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My car
makes a buzzing noise at certain RPMs
If you're lucky you may
just have a loose heat shield on the exhaust or even just a loose
muffler clamp. Or you may be a victim of the infamous Honda
"A-pipe" rattle!
It seems that many Honda
exhaust systems have a double pipe near the engine, with an inner
and outer tube. This is in the interest of keeping the exhaust
gasses nice and hot for the catalyic converter. Unfortunately the
welds on the inside don't always hold, and you can get a loose inner
pipe rattling at certain times when the engine speed matches its
natural point of resonance.
How to cure it? Well you
could replace the pipe assembly, but that's expensive. A cheaper way
is to attack the pipe with a hacksaw and a brazing torch. Simply cut
two slots crosswise about a quarter inch apart, 1/3 of the way
through the outer pipe. Then with a punch, ding the narrow strip
thus created inward until it touches the inner pipe. Fill the hole
with brazing metal, making sure some of it brazes the strip to the
inner pipe. Make sure you don't leave any holes that will leak
exhaust gasses.
How do
I reset my Service Required light?
In a newsgroup post,
Kevin Sargent replied to such a question about a 98 Integra thusly:
"I assume
Honda didn't change the location of the button from '96 to '98, so
there should be a small square button, below the
steering column and a
little to the right, facing away from you (i.e.
toward the engine). Hold
the button and start the engine, it will reset
the light. Here are the
triggers for the light on my '96 Integra:"
"- For the first
9,600km(6,000mi) after resetting, it will light for two
seconds when the car is started (normal light
test).
- Between 9,600km(6,000mi) and 12,000km(7,500mi),
the light will come on
solid for two seconds after turning the key to
ON, then flash for 8 seconds.
- After 12,000km(7,500mi), the light stays on
constantly."
"If the light is on, it is
simply a mileage trigger. There is nothing wrong
with your car. Also, these triggers I quoted are
on my canadian Integra
(hence the KM indication straight from the book),
and it also may have
changed from the 1996 model year to 1998, but I
doubt it."
Similar questions about
the Service Required lights on other models of Honda seem to
indicate that the reset procedure varies. I have seen mention of the
odometer trip guage reset being used. Consulting the owner's manual
sounds like the best answer in such cases, but I'm willing to start
a table of reset procedures in this part of the FAQ if readers care
to post me details.
What is
OBD-II
To combat its smog
problem the State of California started requiring emission control
systems on cars in 1966. The federal government extended these
controls nationwide in 1968.
Congress passed the Clean Air Act in
1970 and established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This
body setup a series of graduated emission standards. To meet these
standards, manufacturers turned to electronically controlled fuel
and ignition systems. Sensors measured engine performance and an ECU
gathering data from the sensors was used to control the engine's
fuel injection system to maximize performance while producing
minimum pollution. The ECU could also be accessed by diagnostic
equipment for fault finding.
At first there were few standards and
each manufacturer had their own systems and signals. In 1988, the
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) set a standard connector plug
and set of diagnostic test signals. The EPA adapted most of their
standards from the SAE on-board diagnostic programs and
recommendations. OBD-II is an expanded set of standards and
practices developed by SAE and adopted by the EPA and CARB
(California Air Resources Board) for implementation by January 1,
1996.
All hondas sold in North America
since 1996 have OBD-II systems. Some earlier models have OBD-I.
How do I retrieve
an ECU fault code?
Some Hondas hide their ECUunder the
front passenger seat. If you peek under there and see lights winking
at you, that's it. On others the ECU is somewhere in the vicinity of
the passenger side footwell and the codes are retrieved by observing
the Check Engine light on the dash.
Simple fault code retrieval can be
accomplished on these Honda models by shorting out a two-pin
connector that has been provided for the purpose. On an Accura
Integra this Check Service Connector has been tucked up under the
dash on the passenger side, just below the glove box. It has a
bright green rubber sheath over it and the wires leading to it are
black and brown/white. On 92-96 Preludes it is further back, located
near the floor behind the center console. It is most accessible by
hanging yourself upside down in the driver's side footwell. On 90-93
Accords it's a blue two prong connector that dangles behind the
passenger footwell kick panel. 94-97 Accords have it clipped to a
special holder directly beneath the glove box,
Wherever you find it, with the
ignition off, short the connector out with a hairpin, a paper clip
or a small piece of wire. Then turn the ignition on, but don't start
the engine. The Check Engine light will begin to flash. Count the
flashes carefully. There may be a series of slow flashes followed by
more rapid ones, or just slow ones. Six slow flashes for instance,
is ECU Code 6, indicating an engine coolant temperature problem. Six
slow flashes followed by one quick one on the other hand, is ECU
Code 61, indicating an oxygen sensor problem.
