2000 Insight 5 speed repair & build thread

[KFM]

Oh, doesn't look like you've wired up your switches, yet, either.

One thing that helped me was to unplug the brake and clutch cables, pull them down as far as you can, then cut them as close to the plug as you feel comfortable, then take them out of the car and solder some wires on to give you some more length.

Aha! I found it. I made a nifty little diagram so I wouldn't forget how to do this later. Moving this up here because I think it'll make it easier to make sense of what you're looking at:


This will make it way easier when wiring them up, as you have very little room to work in, and the wires are pretty tightly wired. I'm pretty sure under all that black tape is the clutch switch.


Looks like I only did this on one on mine, but you can see ( green and yellow wires vs the green and white ) how much more room it gives you to play with.


Mine were already pretty much destroyed ( by my first attempts at doing this ) by the time I figured this out, but Cowmeat's looks much better, as I started figuring things out by the third time that I'd done it.

Oh, also, TAKE THE SEAT OUT and get a pillow for your lower back where the floor steps up. It doesn't take much time and while your back still won't thank you for it, it won't be screaming bloody murder for two days, either.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by JimIsbell

I am not sure what you mean by "shudder" but its a EGR or clogged passages it will have the "herky jerkys" at about 45 mph in 5th gear. The herky jerkys should not bother you except at about 2000 rpm. If you keep it above 2K you wont have a problem.

I did go ahead and clean up the EGR passages a couple of pages back.

Before.


After.

[Ecky]

KFM, try loosening the screws in the shifter knob ever so slightly, and the buttons will not stick.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by KFM

Oh, doesn't look like you've wired up your switches, yet, either.

One thing that helped me was to unplug the brake and clutch cables, pull them down as far as you can, then cut them as close to the plug as you feel comfortable, then take them out of the car and solder some wires on to give you some more length.

Aha! I found it. I made a nifty little diagram so I wouldn't forget how to do this later.

...

Thanks for the tips! Also, I just PMed you the part numbers for the shift knob.

I haven't done anything with the Insight in a few weeks now. I sadly haven't done any real car stuff, just busy with life and getting ready for a trip to Africa this coming month.

[Daox]

Yes, a quarter turn out on the screws usually makes the world of difference for binding. Its hard to make it work great 100% of the time with high summer temps and low winter temps affecting expansion of the material. The looser I make the fit the more they start to rattle and I find that annoying.

I have contemplated using grease or a dab of silicon to eliminate the rattle. Other ideas are welcome.

[KFM]

Oh, nice. Thanks, guys, I'll give it a try and see if that fixes it.

[EDIT] Just tried this in the garage and it looks like it's working again. I hit it about 75 times, fast, slow, holding it down for a few seconds, and it didn't stick once.

Thanks again for the help.

[KenS]

Daox
Welcome to Insight ownership. I have 2 of these at this time. Both 2000 models. The 2000 model was manual tranny only. The manual tranny cars came with Lean burn. I did a repair on one of my cars. The trip button was dead so I bought another dash display panel and switched them out. The panel change fixed the trip selection button issue but, the car mileage changed to the previous donor car's mileage. Total mileage is kept in the circuitry of that panel. So, an easy change of vehicle lifetime mileage can be done by changing that dash panel display. I did go back and change out the button board in the assembly to return the original dash panel to the car. Those pedals are usually a tattle tale to extended mileage or heavy in town driving. That pedal wear creates an interest to check this one out. I am not saying this has been done, but something to look into. On another note, I have one insight that has 293,000+ miles. That car just keeps on trucking. There are insights in the 350,000 mile range still on the road. You have made a good choice for a hybrid. Continue the questions about the car. There are many people knowledgeable of these cars. Be sure and join up with the insight central forum group. Cheers.

[KenS]

3. You may also want to perform the valve lash and clean/replace the sock as well. Valve lash & that sock can have random affects on smoothless and leanburn.

Ryan, I seem to not know exactly this part you speak of "sock". Where is this?

[Daox]

So, the Metro is up for sale. This means I'll be driving the Insight soon hopefully. I think it would be a good idea to get a grid charger made up as I know the battery is on the weak side. I'd also like to make one that has a discharge feature. Does anyone have a link to a schematic of one? I know there are many different designs.

[Ecky]

Check my build thread, you can assemble one of my design for <$50. =)