2000 Insight 5 speed repair & build thread

[NoD~]

Originally Posted by HyperMileQC

Also for the grounds, be sure to check for the little power steering rack & pignion ground, its a little bit tricky to get to it but this ground is also very important. Make sure it is in good shape, on my two Insights it was broken and I repaired the grounds and upgraded it.

Is that ground important for the power steering or the engine? Mine looked OK at a glance, so I left it, but my power steering never worked, so I yanked that motor out and took out the worm gear (well worth it, IMO).

I did, however, build a new ground kit with I think 4awg power cable. Make sure you sand to bare metal @ the chassis at all your ground points if you want the best conductivity! I put some Nolox on these to keep corrosion down.

[HyperMileQC]

It is for the EPS system I think but on my two insight both EPS worked with a broken ground. IMO they did not put a ground there for nothing so I just put one there because I know Insights can be strange with grounding issues better to have more than not enough haha.

Sanded all metal where the grounds connect and measured everything and all shows good readings, near 0 ohms.

Also, Daox, I hope changing your coil packs will stop your problem. I think I read that you changed the plugs so this is a good start that cant be bad, you surely indexed it so everything should be fine ignition wise. Have you also measured the gap of your plugs before installing them?

[Daox]

Nope, I did not measure the gap before installing.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Looks like something else I need to rust-proof.

Did you ever get around to doing anything with your coil packs? It looks like my new ones will be in soon and I'm thinking I should paint them, or silicon them or put something on them for longevity's sake. This isn't the most rare issue from reading on IC.

[Ecky]

I was actually considering what to do about them earlier today. I'm thinking silicone might be best, but they'd need to dry out fully first.

EDIT: While I'm thinking about it, I should pull them out of the car, clean them up, and set them out to dry.

[Ecky]

Looks like mine were showing the first signs of rust. I think I'd rather not put any phosphoric acid on them. I wonder if they get hot? And if silicone would be too insulating?

[Daox]

I'll try to remember to check out the temperature when I get home tonight.

[Ecky]

Wasn't feeling terribly patient, so I suppose I'll find out of the coils need cooling or not. :P

[Daox]

The new coil packs came in and I installed them last weekend. I have been doing some training for work most of the week so I haven't gotten to drive the car enough to notice if they've done anything. Honestly, so far it doesn't seem like its made any difference, but I've only had a few shorter trips and its been very cold out lately (5F this morning).

Here are a bunch of shots of the old and new coil packs.

Shiny new coil packs. It appears the steel laminations are painted. Some of the paint is chipped off already though.





Old rusy, but still functioning coil packs.





What eventually would happen is the laminations separate so much that it breaks the plastic housing. So, they would have to be replaced sooner or later anyways.





Other side.





New and old.





To hopefully prevent this in the future I did the same thing Ecky did. I smeared some gasket maker over it. I tried to keep it relatively thin so it doesn't thermally insulate it too much.

[cowmeat]

Florida fades your clear coat and cracks your dash (and melts anything you happen to leave on your dash, like your cell phone), but thankfully we don't have rust to deal with!

Man I do not miss that !