Got me an Insight...

[cowmeat]

I'd probably wait until this fall to see how the lithium replacement being developed over at Insight Central turns out

I'm waiting to see how that one turns out too!

[Xist]

I believe I have read the magnesium oil pan is prone to stripping, so everyone recommends a quick valve.

[NoD~]

Originally Posted by Xist

I believe I have read the magnesium oil pan is prone to stripping, so everyone recommends a quick valve.

Ah, yes! I have one of those in my Amazon cart. Gotta see how things look this weekend before pulling the trigger... never know what I'll find!

Ran the blink codes now that it's gotten a few miles on it...
CEL - 67, 69
IMA - 58, 66, 78
EPS - 16, 23
ABS - 61

Seems I need to look into the cat... that's concerning. I kinda figured the power steering wasn't working quite right, but I'm used to my Neon with none, so it hasn't been a big issue.

I also noticed that the ground straps are looking pretty beat. About 50% of the cable is in tact on the terminal ends, so I'll be rebuilding them tomorrow.

Finally, I figured I'd check the internal air box. I had to look up directions on this as I hit a chunk of plastic attached to the dash and it seemed it had marks to cut it out... 180k miles and the airbox filter was never changed! Oh man, so much stuff was packed in that filter. Both sides were black. Dead bugs and anything that can float in the air or grow on a tree was pretty much stuffed in the filter veins! HA!

[Baltothewolf]

Nod, some of those trouble codes might be due to your ground strap issues. I would check both and make sure both ground straps are replaced, just for good measure.

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

Nod, some of those trouble codes might be due to your ground strap issues. I would check both and make sure both ground straps are replaced, just for good measure.

I was about to say that too
Beats me why anyone would grind the straps but it is a common issue nowadays with first gens.
Mind you, there are four of them.
I won't post a link cause you are good with Google but you can find a good reference at the IC stickies.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

I was about to say that too
Beats me why anyone would grind the straps but it is a common issue nowadays with first gens.
Mind you, there are four of them.
I won't post a link cause you are good with Google but you can find a good reference at the IC stickies.

4? Where is the 3rd and 4th? Unless you are including the ground cable to the battery as a ground.

[RedDevil]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

4? Where is the 3rd and 4th? Unless you are including the ground cable to the battery as a ground.

Under the bonnet and in this link: ground straps - Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum
Okay, I did post a link after all

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Under the bonnet and in this link: ground straps - Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum
Okay, I did post a link after all

Ah, I worked on insights for a full year and never knew about the EPS one. The only ones I ever replaced (which fixed all problems, btw) were the two under the air cleaner.

[Xist]

How prone to failure are the other ones.

[NoD~]

First of all, here is the air filter difference, lol...



Here's the stock grounds...



Yeah, pretty bad...



Paint isn't a good conductor, so off it goes!



I used some 4-awg Stinger RPM series I had laying around from my stereo days. Bought the only crimps I could find for them and pounded them until they were in there solid...



Installed! (With Noalox, since mixing metals...)



The EPS wire actually looked good. I tested for resistance and my meter couldn't find any, so I decided to reuse it for now. I did sand down to bare metal on the chassis, though, for good measures.




I then went to the battery ground... pretty critical this guy is in good shape.



I bought a clamp-and-cable combo for $5, but it was definitely longer than the stock one... that's OK, I was planning to ground the battery directly to the engine anyways, so I built a 4-awg (with smaller ring terminals this time... didn't realize I bought such large ones on the engine to chassis grounds). Wouldn't have fit on the battery terminal otherwise. I wanted to do the engine ground directly to the head, but couldn't find a good reliable way to do so, but it's easy enough to change later. There was a large bolt hold above the O2 sensor connection mount (that also had some grounds going to it), but couldn't find a bolt to fit it. Might have stuck out too far anyways.



Finally, confirmed the engine torque mount was done for. Figured, taking off in 1st feels pretty "long" compared to what it should and after shifting as well. Dealt with it in my Neon by filling mounts with urethane. I used the McMaster-Carr stuff before, but I'm going to try the 3M Window Weld this go-around. It's around $28 at the local auto parts store and should be a little easier to apply than the McMaster-Carr stuff.



That pretty much wraps up today. Oh, I also found the oil was about a quart too high (like 1/2" higher than the 2nd hole on the dipstick!) so I uncorked and let some drain out. Seems to be just below that hole now.

Important question!: I went to pull the plugs out because I bought some new ones. I went for the center plug first and it was really resistant the whole way out. Towards the end, though, it got REALLY hard to turn out. I got scared and put it back (I've stripped out a plug head on an old Neon and it was a nightmare to deal with). Anybody experience this before? My only guess is the threads stuck in the combustion chamber a bit and caught some carbon build up. Seafoam through the intake and let sit? Try it on a warm engine?! Just looking for some advice. Never had plugs turn ~10 times and only get harder to pull out before!