2000 Insight 5 speed repair & build thread

[Daox]

I did some work on the Insight today. I double checked my grounds and cleaned them up. I removed the one from the battery to the firewall, sanded the connection and put a thin coat of dielectric grease on it. The previous owner had caked it in grease or something, probably not good. I then moved on to the transmission ground. I removed the wires, and tried to find a longer 10mm bolt to go on the transmission because the existing bolt was very short and also corroded pretty good. Well, my longer bolt was too long and I ended up snapping it off in the hole... bleh. So, I found another point on the trans a bit farther back holding... something and went to that instead. Again I sanded down the connection points and put a bit of grease on them. Finally, I added a ground wire near the passenger engine mount. I didn't check the one on the back side of the engine as its 44F out and pretty wet.

I went for a short ride after that and it seems to have made a large difference in lean burn stability. It wasn't a long ride, and it wasn't my daily route, so I can't say for sure, but it certainly seemed a lot smoother. I'm super excited about this.

Next up was the cabin air filter. I got one for Christmas and while it was warm out wanted to just throw it in. I'm not sure what Honda was thinking when they designed things, but they didn't really think this one through all that well. Mine ended up being quite a pain to do. Oh, and it had never been done before either. Yep, this is a 2000 Honda Insight with 135k miles on it. *sigh* Here is a picture of the old filter. The hvac fan makes some noise, but it seems a bit happier now. I'm really hoping this gets rid of the slightly musty / mousy smell that the car has.

[MetroMPG]

That filter... shouldn't look at it before/while eating.

[NoD~]

Mine had the plastic trim still on at 180K... lol. Seems people forget about these things! I also got my Subaru Forester at 250K miles... though nothing to note that it's the factory one, it was so dirty that it had deteriorated holes throughout the filter material to allow air through!

Either way, feels good to know fresh air is fresher.

[Daox]

Yup, mine had the plastic still on it too. IMO its a pretty dumb design by Honda. Kind of a pain to get at for a replaceable filter. I've seen it done so much better on other cars. Alas, its done. It does smell better too. Still a hint of must / mouse, but its much better.

The trip in to work today was quite nice. The transition to lean burn and back is quite a bit smoother. However, still not without any bucking. I'm still getting some when I'm at the transition point (~75 mpg). But, I was surprised how eager it was to actually enter lean burn this morning. Even with it being 20F out it seemed quite eager to lean burn. Previous to this it would take some definite coaxing. But, it had no issues at all going right into lean burn this morning. So, overall I would say it is a big improvement, but still needs some tweaking.

[Daox]

The trip in today was not nearly as nice as yesterday. It again wouldn't go into lean burn for squat... I'm wondering if it was the temperature though? It was 18F this morning vs in the low 20s yesterday?

[NoD~]

Until my car hits about 170*F coolant temps, I have a hard time getting lean burn to activate and stay there myself. Putting the outside temp sensor under the hood, above the head, made a good difference in consistency.

[Daox]

Yay for new parts. Yay for new parts installed! New year, new parts... I guess.

I just finished, and I didn't take it for a spin yet. I'll do that tomorrow or the next day. I'm really hoping it helps the juddery clutch. I've read it helps reverse a lot, and my reverse is horrible.





Here is the old mount. It has seen better days.

[Daox]

Alright, here is the report on the new engine mount. It has drastically changed the driving experience. Power is more direct. The clutch engagement while not perfect is quite a bit better. Things seem a bit more solid in general which is just a good feeling. However, you also feel a lot more from the engine... This is a good thing IMO, but its bringing to the surface additional issues because I can feel more. I can now feel the misfiring in lean burn at not just 75 mpg, but its pretty much there all the time now. At higher mpgs, its less noticeable, but it is definitely there. The surging I only felt here and there during acceleration is now more pronounced and happening a lot more than I first thought as well. I'm hoping the two are related, but I'm not really sure where to start. I'll be doing some googling to see if there is any info on IC. Suggestions are quite welcome.

[Daox]

Phew, its been chilly lately. Today was -4F when I left for work. The Insight used the 12V starter instead of the hybrid pack to start the car. I must say, I'm quite impressed with the car in these very cold temps. With the Metro, I'd be freezing my butt off on the way to work. With the block heater I later installed, it was much better. With the Insight, I have a cabin heater, but no block heater at the moment. With the exhaust manifold built into the head, I get heat much faster compared to the Metro (without block heater). I have a short 7 mile commute, so defrosting the windows is a concern and the Insight does a good job of keeping things clear and keeping me warm.

As for the mileage, it has plummeted. Yet, its still incredible for how cold it has been. My tank average is at 54.x mpg right now and the car isn't even running great!

Color me impressed yet again with this car.

[MetroMPG]

Color me impressed yet again with this car.

I remember having that same thought nearly every time I got behind the wheel of mine.