When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
How's the blower motor treating you? Since fixing my A/C I've been getting annoyed with the noises mine makes. Also mildly embarrassed to tell a passenger to give it a swift kick and then they don't kick hard enough haha.
what if u go stock intake, and aftermarket exhaust.... maybe that'll provide mpg + cool sounds
tried that for a week or so before taking it all out last time. might try again in the future.
Originally Posted by julianachos
How's the blower motor treating you? Since fixing my A/C I've been getting annoyed with the noises mine makes. Also mildly embarrassed to tell a passenger to give it a swift kick and then they don't kick hard enough haha.
ebay blower motor and resistor have been fine...i use the hvac every day. it does have a slight buzz noise on max high...but i remember my oe one did too.
Carwash time...went thorough and even polished all my "strutbars" with Blue Magic metal polish. stuff is dope. also restored my black trim, which is one of my least favorite things to do when cleaning the car, but also appreciate the look when done. makes such a big difference.
also bought a can of duplicolor milano red paint, and hope to address my front bumper scrapes soon. the passenger side scratches came with the car, the driver side ones happened last winter when i kissed a curb thanks to some ice on a turn. debating on using duplicolor clear. it has been holding up on the rear garnish i painted last fall, so im sure it will be fine. i didnt want to cheap out and have it peel or chip off since its more vulnerable on the front of the car...but i also didnt want to invest too much or make it too nice only on the bottom edge being my front bumper already has a bunch of tiny rock chips. looks like hell with curb scrapes though. well...step one of buying paint is done, have sand paper already, so just need to decide on clear and find time to go at it. i have spray paint skills....but ive never painted just a portion of a bumper with spray paint...seems hack and im worried it will look worse, which is why i have been procrastinating with it. i also hate sanding and buffing stuff.
Valve adjustment Stuff -
last winter i planned to do this in the spring when the weather warmed up to hopefully get more accurate measurements, not dealing with tight, cold metal motor parts. im also not excited to upset my spark plugs as i have them torqued without any issues of them loosening the past year. BUT, my gas mileage seems like it could be better, and im not sure if i have fake Denso IK22 spark plugs in my motor right now. and i have no idea when or if the previous owner ever had the valves adjusted. the valves and the thermostat/radiator cap were the last "maintenance'' items i wanted to replace. my mileage is moderately low for the cars age, but then again the car is 10 years old...and id feel better knowing i did the work. i drain and refilled the coolant system last spring/summerish, and have coolant for another drain and fill. i do plan on using an authentic Honda thermostat and radiator cap, so i need to grab those sometime from an online dealership. since my local ones like to 3x the price of everything compared to online dealership prices. its also extremely painful dealing with both of the dealerships, even when i have the part numbers ready for them. i called one once. went in circles. then some months later, i called the other once, and visited in person a couple days ago...and ran through silly circles with them too...them questioning what im doing and why im doing it. just give me the damn part, yo. k, end rant.
well, I received my new valve feeler gauge, Authentic Honda valve cover gasket, and new Denso IK22 spark plugs for the job, whenever that is. back to the spark plugs. the last IK22 spark plugs i ordered were from amazon or ebay last year, and when getting ready to order new ones the other day i learned there were a ton of authentic looking fakes (should have known spark plugs were not spared) the boxes are long gone so no way to compare to online "how to spot fake" sites . i was uneasy ordering them online through the same channels this time around, but i fortunately found some at a local Advanced Auto Parts. they are normally $10 plus tax, but i used an online coupon (in exchange for my email/soul) and got them for ~$32 out the door. my car has been functioning fine, so maybe i got authentic ones last time...or if they are clones, i guess they did a decent job cloning, because they did seem to make my car run smoother. could have all been in my head though... i get the same feeling after oil changes, full tanks of gas, and car washes too.
