen 3 they do. I have to wonder was it 100% necessary? Was really that much in the way? The pic just looks like it was done to make it a bit easier. See this pic in particular.
I think that I can drop my pipe if need be for my car (which is also gen 3), but its not an easy deal I doubt and I only want to do it if its necessary.
I am so glad you like this and it might make it to ETCG1 Eric. I think with your integrity and reputation for being an honest technician, your take will speak as a true and unbiased authority that can’t be denied. I am confident saying this about you, since time and again, in your videos, when you something that’s not needed, you say so. When you see an easier way that might not be the “by the book” method, you give your experience of why you do it the easier/ cheaper way. In all, you have never serviced one my vehicles in person, but many of your methods have been seen by my fleet :cheer:
I agree VrDrew. There comes a time when people really “abuse” the right to drive a car past its safety and design. My guess is the reason Safety Inspections are not done in some areas (my area included) is the general response ” Well that is what insurance is for isn’t it? The individual is responsible for making sure the car is safe and if it fails, the insurance is there to cover me.” My take on that is from my Dad (long time DIY) and my Brother (long time Technician) is that fines are always cheaper than lost lives. Basically all cars have to be seen, steer and stop. “If you want the go, you gotta have the whoa!. I am glad your friend is at least a little safer in the newer car.
Since I started this thread I guess I will throw out my answers to the questions
1) Are inspections required where I live now? – NO
2) and 3) Do I think they are needed? How Often? – Undecided yet…some things should just be a given for honest people but sadly are not 🙁
4) Cash Grab or Legit?? Depends on what they are inspecting
5) What vehicle parts/ systems should be required to be inspected :
Here is what a yearly inspection used to be like where I came from:
– The rule of thumb the technician used is “will all safety items on this car last for the next 20,000KM / 12000 Mi. (general amount of milage)
– the items that were inspected were: tires, glass, brakes, steering, suspension, body; exhaust, lights, wipers, horn
Tires – needed to be god tread, usually at least 50% tread
Glass – needs to be intact for all windows, no cracks allowed for unibody construction cars. (full cracks from edge to edge not in the wiper path was acceptable on full frame cars)
Brakes – no leaks or seepage allowed, must be within spec to last the year
Steering – leaks in the rack were allowed. broken parts were not
Suspension – pretty much no “orange dust” allowed 😉 Torn CV boots would be OK but worn ball joints, tierods, broken springs, control arms, swaybar links would need to be fixed
Body – no holes allowed on anything including floor, roof, door or external parts. This was generally the thing that many cars were laid to rest for. RUST. The idea here is, since snowbanks were a thing, no holes means no exhaust fumes can get into the car if you got stuck. No rough sharp edges a child could mistakenly cut themselves on walking past.
Exhaust – no holes. If your car came with it, it needs to still have it and sealed (Catalytic Converters turned straight pipes were not allowed)
lights – all lights need to work – all signals, tail lights, side markers, backup lights, license plate light, and headlamps must have both high and low. .. to this day I won’t drive a car far with one of these not working. I believe they are one the biggest safety items there are!
Wipers – must be on good shape and clear the windows. Rear wiper was not a requirement if it stopped working.
Horn – you gotta have one to be heard
(I think I am missing some but you get the idea)
[i]Things Not checked[/i ]: were Engine trouble codes, Emissions, minor leaks, again…it was just safety. And to this day, any car in Canada that passes that inspection can be registered there. Never saw many exotics/ or high end luxury cars there but I think Out of Country cars just needed to be checked if they met Canadian Safety standards for our roads.
6) Anything you would Add, change or Remove from the inspection list:
In my opinion – I like to drive a car that has all of those things intact. But things I feel are not as essential
– Cracks in the windshield (if out of drivers view) i think are OK.
– A small exhaust leak in the muffler or tail pipe. As long as its not super loud, its no big deal.
– Using bondo / fiberglass to fill body holes on an old car. Very best. Some mechanics would not pass the safety for Fiberglass on unibody cars, saying they needed to be welded (structural integrity). Again..a fender or wheel well, who cares..
– No high beams ..meh in the city you don;t need them that often.
– Tires – as long as they are wearing even and not bald, showing belts…get allt he life you can…That said, I agree 100% with Eric on tires. MY god, drive a new set of tires and you drive a new car!***
Regulations/ Conditions for my area if you are interested –
– Cars that have lived in Vancouver all their life don’t have much rust at all. No salt. MY 96 GSR has no rust at all and was driven as my DD all last winter.
– Here in BC Canada, up until January 1st 2015, cars needed emissions testing but not safety inspected. Now there are no requirements at all. The got rid of the emissions tests since most all cars passed the test since the standards are so good. What I liked about the method it was delivered in was every car model and year had a threshold it had to be within. If it failed emissions, there was a dollar amount limit that you only had to spend to have the issue fixed and they gave you 3 months to have it fixed. The older the car the cheaper it got. Meaning if you had an old 1989 Civic, it might mean a $300 max to bring it into compliance. If it could not be fixed after $300 by a mechanic it would be given a conditional pass.
In all, I can’t wait to see this topic come out someday and to hear everyone else’s take on it. My GSR is safe and up to date but the truck still needs some attention to body work. Its sealed but not as good as I would prefer. Truthfully, I would love to buy a southern US/ Mexico car with no rust and bring it up here but that’s a pipe dream. I’d love something older that just needs paint and grease and gasoline, and a good shining. :cheer:
