Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Yeah... that'll have to do... is there anything else on that location of the engine that could be leaking without any other symptoms?

I'm just waiting for it to cool down a bit and then i'm going to investigate further. Part of the problem is I don't know what is left over from the old leak vs. the new leak... or is the old leak fixed and this one is new? Or did we never fix the old leak. . . etc.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

There is an o-ring between the upper and lower thermostat housing that may not be sealing (or missing).
Or one of the hoses isn't clamped well (kinda doubt).
Remember I didn't like the way the left-side of the thermostat was screwing in, so it may not be seated flush because of this.
Sucks we couldn't find the right size tap to ensure the threads were OK.

Or maybe its leftover from the previous leak/drain.
Remember all that coolant in the large hose that tends to spill over if you don't stuff a rag in there?
That could have collected somewhere and just dripped down.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

No, my coolant levels are low, and it starts to drip pretty profusly when my thermostat opens.

I'm just trying to consider all possibilities before I go tearing that apart again. I'll be able to tell more when I get it torn all apart.

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Steve, before you just go tearing apart the engine agian may I make a suggestion?

Go to AutoZone and get a UV dye kit. Basically some UV dye for the cooling system, a UV flashlight, and some "special" UV glasses.

Dump the dye in the coolant, run car. The car will leak the coolant out and the dye will be in that coolant. Shine the light in the area of the leak (make sure to put glasses on so you do not injure your eyes from the UV light) and the dye will glow a flourecent color when the UV light hits it. The glasses also make it easier to see the dye when the light hits it.

Once you know exactly where the leak is coming from then you can attack the problem head on. It will cost about 2.99 for the dye, and if you want, I have a pair of the glasses and a UV light at my house that you can borrow so you don't have to buy those as well. It'll save ya a few bucks.

Lemme know, maybe I can run out to Summit or something to meet you and give you the glasses and the UV light if you want to go this route.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

I was going to ask you about that... this is how you tracked down your oil leak, correct?

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Jon for the fluid swap. The tranny is ermm...smoother...but still ermm...clunky. I'll prolly switch back to the stock shifter this week and see how it feels.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

No problem John... it was fun doing it outside in the cold at my apartment complex!
Yeah... I definitely need a garage...

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Alright, seems my car is next on the "Lets cause some problems" bandwagon. Stupid problem reared it's ugly head again.

Symptoms:

• Idles for ****, basically really shakey and kinda backfires. Just baby backfires though, nothing like when you let off the gas at a very high rpm without shifting.
  
• Can't accelerate at anything more than 1/4 throttle over 5500-6000 rpms. Basically it feels as if it hit fuel cut and just bogs and won't go. Pretty much like a misfire (read: hitting a brick wall) If I accelerate slowly I can get it over 6k.

This has happened once before, last November when the car sat for like 3 weeks before I put her into storage. At that time I got a flashing CEL (yeah, misfire) The problem fixed itself though.

I drove the car on Saturday numerous times and it didn't have a problem. Yesterday it was just moved around in the drivewway a little bit since I was working on a Civic most of the day. The two times the car was started it was brought up to full operating temp and shut down with the usual "stab throttle turn off key" method.


The car has BHR coils and new BHR wires for said coils. Wires were replaced by Charles (thanks again ) when I found one of the terminals to be broken when swapping the stock coils back on for warranty work last September.

Spark plugs are less than a year old, with MAYBE 20k on them (more like 15k). The screwed up thing is that the plugs before this were run for easily 40k plus with no problems.

Foulded plugs perhaps? The sad thing is I don't have a chance to work on it or even peer into the problem till at least Wednesday. Personally I think it's Steve's fault because he was over the house yesterday to pick some stuff up off me. He jinxed my ride.

Ideas, thoughts, opinions?

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Brian- As you know there are so many possibilities with this symptom.
If we had an AccessPORT hooked up we could review the MAF and see if it looks abnormal.
Since you don't, maybe just give it a good cleansing.
Also, check the ignition wires and make sure none of them came loose.
Verify there are no air leaks.
If you don't have the stock coils, I have 4 of them we can use to help narrow it down if needed (but I don't have wires).

Can you describe what else the car does at idle?
Do the RPMs stay around a certain range or does it bounce up and down (and if so from where to where)?

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

When you work on it Wednesday I'd swap the cat back off. . . just to rule a plugged cat out. . .

And if said cat is plugged, get new one under warranty before its too late.

I saw Jon's car yesterday too... I wonder if he's having problems? lulz

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

I didn't know Brian had his cat on... yeah, I would swap that just to rule it out.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Car still runs
Though John mentioned that you dropped the price of the transmission.
I'm REALLY starting to consider that now... my shifting is getting worse.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

I won't sell it to you... you need an engine rebuild and a turbo first.

