What did you do to your Honda today?
** And By The Way**
Great Place to get your car done Free every year..
Thanks to them..
Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 81
From: Delaware
That's normal for me. Lol. If there's no blood, I'm not doing the job right.
Thread Starter
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Almost A Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 328
From: Redwood City, CA 94065
Yesterday I spent a few hours replacing the inlet heater hoses and valve. This is the hose that leave the engine block from under the distributor, winds its way down to the firewall area where the valve is bracketed to the firewall and the heater turn-on wire comes out of the firewall, and then the rear hose which connects the valve to the inlet pipe at the top of the firewall just behind the intake manifold. After fineagling with the rear motor mount too much last month the valve started dripping coolant ... so time to replace it.
The valve and hoses themselves easy enough to assemble using the spring clamps provided and a single 10mm nut.
It was the access which was a bitch especially for the hose going into the firewall. it's really hard to get a hand behind the intake manifold to work with the hose. And of course the old hose was "glued" on to the pipe. I ended up cutting it with an Exacto knife and peeling it off the pipe. Working the spring clamp back there was a pain as well.
The other thing that took a lot of time was cleaning up the oil debris from the prior owner who let the distributor leak forever and caked the top of the engine. I had been cleaning the engin bit by bit every thing I replaced a part. Pulling the hose from this area gave me good access to clean more.
i also replaced the black plsstic wiring harness holder that carries the wires over the transmission. The holder was also caked with plastic, and I found it easier to just buy a new one rather than try to clean the old one.
$90 in parts and 3 hours labor later, the engine is looking newer than before
Of course, the ABS light is going on now ... looks like I have my next job already lined up.
The valve and hoses themselves easy enough to assemble using the spring clamps provided and a single 10mm nut.
It was the access which was a bitch especially for the hose going into the firewall. it's really hard to get a hand behind the intake manifold to work with the hose. And of course the old hose was "glued" on to the pipe. I ended up cutting it with an Exacto knife and peeling it off the pipe. Working the spring clamp back there was a pain as well.
The other thing that took a lot of time was cleaning up the oil debris from the prior owner who let the distributor leak forever and caked the top of the engine. I had been cleaning the engin bit by bit every thing I replaced a part. Pulling the hose from this area gave me good access to clean more.
i also replaced the black plsstic wiring harness holder that carries the wires over the transmission. The holder was also caked with plastic, and I found it easier to just buy a new one rather than try to clean the old one.
$90 in parts and 3 hours labor later, the engine is looking newer than before
Of course, the ABS light is going on now ... looks like I have my next job already lined up.
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 8
From: Eastern Oregon
Had a TPMS light come on this morning, one tire was about 7 or 8 lbs low. I'll drop by the Les Schwab tire place in the morning and try to get it fixed, nail is kind of close to the edge so I hope they can fix it.
Last edited by desertrat; Dec 14, 2014 at 02:00 PM.
Thread Starter
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Almost A Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 328
From: Redwood City, CA 94065
After a test drive following the heater pipe and valve replacement, when the engine cooled down I found the lower radiator hose flattening from a vacuum inside the cooling system. Opening the radiator cap released the vacuum and let the hose return to normal shape.
Upon closer inspection I found that the hole from the neck of the radiator that connects to the coolant overflow tube had never been fully formed -- it was closed off still with plastic -- so thiat radiator had been operating without an overflow system for who knows how many years (maybe all 18). That could explain a lot of coolant woes in the car's history.
An initial jabbing with a straight pick tool showed that the plastic could be broken through without much effort to open up the hole. Then I routed the hole using drill bits (held with my fingers) to slowly open the hole. It opened pretty easily to 1/8" and then it got hard -- so I think the factory mold for the plastic radiator top was supposed to put a 1/8" hole there.
Bought a new radiator cap and overflow hose for good measure, and just replaced them this morning and went on some errands. So far no issues, the engine sounds good and the temp is stable in it's position below the halfway mark. When I got home I checked the coolant overflow tank ... the level didn't seem to rise, hopefully meaning that I burped the system well. I'll check it out tonight or tomorrow when cold to see if the coolant level has dropped at all.
So, the moral of this story is, don't assume anything that anyone makes is built or working properly!
Upon closer inspection I found that the hole from the neck of the radiator that connects to the coolant overflow tube had never been fully formed -- it was closed off still with plastic -- so thiat radiator had been operating without an overflow system for who knows how many years (maybe all 18). That could explain a lot of coolant woes in the car's history.
An initial jabbing with a straight pick tool showed that the plastic could be broken through without much effort to open up the hole. Then I routed the hole using drill bits (held with my fingers) to slowly open the hole. It opened pretty easily to 1/8" and then it got hard -- so I think the factory mold for the plastic radiator top was supposed to put a 1/8" hole there.
Bought a new radiator cap and overflow hose for good measure, and just replaced them this morning and went on some errands. So far no issues, the engine sounds good and the temp is stable in it's position below the halfway mark. When I got home I checked the coolant overflow tank ... the level didn't seem to rise, hopefully meaning that I burped the system well. I'll check it out tonight or tomorrow when cold to see if the coolant level has dropped at all.
So, the moral of this story is, don't assume anything that anyone makes is built or working properly!
Last edited by jkowtko; Dec 15, 2014 at 10:48 PM.