another New front ebay Lip and Authentic Honda window visors -
definitely didnt need either of these, still not sure why i got them because its not like im ballin, and im on the fence with how either of them look. i do feel like they compliment eachother though. the visors will go on first, the lip...well that goes back to my bumper scuff thing i got going on. i guess i should fix those first. maybe ill test fit the lip to see if it sort of hides the scuffs, even though i know it wont. Happy hump day yallz
finally got around to replacing this trim piece. it original got broke last year by thieves. along with my window and exterior c pillar trim. i tried gluing a screw to the backside of the broken interior piece and then shoving it into the hole for the peg in the door, which held the trim piece on great.... for a few days. then it would fall off. after it fell off i put it in the rear door cupholder, which would cause it to rattle and annoy me. and months later i would try another glue. then repeat.... a couple more times. i finally gave up on fixing the broken piece after i decided to look up what the hell this thing is made of and why nothing bonded to it. i learned that the trim piece is made of polypropylene and very few glues will work. and that the glues that do work cost about as much as buying a new trim piece from the dealer. i recently found this one on ebay for $12, used. now i just need to find a used, fairly priced exterior c-pillar garnish since my current one is cracked and has all of its tabs broken off. right now it is 3m double sided taped on. it has been holding for almost a year, but i want to replace it with a proper piece. cheapest i could find new was $30..but id like to pay half of that for a used piece.
i then put my aluminum battery tie and "mugen" oil cap back on. and though the stock oil cap has great information printed on it, i find it quite boring and ugly. i ended my time in the engine bay with wiping a few things i missed with 303 Protectant. need to get it cleaned up for the mice this winter.
lastly, i finally rearranged the clips on my hatch door so i could use the handle to pull it closed without the damn clip popping out every time. not sure why it took so long to do something so stupidly simple. i guess since i have been using the trunk a bit more lately it has been annoying me more. i think i will just order all new ones since the whole interior hatch piece doesnt seem as tight as original. trim piece clips seem to be 1 time use items...they never really hold as tight as the original insertion. cheap enough fix to just replace.
sorry for late reply...i used a ebay eg/ek civic pillar bar ($25). took some cutting to get it to sit flat and clear the trim. another option is if u can find longer seatbelt bolts and use a 1" or so spacer (similar to J's c-pillar bar which includes longer hardware) to clear the interior trim it would work too. problem is the seatbelt bolts are a funky size so that u dont do stuff like this lol. although im sure this brace does very minimal in terms of rigidity, id prefer to have the braces against the roof vs at the end of a bolt. i thought about the safety aspect of forces on a longer bolt in an accident...but then realized if someone is in backseat theyll probably die anyways hitting their head on the bar. fortunately my backseat gets no humans.
after cutting i repainted the mounts and stripped the anodizing off the bar with oven cleaner and steel wool... then polished with Blue Magic metal polish. lmk if u need any help
finally got around to replacing this trim piece. it original got broke last year by thieves. along with my window and exterior c pillar trim. i tried gluing a screw to the backside of the broken interior piece and then shoving it into the hole for the peg in the door, which held the trim piece on great.... for a few days. then it would fall off. after it fell off i put it in the rear door cupholder, which would cause it to rattle and annoy me. and months later i would try another glue. then repeat.... a couple more times. i finally gave up on fixing the broken piece after i decided to look up what the hell this thing is made of and why nothing bonded to it. i learned that the trim piece is made of polypropylene and very few glues will work. and that the glues that do work cost about as much as buying a new trim piece from the dealer. i recently found this one on ebay for $12, used. now i just need to find a used, fairly priced exterior c-pillar garnish since my current one is cracked and has all of its tabs broken off. right now it is 3m double sided taped on. it has been holding for almost a year, but i want to replace it with a proper piece. cheapest i could find new was $30..but id like to pay half of that for a used piece.
.
I broke that same trim piece off on my Fit when I was removing the door card to install aftermarket speakers. I have yet to get around to replacing it. I also went down the various adhesive route. I have some leftover double-sided tape, the same as the one I used for my shark fin antenna. I did not think of using it until I read your post. Thanks!
just make sure the door and the trim have been cleaned with alcohol or acetone where ur going to put the tape..dont want it blowin off in the wind.. i had to build it up 2 or 3 layers because theres a bit of a gap. also make sure the tape is black 3m ..kind used for side trim etc..i have a roll ive been working on i picked up from autozone...i wouldnt trust the white stuff. idk why that piece costs so damn much. it almost never pop up used on ebay for a decent price...online yards want as much for a used one as online dealerships for a brand new piece. my local yards dont have it either.