How do I reset my
Check Engine light?
After reading a fault code, it's
better to reset the ECU and wait to see if it comes on again with
the same fault code, rather than go rushing off to the dealer for
repairs. The dealer is probably going to do just that himself
anyway. The crude way to reset the ECU is to just disconnect the
battery for a minute or so. A more sophisticated way is to pull the
fuse that supplies power to the ECU. On an Integra this is the
Backup fuse, a 7.5 amp fuse located in the under-hood fuse/relay
box.
Caution! Removing this fuse also
removes power from your clock and radio! You're going to have to
reset the time on the clock, and you'd better have the anti-theft
code for the radio handy or you'll be sorry!
Can I
buy a proper ECU analysis computer?
You sure can! I've seen
small hand-held devices for reading ECU codes from Detroit iron for
sale for a few hundred dollars. There may be versions for foreign
cars too. ECU codes come in 3 flavors, PWM, ISO and VPW. European
and Asian cars, including Honda, use the ISO version. These devices
can read out the fault code and reset the ECU without disturbing
either clock or radio.
Even better, if you own
a portable computer, you can buy software and an adapter that gives
access to everything in your ECU via the portable's serial port.
Both the hand held devices and the software versions are produced by
the same folks that make the big expensive diagnostic outfits the
service centers use. A personal version is a lot cheaper because the
service centers have to be able to handle anything a customer brings
in. You only have to worry about one model.
Personally I recommend
the software version. I hate portable computers but I went out and
bought a cheap one at a flea market just to get the ability to
analyze what my ECU is doing in real time. With the portable
situated on the passenger seat I can record engine RPM, throttle
opening, engine temperature, ignition advance, intake air
temperature and so on. You can record hours and hours of data and
store it to be reproduced in neat graphs.
There are several
outfits that make these devices.
What's
making a clunking noise when I'm turning at full lock?
When I'm parking or
making a tight turn, I hear a sort of rucka-rucka noise from the
front of the car. Is there something wrong?
Yup! Your CV (Constant
Velocity) joints at the outer ends of your half-shafts are worn.
They may not be worn out, but they're at least thinking about
quitting! The noise will gradually get worse, and show up even when
you're not turning at full lock. The only cure is a half-shaft
replacement, not all that expensive for Hondas.
Incidentally, when
looking over a used Honda, or most front-wheel-drive cars for that
matter, ALWAYS take the car to a quiet space in a parking lot, roll
the windows down, turn slowly through a full circle in both
directions, and listen for that tell-tale chucking, rucka-ruck
serenade.
How
do you disconnect ball joints so a half-shaft can be changed?
With considerable
difficulty, if posts to the newsgroup are any indication. Ball joint
tapers are notoriously difficult to Brake, especially if they have
not been disturbed for a long time. The factory recommends a special
tool for the task. Using a pulley puller is another option, but it
is hard to get one that's just the right size so it won't damage the
rubber grease seal on the balljoint. The upper balljoint is reputed
to be easier to get off than the lower, but some report having
avoided the entire issue by unbolting one of the suspension arms at
the chasis end. One difficulty with that is that there may be wheel
alignment implications.
Other techniques involve
backing the balljoint nut off until its top surface is protecting
the threads at the end of the taper, then pounding like mad with a
hammer. This sometimes works but can be frustrating and
unproductive, even with the judicious application of a torch to the
end of the suspension arm. It's hard to get enough heat into the
metal without cooking the grease in the balljoint and ruining the
rubber seal.
How
do you double-clutch, and why?
Double -clutching, or
double-declutching, is a driving technique that went out of style in
the 1960's. It was an important skill for racing car drivers in the
decades before the advent of really efficient synchromesh
mechanisms, and an absolutely necessary skill for truck drivers and
race drivers alike in the early decades of the 20th century. Hardly
anyone uses it anymore, even on a racetrack.