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Jon: No fluctuations in idle rpm. Stays right around 950 the entire time. This may be hard to imagine, but basically the cars almost sputters. It definitely sounds like a bunch of little backfires though. Enough so that if I stand behind the car while it is on, it makes neat little smoke rings out of both tailpipes from the backfiring (think of a smoker making smoke rings from a cigarette) Nothing has been touched as far as lines, so I doubt there are any leaks. As I had said, the car ran perfectly on Saturday all the way through the rpm range, and then this morning it started acting up.

I have stock coils and wires at home. I know the wires are tight on the coils, but as for the plugs I'm not sure. I'll have to pop the wheel off to check the plugs connections.

Steve: The cat is not on the car right now so that is not an issue.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Weird. . . So... no cat, newer wires, newer plugs, and BHR ignition.

I dunno, maybe the air is too thick because its lowered too much.


Any other time i've read/experienced this its been ignition related, Maybe when you check the plug connections just pull them out and clean them up a bit. . . I have no idea. Nothing that would cause you to bog down at higher RPM.

Other than I whispered an ancient curse on your car. . .

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Does it sound like something caused from an inaccurate reading from either the MAF or FO2 sensor (too rich/lean)?

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Brian did you want to borrow my AP for a little bit and use it to diagnose things?

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

Jon: As far as too rich/lean, kinda sorta. If it was too rich I could rev it out (like say it was stuck in open loop or something) so I wouldn't consider that. Plus at idle the tailpipes smell normal, as in they don't smell like it is running rich or running too lean.

As far as the too lean, possibly. What it feels like is that the car literally hits a brick wall when 1/2 or more throttle is applied over 5500rpms. It honestly feels as if I hit fuel cut (hence maybe too lean becuase there is plenty of air just no fuel to mix with it) THis is only under heavy load though. Under light load I can run the entire rpm range out.

The only other thing I could possibly imagine it being is that the MAFS somehow got wet and that is what is causing this. (it's happened before in cars) The last time this happened it was raining. But to go with that, I have the sock over the air filter on the CAI, plus considering where the car was parked and how low it is I doubt water got to the filter, through the sock, and onto the MAFS. Plus I have driven in MUCH heavier rain than was is out right now and haven't had this issue before. The only reason I rule that out is that I don't have to give the car gas to keep it running, and in all other instances that I have gotten a MAFS wet, the car would want to die unless I gave it gas to keep it running.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Its possible that the MAF can get wet... you do have my old AEM intake, which I've had water issues before.
Though it did sputter real bad during heavy cornering/acceleration.

Another possibility (though maybe a stretch) could be the accelerator pedal.
There are two sensors built into it and one could be acting flaky.
Again... an AP could also monitor this too.

I guess start with the basics and double-check everything.
If you can't find anything, we can get together sometime and maybe try to figure this out.

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

I'll probably snake a screwdriver off of one of the guys in the shop at lunch and pop apart the intake piping to see if I have any water/moisture up in it. I'm hoping that is just the case, but knowing how the car is acting it just doesn't seem right. At least from my experience with all my other cars that have had a wet MAFS.

Why couldn't this have happened on the weekend so I had time to diagnose and fix the problem. Now I get to sit at my desk all day and wonder about it. Damnit

I guess the one good thing about it is that I have to reroute the intake to make it STX legal anyways (so no one can protest me at pros) so the filter will be up where the stock sock use to be. SO if this is the reason this problem is happening, then it won't be a problem much longer. hah

Also, thanks for the offer on the AP Jon and John. Hopefully it doesn't come to the point of that, but if it does I'll take you up on the offer.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Well I am going to be around the corner from Megan tonight for bowling. When I leave I'll throw it in the car and if you change your mind she can stop up.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Curious... you think the filter can fit in the same area the OEM air duct sat?
And I don't know **** about the "autox laws" but would removing an intake valve (VFAD) still make the car STX legal?

tiresmoker

iTrader: (1)

I don't know if that filter can fit there since it's kinda wide, but I'm prepared to get a more narrow one if need be.

As for legality, yes the VFAD can be removed. Everything for the intake system up to the inlet (be it a carb or a TB) can be removed and replaced. Since the VFAD is part of the intake system, it can be yanked, but only in STX and up. You have to keep it in place for a stock class.


John: I know she is coming down here tonight for my sisters birthday (hence one reason I can't work on the car today) but if I happen to go out there and not find any moisture/condensation/water in the intake piping I'll let you guys know and maybe she can meet up with you or something.

The funny thing is this happened on almost identical weather conditions the other time. Kinda rainy for a few days and mid 30's. Gah

megz

John, if there's anyway to meet you maybe around lunch time or sometime between 4-5 today I can do that. Like Brian said, I won't be able to grab it later than that tonight though.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Guess I'm missing something Brian.... if everything up to the TB can be replaced to stay STX legal, then why are you relocating the filter?