sorry for late reply...i used a ebay eg/ek civic pillar bar ($25). took some cutting to get it to sit flat and clear the trim. another option is if u can find longer seatbelt bolts and use a 1" or so spacer (similar to J's c-pillar bar which includes longer hardware) to clear the interior trim it would work too. problem is the seatbelt bolts are a funky size so that u dont do stuff like this lol. although im sure this brace does very minimal in terms of rigidity, id prefer to have the braces against the roof vs at the end of a bolt. i thought about the safety aspect of forces on a longer bolt in an accident...but then realized if someone is in backseat theyll probably die anyways hitting their head on the bar. fortunately my backseat gets no humans.
after cutting i repainted the mounts and stripped the anodizing off the bar with oven cleaner and steel wool... then polished with Blue Magic metal polish. lmk if u need any help
heh, I was able to make a crx c pillar bar fit into a subaru wrx sti.
I wonder if there are any similar bars out there, that just works on a gk5. (dont wanna pay top dollar for a beat rush one, lol. they are equally as expensive even if purchased in japan, which is nuts!)
yea it would have been nice to just find something plug n play. ive been looking at the beatrush bar for over a year nkw...considered it when i was buying my cusco front n rears...which i cant believe i pulled the trigger on considering price. i just wanted to get them before they discontinued them. i missed out on a few things with my scion xa because i figured id always find parts eventually. speaking of rare parts and xa's...if by some miracle someone reading this has a xa and wants to buy a jdm sport grill hit me up...thefes one sitting under my bed.. lol.
funny u posted a link to ur old car..i was just re-reading one of ur old posts a couple days ago where u linked it...sick. i know thats an old page...but what came of that car?
It got featured in super street mag, and then, I sold it. lol. I then moved onto Lexus (sc300, sc400, and ct200). Now, I have a gk5 and a 1st gen honda insight.
we had another subaru wrx wagon, same gen. so that became the new toy and recipient of my leftover parts since theyre compatible. and... that toy will be listed for sale soon , I'll share more pics once I get a homie to do a proper photoshoot for it
I didnt take any how to pics, because honestly i was expecting the worst. I sanded and painted my drivers side curb scuff. came out a bit better than i imagined. but still so-so. really better than furry scraped and black. had i known it was going to look ok, i would have sanded it smoother. i only got about 75-80% of the scrapes out. ill wait for it to dry and feather the edge of new paint...then see how it holds up since its spray paint and doesnt have any flex. assuming that ends well, ill fix the passenger side. i hate seeing flaking bumpers driving around. i might be that guy.
Lip went on ok. i wish the sides were a bit smaller but i like the overall shape better than my last lip. ill have to raise the car at least half an inch soon because i skim some speedbumps with the lip that i need to daily on, and with the cold temps coming in, the ride is getting rough. time to get back some shock travel.
i have been wanting to spray paint my EGR base, since it is rusty like everyone elses. easiest job in the world, i should have done it sooner. i used some high temp rustoleum black, which i need to stop using on stuff because it is ultra flat and ends up looking grey. note to self, buy satin black high heat/ chassis paint. ultra flat doesnt look great in my opinion. on almost anything. just looks faded black.
anyways, took the egr off, cleaned it with throttle body cleaner, and painted the base. pulled the valve down to make sure it wasnt sticky and seemed fine. also cleaned the EGR Chamber on the front of the intake manifold..again with throttle body cleaner. i was expecting much worse. i cleaned the cover pretty good, but only did a decent job on the intake. i plan to take it all the way off and shove something in the tubes thoroughly when i do the valve adjustment. none of my holes were plugged, which is what i was assuming i would find for some reason. i always expect the worst just in case i guess. reassembled and torqued the EGR. went a bit past tight on the chamber bolts as i forgot to make a note of their values, and of course i couldnt access the manual or a relevant link on torques while i was outside. i know i over tightened the chamber bolts, so ill be going back and setting those to 7ft/lbs in a bit. ill post a pic of the manual to help out whoever comes across this thread so they dont have to go back inside like i did.