When a driver shifts gears, there is
a mass of spinning metal inside the gearbox whose speed must change
radically. Nowadays that mass is not so large as it once was, and
modern synchromesh mechanism can bring the rotational inertia of
what mass there is up to speed fairly easily, but there was a time
when the driver had to
1: disengage the clutch and shift the
gearbox into neutral-
2: Engage the clutch again and
simultaneously give the throttle a shot with the right foot to
bring the gears up to speed
3: disengage the clutch and shift the
gearbox into a lower gear-
4: re-engage the clutch while
bringing the revs up to match the higher RPM necessitated by the
lower gear.
All this took much less time to
accomplish than it takes to describe. An hour's practice is enough
to learn the basic skill. Race drivers had a harder time of it
because they had to blip the throttle with the same foot that was
being used to stand hard on the brakes to set the car up to enter
the corner for which the downshift was necessary. This was a
technique called "heel and toeing". For a virtuoso
demonstration of the art, look for a 1966 movie starring James
Garner entitled Grand Prix.
So is double-clutching a skill worth
learning nowadays? Hardly, but I still use it occasionally. I
learned it driving a John Deere tractor that had a square gearbox,
no sychromesh whatsoever. Coming fast into a corner these days, I
just shift from 4th to 3rd in the normal way, letting the sychromesh
do the work, but for a fast, immediate downshift from 3rd to 2nd,
which would otherwise provoke a mild, protesting "grunk"
from the gearbox, I double-clutch. Besides relieving stress on the
gearbox it reminds me of my youth and a certain 1953 MG TD. Ahhhh
well . . .
Incidentally you can double-cluch
going UP through the gears too. In this technique you do not blip
the throttle when the clutch is in and the gears are in neutral, for
the object is to slow the rotating mass of gears down. There is only
one time when the ability to do this is necessary, and that is when
your clutch, for whatever reason, won't disengage. If you're good,
you can start the engine with the car in 1st gear and then shift up
through the gears without stressing the synchros and without using
the clutch. In the 1920's most racing car drivers had to drive like
that all the time, clutches being so delicate then that they were
used only once, at the start of the race.
What kind of oil
filter should I buy?
There's never been a make of car, a
brand of oil, or a kind of wax that some folks didn't swear by, and
other folks swear at. The same goes for oil filters. The consensus
of opinion in our newsgroup however, seems to be that the
manufacturers OEM filter is best.
Why are my
brakes making a funny noise?
Honda disk brake pads incorporate a
clever device that warns the driver when brake pads have worn down
and need changing. It's simply a U shaped piece of metal that, when
the pads are new, doesn't come near the rotating disk. As the pad
material wears away however, the end of this metal strip comes
closer and closer to the rotor until when there is only a marginal
amount of pad left, it touches the rotor during braking. This
generates disceet sqeaks and scratching at first, most noticeable
when backing up or maneuvering slowly in a parking lot. As the
contact becomes more intimate the wear strip can generate the most
ominous gronking noises that will be noticed by even the most
inattentive driver. The cure is simple, replace the pads with new
ones.
Do I have to
turn the rotors of my disk brakes when I fit new pads?
Most dealer's service centers and
repair shops will assure you that you should, but there are those
who disagree. Some say you should never turn a rotor, but always fit
new ones. Others argue for and against removing the rotors to turn
them or turn them on the car.
Personally I have replaced many a
brake pad without turning or replacing rotors that are quite deeply
grooved. As long as the grooves in the rotor aren't more than an
eighth of an inch deep. and the disk is running true, (not warped or
wobbling) you shouldn't have any problems. There is less contact
area for a few miles until the pads wear to conform to the groves,
but after that you actually get more contact area with a grooved
rotor.
What's
an "interference" engine? Do
I really have to replace my timing belt?
These two questions get answered in
the same paragraph, because they relate to the same problem. There
are automobile engines of non-interference design, but you won't
find many Honda products using them. A non-interference engine is
one in which the pistons go up and down in their own private space,
and the valves open and close in their own private space. You can
turn such engines over with the cam disconnected and it won't do any
harm.
