It's been a while. I've been busy. Basic update with more interesting stuff to update.

So, here is what has been going on, the short short version:

1. I've been working 60-70 hours a week.
2. I had to work on other family members' cars, including my mom's "new" CRV.
3. I have some personal obligations I've had to take care of.
4. My CRX up and suddenly refused to start.

Other cool stuff:
I did a preliminary tune on an ITA CRX. On a dyno no less. That was an interesting day. I'm going to eventually get to finish the tune.

I got offered some side work welding roll cages on the weekend over the winter. I am certainly going to take that up.

Anyway, to my CRX.

It simply refused to start two weeks ago. It had been stalling at idle occasionally, but I took that as me needing to clean up the tune for the colder weather. I am not going to detail everything, but, basically, I found three issues:

1. Code 8
2. The alternator bearings are fragged.
3. The TPS is missing a bolt and slightly loose.

I got a new distributor, but because I had to repin the connector to match what was on my harness, I boogered that up and it took a while to figure out WTF I had done wrong. Then I reset the cam timing and did that incorrectly. Man, that was horrible to drive. I finally got to resetting the cam timing, correctly, today but the ECU threw a code 9 at me, which I solved by swapping the wires for the CPS on the dizzy. Yeah, I know, that makes no sense according to the FSM, but, the CPS is used as the reference to determine how the other sensors should look. I had it correct originally, but had swapped them incorrectly when I was repinning the main dizzy connector, and I spent the whole afternoon beating my head against the hood (literally, I hate the hood latch mechanism! LOL) until I got everything straightened out except the ignition timing.

The distributor is not allowing me to advance the timing as much as it is needed. I am going to solve this in the timing maps of the ECU rather than slotting the darn distributor holes. I know something is off somewhere, but, at this point, I just need to get the darn thing moving again.

The alternator, usually a simple thing to take out with most CRXs was a pain to get out of mine. Normally, the easiest way is to jack up the driver's side of the car so the suspension is in full droop and you can shimmy it out that way. Well, with the JDM axle setup with the intermediate shaft, you can't do that. I managed to wiggle it out through the other side, and in moving crap out of the way, discovered that my TPS sensor is held on loosely by one bolt and the other one is who knows where. *sighs*

Anyway, here is what an alternator should NOT sound like:


Alternator bearings going BAD

I think I have a spare that I have to dig for. I need to get this thing running in a couple of days, as I've been borrowing my mom's CRV and she needs it back on Wednesday. Fun.

Expect more updates on other stuff as soon as I can find the time to sit down and write up blog posts. I do miss doing that.

I drove my CRX to work today!

So yesterday I was looking over my CRX to see what I could find that would cause all the shimmy and shake. I didn't see anything terribly obvious. Until I went to change my wheels . . . I forgot to torque the lug nuts. DOH! Fortunately, nothing was ruined except my pride. I still out the other set of rims and tires on, as I had them out, at least on the front. I bombed around town for a while, eventually taking sine of the fun roads that weren't too heavily occupied on late Sunday afternoon. Holy crud!  I forgot how much fun it is to drive abs I also forgot how good the ZC transmission is!

I've been keeping a close eye on the fluids. I'm not losing or burning any oil. I'm losing a very small amount of coolant from a leaky hose, so that is fine for the moment. Everything else seems to be in good working order except I do need to get some stock spark plugs and also replace the valve cover grommets and spark plug tube seals, as they seem to be seeping a little bit.

The drive in to work was pleasantly uneventful, though the cluster lights need to be hooked up better since they blink on and off with bumps. Aside  from expansion joints on the highway, it even rides well and tracks straight. You certainly can't be lazy with it, though, but I do love it! :)

I drove my CRX home today!

Though, by the time I post this, it is likely to actually be yesterday! (It actually was yesterday. I fell asleep while typing this. hah!

First and amusing aside:

 Krazy Glue is made in Japan. Shouldn't it be Klazy Grue? hah!

These also came in the mail, and I'll be installing them soon:

 They are really well made, Streetwires brand. They are heavy, well made and I like the covers that come with them.

I had to zip tie my license plate in place:

 The stock mounting  points are ripped to shreds, so I'll make a bracket and stick it on bumper soon enough.

