2000 Insight - TLC and ecomodding build

[California98Civic]

Hmmm. If you can hear clicking, the mechansm must be getting power, so it can't be a fuse, I din't think. This happened to a buddy on his hatch (not a Honda). We could hear the clicking in the hatch door, but the door did not unlock. Turned out the cable mechanism was actually disconnected from the door lock. Took two minutes to fix once we knew that.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by HyperMileQC

With the Potenza on flat ground at 60 mph I see 100-105 mpg when in lean burn. Tires inflated at 55 Psi front 50 Psi rear.

I will sometimes get 100+ mpg at freeway speeds, but it's erratic, depending on road condition, head or tail winds, phase of the moon, and gawd knows what else. The spells of 50-60 mpg tend to cancel those out. And of course actual flat ground is a rarity hereabouts. But I went to visit friends today, mostly freeway & main highway, got about 73 mpg for 105 miles or so.

And re dogs: the dog in the front seat works if you only have one dog. I have two, so one rides in front, one in the hatch.

[HyperMileQC]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I will sometimes get 100+ mpg at freeway speeds, but it's erratic, depending on road condition, head or tail winds, phase of the moon, and gawd knows what else. The spells of 50-60 mpg tend to cancel those out. And of course actual flat ground is a rarity hereabouts. But I went to visit friends today, mostly freeway & main highway, got about 73 mpg for 105 miles or so.

And re dogs: the dog in the front seat works if you only have one dog. I have two, so one rides in front, one in the hatch.

You are right I only see this instantaneous FC at 60 mph when driving in perfect conditions. But I already saw it for 20-25 miles and it was pretty consistent at 100 mpg except for the NOx purge cycles. I also have some mods so that must help too.

Are you reffering to NOx purge cycles (50-60 mpg spells)?

I already did trips with a dog in my Insight and I think the passenger foot area is the best place. If you put the dog behind depending on the size of the dog it can block your rear view.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by HyperMileQC

Are you reffering to NOx purge cycles (50-60 mpg spells)?

No, it's things like headwinds, rough pavement, or very slight slopes. For instance, the road I take into town follows the valley of a creek, and drops an almost imperceptible* 100 ft or so in 5 miles. In warm weather, I'll get 100+ mpg going in, but 50-60 coming back.

*Unless you're biking - or driving an Insight :-)

[Ecky]

Did a super thorough inspection of the car.

1. Looks like I'm in need of a rear engine mount, it's broken but not causing any issues yet. No chunks missing.




2. The passenger front tire air-dam aero panel is missing.




3. For some reason the front pans are hanging a little low, though apparently intact. The aluminum panel is bent in one corner. There's a small plate with two bolts on the bottom of the oil pan right in the middle with no obvious purpose, and I wonder if there isn't supposed to be something that supports the aero pans there?


4. The passenger middle aero panel is actually half missing, so I pulled what remained off. The previous owner had zip-tied it to the fuel and brake lines.

I'll probably replace it with something made of coroplast. The pans in the middle are 64" in length and 23" wide.




5. The front bumper is sagging a bit because it's missing two bolts(?) between the headlights. I also had to adjust the hood latch up just a hair to get it to close securely, even though nothing appears to be bent or damaged. Might be because of the bumper.




6. Apparently I have 3 Michelin Energy Savers, and one Potenza RE92 (passenger rear).



Good things:

Turns out the previous owner had already replaced the front speakers. Behind the grilles, I found a pair of Sony Xplod GT1626A's (40w RMS). I never would have expected, because they still sound pretty miserable. Hopefully a bit of amplification will help.

[Ecky]

Inflated all of the tires up to 50PSI, and did some research on my issue with the locks. The engine bay is amazingly clean!

Here's the remaining (rear) half of the passenger middle aero panel:




Looks like not having that particular panel for a bit won't hurt too much. It's pretty flat through that area:




Also bent the aluminum panel in the front back into shape.


Took some 120v electrical cord and ran it from the battery through a grommet into the passenger footwell, for my amplifier.




I have four Rockford Fosgate 6.75" speakers laying around, but sadly only 6.5" speakers fit in the doors. They're both too deep, and too big around to fit. They do, however, fit behind the seats:




Amp and rear speakers in place. When I next open the battery box, I'll re-route the speaker wires.




Ground location:




The front speakers with amplification no longer distort at any reasonable volume, and sound worlds better. They still have no bass, and sound a bit like they're playing from inside a tin can. I may replace them at a later point if I find myself needing to dispose of money. Amp is a Kenwood KAC-8401 (320w RMS). The rear speakers sound better in the Insight than they did in my Del Sol, and provide a reasonable amount of bass. I have a sub I may put in too, but this will do for now. I placed an order for a nice head unit with some basic equalizer functions.

[Ecky]

The fleet, parked out front:

[ecomodded]

Originally Posted by Ecky

There's something funky up with the power locks. When I hit lock/unlock on the 3 button remote, I hear a click (sounds like the actuator is moving) in the hatch and both doors, but it doesn't actually lock or unlock the car. Likewise, hitting the power locks switch in the door panel makes a click that I can hear both in the door panels, and in the hatch, but the doors remain locked. The hatch button doesn't open the hatch, I have to use the key.

What's likely going on here? Should I check the fuses?

I would check the locks themselves , maybe all 3 are dried out and sticky.

Or
a security feature of the car is hampering the remotes abilities.

[MetroMPG]

"The fleet..."

Common phrase of the ecomodder.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by ecomodded

...Or
a security feature of the car is hampering the remotes abilities.

That's a really interesting possibility.