Interference engines of more modern
design however, depend on accurate timing for their operation. The
piston coming up the bore occupies space at the top of its rise that
was a millisecond before occupied by an open valve. Worse, in some
dual overhead cam engines, an opening intake valve occupies part of
the space just vacated a millisecond earlier by a closing exhaust
valve. So what keeps all these parts from colliding? Your timing
belt, that's what! If that sucker Brakes, or even jumps a tooth,
you've got big expensive trouble, almost instantly. At 8000 RPM your
pistons are going up and down the cylinder bores 133 times a second!
If they encounter still open valves because the timing belt just
broke, they'll bend the valve over like a clinched nail into the
soft aluminum of the head, busting themselves into pieces in the
process!
So the bottom line here is change
your timing belt when your sevice manual says you should do so, or
pay some mechanic muy dinero to put your engine back together. As a
mechanic friend of mine used to quip about such repairs "It was
a peach-basket case!". His implication was that the owner had
to pick up his engine parts off half a mile of road and bring them
into the shop in a peach basket. If you don't want to be a
peach-basket case, change your timing belt when you're s'posed to!
What is VTEC and how
does it work?
The following is excerpted from Lee
Cao's excellent webpages.
" Taking a single cylinder as an
example, it has intake valves to breath in the fuel/air mixture, and
exhaust valves to channel away the combusted exaust. How much the
valves open and for how long they stay open is controlled by cam
shafts which have roughly eliptical shaped lobes that actuate the
valves. How wide the valves open is referred to as valve lift. When
and for how long the valves stay open is referred to as valve
timing. To oversimply things a little bit, valves that open wider
and stay open for longer durations allow greater amounts of fuel and
air to flow through the cylinder. Therefore, building an engine that
has good high RPM power require that the valves must open wider and
hold their opening for longer durations. However, valve lift and
timing that are optimised for high RPM performance usually leads to
rougher low RPM combustion, resulting in an idle that becomes
increasingly difficult to maintain.
Honda's solution to this problem is
in their VTEC system. VTEC is short for Variable Valve Timing and
Lift Electronic Control. It essentially combines two cam profiles
onto the same cam shaft. One cam profile is tuned for smooth idle
and low RPM performance, while the second cam profile is tuned for
high RPM performance. As the engine builds RPM and reaches a certain
pre-set RPM, the cam shaft shifts to the second cam profile and
holds the valves open wider and for a longer duration. So where as a
non-VTEC engine's torque will start to taper off, a VTEC engine will
maintain a flatter torque extension into the higher RPM ranges,
allowing for a continuous climb in power output. Voila! a solution
to the problem. "
"As to why someone would want an
engine capable of running at high RPM in the first place... Honda
has traditionally built economical and reliable engines. Economy
decreases as engine size increases so keeping the engine size small
is beneficial. But getting good power output from a small engine
means designing it to be capable of handling high RPMs. After all,
power output is proportional to torque multiplied by RPM, and torque
is limited by engine displacement."
"The result of the above design
parameters are the small displacement VTEC engines being offered by
Honda today. Versatility is the keyword here. When not being pushed
hard, these engines use the low RPM cam profiles and maintain very
smooth idle and low RPM operation. Fuel economy is great. In
addition, power is usually better than non-VTEC engines of the same
displacement since the low RPM cam profile does not need to be
compromised for high RPM operation. And when brisk acceleration is
needed, all the driver needs to do is to stay in gear or down shift
and allow the engine to build up its RPM, taking advantage of the
better torque output at the wheels due to a lower gear (as opposed
to if you had to shift up because you have ran out of RPM to
use)."
Can I put a VTEC head
on my plain vanilla Honda engine?
Apparently it can be done with some
engines.
Does ABS help you
stop sooner?
Sometimes, but don't count on it.
What it does do is allow you to steer and brake at the same time. In
the past, people learning performance driving were taught that you
should never try to steer and brake at the same time. A locked up
wheel just won't make the car turn, it has to be rotating to change
the vehicle's direction. Mr Clumsy Average Driver, in a panic
situation usually tries to steer AND brake however, and the ABS
system is intended to help him get away with it.
The problem is that few owners of new
cars actually use their ABS. Some have even got into accidents the
first time they were in an emergency braking situation because when
they heard the ABS chatter and felt the pedal pulse under their
foot, they panicked and lifted their foot.