Dirty
Clean-er
Honda Visors
finally got my visors. dealership sent them through BSO Carrier. who the hell is that? six days late. and BSO customer service sucks. their shipping time sucks. dont use them. fortunately most people dont know they exist...which is a good thing. visors went on without a hitch. i still dont know how functional the foam inserts between the weatherstrips is. i almost didnt put them in, but i did. im guessing they are for noise. not wind noise, but rattle noise. i dont know if anyone elses windows made noise..but i know before, when i had the windows cracked they made a slight rattle on bumps. i got use to having them either all the way up or all the way down because of that. im guessing the foam causes the weatherstrip to squeeze it tighter. hopefully. well, i wont lie, i got the visors for looks and not function anyways, so as long as they dont fly off, or add to the noises my car already makes, im good. now i just have to get use to them there as they are super obvious while im in the car since i dont have tinted windows.
Last edited by eulogy; 09-19-2019 at 09:05 PM.
Reason: added cleaning solution
Oil and Filter ~ 3.8Qts
Last oil change was in January, but decided to change it prematurely for two reasons. one, i kept thinking i over tightened my drain plug last time and its been in the back of my mind that i might have stripped the pan. i used a torque wrench last time, but it seemed like i was turning the bolt to tighten it more than i should have. i know the crush washer tweaks the feel a bit, and i was pretty sure it was ok, but i couldnt wait another 6 months to check. the second reason i changed the oil prematurely is so that my change interval is in warmer seasons. i hate doing mechanical stuff in the dead of winter. laying on cold ground, fighting cold bolts, wet/snowy/salty car parts etc. and kinda of a third reason, was i have been considering a Fumoto valve, and needed to know if the pan was stripped, and if i was going to need to tap the pan from a 14mm to a 16mm, and order a larger valve. or plug. or whatever i decide to go with. long story short, the bolt and pan were perfectly fine, was paranoid for nothing. put the stock 14mm bolt back on with a fresh crush washer and set to a couple pounds lighter than the required 29ft/lbs. i know some are fine with going by feel when tightening bolts, i use to do that...till i realized i dont turn a wrench consistently enough to be accurate. i have zero ability to tighten by feel.
ok, so back to the oil change...last time i used 0w-20 Mobile1 with a Mobile 1 filter. i know Honda revised the recommended fluid to this. my oil cap says 5w20. i thought id see if there is any noticeable difference using this weight. ill try to keep track of oil consumption, mileage, and power...but honestly ill probably forget. my maintenance minder had just hit 50%, and my mileage was almost exactly 5,000 miles (like 5,012). pics below of color and quantity i drained for entertainment purposes. Maintenance minder reset to 100%.
Automatic Transmission Fluid ~2.80Qts
i still had 6 bottles of Honda ATF DW-1 left from my craigslist purchase last year. the dealer i got the car from changed the fluid in march. i dont know if they did a drain/refill or an official "flush". ill assume drain/refill. i then did a drain/refill/filter change in july of last year. here it is 14 months later, and thought id do another one for fun. the fluid was darker than i expected. the fluid change did make it a bit smoother overall. it wasnt bad, but it still has a weird intermittent slight torque jerk. happens while the car is shifting in both normal A/T mode, as well as sport mode with paddle shifts. i mostly notice it when im not flooring the gas pedal and going uphill, with the air conditioner on. according to other posts i guess its somewhat common. i dont like it. my scion xa didnt do that.
anyways, transmission fluid change went fine, not much stuck to the magnet and no chunks of metal in the used fluid, which is always nice. i torqued a couple pounds lighter (34ft/lbs) as i did with the oil drain plug, with a fresh crush washer. fluid quantity and color ref pics below. has about 9,500 miles on it.
I ran out of Lucas Upper Cylinder Treatment about 3-4 months ago and kept putting off buying some more. i recently bought some more. i cosign this stuff. it gives me about a 3ish miles per gallon boost with city driving. seems to smooth out the car overall.
Finished my car bonding time by raising the Tein coilovers up about 3/4 of an inch on all 4 corners. noticeable difference in ride quality.
I bought a Mitsuboshi belt last year, for some reason i thought i might need it. mine doesnt have frays and is dead center on the indicator, so ill just keep it on standby i guess.
I bought some Honda Bond for my valve job. forgot i needed some. now all i need is to set aside some time and be in the mood to do car stuff.
Upcoming tinkering:
- valve job
- coolant change / new thermostat / new radiator cap
- side mirror install
Automatic Transmission Fluid Draining
Used Transmission Fluid on Left (about 9,500 miles)....Used Engine Oil on Right (about 5,000 miles)
09-03-2019, 11:53 PM