Here is a portent of things to come:

 I just have to figure out how to mount the adapter and the NRG hub that I bought with the steering wheel a couple years back. Man . . . that thing feels soooo good in your hands. I've honestly only handled a few genuine MOMO steering wheels, and they have all felt so fantastic. I'm glad that I'll be rocking one soon in my CRX!

So anyway, if you don't bother reading this because there aren't many pictures, fine, but I'll tell the tale of the first significant drive I've made with my CRX in 7 years.

On Friday, the letter of reinstatement came from the county clerk's office that was causing my license issues! YAY!I made plans with my dad to head out to the garage after work. I worked until 12:30, and my dad came to pick me up shortly after. We stopped for lunch at BoogerFling and checked the air filter selection at the RetreatAuto next to the BoogerFling. It is really frustrating that none of the normally stocked air filters are all for 3" intake tubes and up. I didn't buy a filter there.

We drove out to the garage (it takes a while from where I work) via Pep Boyz, where I spent at least half an hour wandering between departments figuring out how best to mate up a 3" inlet filter to my properly sized 2.5" intake tube. This is what I ended up with:

I don't have fender liners, so, for now, I'll be running a short ram, even if it isn't going to make maximum powah! I figured some of you would pester me about that. Yes, I know all the downsides to not running the filter into the fenderwell, but we've been getting hugely massive amounts of rain this year, and driving too and from work involves some deep puddling that I do not wish to have to deal with as a hydrolocked engine. Besides, the engine pulls well enough just as it is. =)

Anyway, that is a 2.5" eBay intake tube with a 2.5" to 3" coupling stretched around the bigger half of 3"OD-3"ID exhaust adapter into a 3" Specter (don't get me started, the only K&N filters they had were way too large to fit there) oiled clothe filter. It sounds decent and filters decently.

I also used a cheap strap to tie down the battery I'm currently borrowing. I'll have to neaten up my wideband wiring, also. heh But, for now, it works. I can't complain about that. I'll eventually source a correctly sized K&N filter with a nice radius on the inlet and that will be that until I reinstall my turbo crap.

So, after getting a drink and snack for the drive home (I had no idea if I would be stranded at the side of the road or if a meteor would fall from the heavens and smite my CRX with me inside), my dad followed me as I hit the highway for the first time in seven long years. How did it go? Well, the tires are shot. LOL! They cause a the steering wheel to shake like Shakira at a concert. I am sure they are flatspotted from sitting for years in the same place. I have another set of rims and tires that I'll throw on for now. I'll still likely end up ordering a set of RE-11a from tirerack.com in a couple of weeks, so I just need stuff to get me by until then. I have a few longer distance trips that I need to make sure the suspension is up to the task for.

BUT! It made it. It didn't overheat. The transmission shifted fine. (I have a sloppy linkage I'll need to fix.) And holy crap, a stock DOHC ZC transmission is sooooo much better than an Si transmission it isn't funny, even just tooling around. Even the small difference in the 1-2 shift you can feel. It just keeps the engine happier! I can't wait to hybridize it. MUAHAHAHAHA! The brakes are binding a tad. Sure, they are brand new, but they have been sitting for years in a box on a shelf. I'm going to pop the calipers off, re-clean the pins and hardware and re-grease everything again and see if that helps when I test drive it around again later today. I'm sure that's all it needs. It was improving as I drove more, especially when I hit local roads after the long highway stretch on the trip, so I am sure that with some cleaning and care, everything should take care of itself.

I also have some play in the passenger side front. I don't think it is the wheel bearing, but I know that the ball joints are pretty hammered. I'll be rebuilding the EX knuckles I have ASAP to take care of all of this. I'm looking forward to the larger rotors (without being ridiculous) up front, especially since Wilwood has released a direct fit 4-piston caliper for Hondas and Acuras with the factory 262mm (10.3") diameter rotors:   I'm really excited about those, as I really don't need 11" rotors and the additional weight. The factory 262mm setup is the perfect upgrade without adding expense or complexity! Simple and effective, and the Wilwood setup isn't even horribly priced! Check it out: Click this link and scroll down to DPHA kits! I'll be getting different rotors, though, because I prefer Centric e-coated units to prevent all that rusty mess from happening that you get with regular rotors.

So, aside from some known issues, everything worked pretty darn well. I'll likely have some reports later today as I'll be changing rims this afternoon and maybe making some datalogging runs to tweak the tune. Yay!