So one of the things you should do if
the car you just bought has ABS, is find an empty parking lot
someplace, preferably slick with rain or even better ice, and try
out your ABS. Get used to keeping your foot down on that chattering
brake pedal, and find out how much it takes to trigger the ABS. I
drove a rental car once whose ABS went into action at the slightest
excuse, usually for no good reason. It pays to learn your ABS
system's features and foibles before you really need them.
How to fix loose
fuses
Honda fuses are generally reliable
but occasionally, especially in an older car, they can become
intermittent because they are making a poor connection in the
fuseholder. Pulling the fuse to check it often cures the problem,
because re-insertion cleans oxidation off the fuse contacts, but a
more permanent fix is to bend the fuse tangs just a bit with a pair
of pliers, so they make a tighter connection. Turn the fuse so you
are looking at the tangs end-on, and twist them through no more than
ten or fifteen degrees, so they look like this:
\
\
That's enough to make them behave
properly.
Why do I need
premium gas? Can't I use regular?
Will premium gas make my car go faster?
When the spark plug in the cylinder
of a gasoline engine fires, a tiny ball of flame begins to expand in
the combustion chamber. If all goes well this expanding flame front
will continue to burn evenly until all the gasoline vapor in the
chamber has been burned. If the gasoline is of the wrong kind
however, or if the spark plug has fired too soon, or the compression
ratio is too high, instead of burning evenly the gasoline explodes,
combusting all at once with damaging force. Sometimes this
undesirable detonation can be heard as a "ping" or
"knock" in the engine, but it can occur without being
heard. The octane rating of gasoline is an indication of its ability
to resist detonation. the higher the octane number, the less
tendency to knock, and of course the higher the price.
Engine knock is bad news. If it
happens often it can literally put holes in your pistons. I bought a
Jaguar XK-E in Denver once, for half what it should have sold for
because some fool had advanced the ignition in a deluded attempt to
recover the power lost because of the Mile High City's thinner air.
Three pistons had holes in them the size of 50 cent pieces!
In many newer cars, the effects of
running on regular gas when you should be using premium are less
serious because modern ECUs have knock sensors that can detect
detonation and which can retard the engine timing until the knock
goes away. The price you pay for this is considerably less power
from the engine.
So the bottom line is, use the grade
of gas your owner's manual recommends. If your car only needs
regular, it won't produce any more power with premium gas. If it
needs premium, use premium, because regular will cost you power and
maybe an engine overhaul.
How can I remove
decals/stickers/pinstripes without damaging the paint?
Newsgroup consensus seems to be that
a sharp blade and a modicum of heat is the answer. Anything from a
parking lot on a hot sunny day to the application of a hair dryer to
soften the glue, then some careful scraping with a knifedge or razor
blade.. One post even suggested a fingernail would do if you get the
heat right. Use isopropanol or rubbing alcohol to clean up traces of
glue afterward.
How can I get the
crankshaft bolt undone so I can change my timing belt?
This question shows up in the
newsgroup quite regularly. The bolt holding the pulley to the
crankshafy is on there TIGHT. Some folks have had so much trouble
getting it started they've posted plaintive equiries wondering if
it's a left-hand threaded bolt! No, it unscrews the regular way, but
don't kid yourself that you're going to undo it with a short-handled
wrench. Having the car up on jackstands probably won't give enough
room to swing the handle of the wrench you're going to need.
The second difficulty is how to stop
the engine from turning when you apply the necessary torque with a
half-inch drive tommybar whose handle has been extended with a
length of pipe. Just having the car in gear won't cut it. Jamming a
big screwdriver into the teeth on the flywheel works sometimes. The
proper way is to use the tool pictured at the front of the shop
manual. It's essentially a length of hexagonal pipe with a handle
welded to it. It will fit into the hex hole in the pulley and allow
a deep socket of the proper size to pass though and get hold of the
bolt. Now you and a muscular friend each grab a handle and pull in
opposite directions. This will almost certainly demand that the car
either be up on a hoist or over a service pit.
A list denizen who signs himself
jamieson offered this suggestion- "I did manage to find a nice
way to prevent the pulley from turning. The local hardware store
sells a 1 1/2" threaded plumbing adapter with a hex flange on
one side of it. With a little bit of filing, the hex flange fits
into the 50mm hex depression in the crankshaft pulley. Then I took a
pipe wrench and cranked it down on the plumbing adapter threads
sticking out of the crankshaft pulley. It works just like the Honda
crankshaft pulley holder tool, only costs a lot less."
Another post suggests "Try
driving to a local shop/service station and give the mechanic $5 to
Brake
the bolt loose with an air impact wrench. Snug it up and drive home
to do your service. This solved the problem for me and the mechanic
wouldn't even take the cash I offered."
Rotsa ruck!
What's the best
way to make sure I get my new timing belt on right?
OK so you've got that dang pulley
bolt undone, and the new timing belt in place, and now you've got an
uneasy feeling that mabe you're out a tooth one way or the other,
even though you followed the shop manual's instructions exactly.
Well here's a better way that I've seen suggested in the newsgroup
(but I can't remember by who).
Before removing the old belt, make a
mark on the side of the belt and on each pulley with a dab of paint
or even some typist's whiteout. Then after the old belt is off, lay
it beside the new one and copy the marks exactly on the new one. Now
you know for sure where things line up!
How do I
"roll" a fender to accept larger tires?
Body shops that do custom work have
machines that do a professional job of this, but if your oversize
tires aren't too big, you can just use a baseball bat. No, you don't
take whacks at the fenders with a bat, you use it like a prybar,
resting it on the top of the tire and prying gently upward along the
inside of the wheelwell, folding the metal back. There was a really
excellent web page on the subject,complete with pictures, on the now
defuct VTEC-Net.
How do I get
those silly little screws out so I can remove my brake rotors?
Aren't they a pain in the neck? They
go all the way through the hub assembly and stick out the other
side, so the ends usually rust. It's difficult, but you can get to
their backsides with penetrating oil. Still, an impact wrench is
usually the thing for this. Hand-held impact wrenches are available
for about $10 and vigorous application of a middling heavy hammer to
one of these usually does the job. Be sure and get a 3/8 inch
philips tip for the wrench though, not the skinny little 1/4 inch
ones that are intended for multiple-bit screwdriver sets. The screws
are a #3 philips too, don't try a #2 or you'll strip them.
If worst comes to worst and you do
strip them, you'll have to drill the little suckers out of there.
All they do is hold the rotors in place until you put the wheel on,
so I suppose you could even not bother to replace them, but if a
garage did that, you'd think they were pretty sloppy wouldn't you?
Can you
supercharge a VTEC engine?
Here's some advice from Gabe Gardner
on the subject-
"Yes and no. You can run low
levels of boost (6 psi and less) and be
ok. But if you want to run higher boost you must do the basic stuff
(beef up the bottom end). But the H22A1 has some other stuff that
needs to be stiffened up too. Here is an little snip from
www.hondaprelude.com and the recent discussions on blocks for turbo
charging."
"The 93-96 VTEC blocks are
solid decks and the 97+ are open deck. There
might be some 97 TECS that are solid if Honda had
left over blocks from
96 but atll the 5th gen are supposed to be open
deck. I was told by a
friend that race SCCA and uses the H22As and he
says he has to hunt
down pre 96 VTEC motors because he does not want
to use the open deck
blocks. But even if you have an open deck, you
can have a block guard
installed or just get a 96 motor and built it up
while you drive you
car around with the original motor."
"H22-a blocks have had a "solid
block" design since there inception in
93`, as well as the Carbon-matrix liners. The
liners are actually
Carbon fibre 'filler' mixed with poly resins to
make the liner. The
aluminum (for the block) is actually poured
around these liners. The
H22a motor prelude VTEC) and the C32a (NSX) are
the only honda blocks
in production that utilize that liner."
Help!
I've lost my radio's anti-theft code
A Honda tech posted this
advice to the newsgroup-
"dealer only , go
with your registration and photo id and the serial #, model #
and ref# off the top of the radio (remove radio to access), they
access
hondanet and get it for you. Some dealers put a decal with the code
under the
fuse box lid or in the glove box, 5 digit #. Sometimes the original
selling dealer
will have record of code
by VIN#, save removing the stereo."
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*The Honda Parts Store
