Trollinsight Modding Thread (2000 Honda Insight)

[HyperMileQC]

So my winter tires are now installed and inflated to 38 psi front & 35 psi rear. I will put them at 45 psi all around probably. I will also reinstall my rear fender skirts.

Since now ~2 weeks, my clutch seems to be really weird. When I start in reverse with the foot on the clutch, the car starts to backup and it is impossible to shift without shutting off the engine then restart in neutral. EVERY time I shift I have to press the clutch 1-2 times before going into gear because it doesn't want to go in if I try without pumping the clutch. The first gear is starting to act like the reverse when my engine is very cold.

I filled my fluid reservoir with brake fluid to the MAX line but I think there is air bubbles in the lines. The level was so low that I suspect there might be a leak...

[rmay635703]

On my insight the motor has started making a noise like an old starter cranking continously at rpms of 1500 and above, I can't figure out why, also am getting some chugging. Spark plugs were recently replaced but I have no idea why that would do this.

I am temped to do an oil change at 1000 miles (synthetic too) just in case something strange is going on, belts and whatnot seem to be fine

[HyperMileQC]

Can't help about the motor noise issue.

Oil change is something you need to do the soonest possible if you don't know how long the old oil is. When I changed my oil for the first time it was really old oil and now I wish I could have done it sooner. Every 10k km or 1 year is good for me. Always with 0w-20 Mobil 1 Advanced Fuel Economy and a Honda Insight oil filter (~13$ CAN).



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Anybody with G1 Insight who got clutch fluid problems?

[RobertSmalls]

Originally Posted by HyperMileQC

Anybody with G1 Insight who got clutch fluid problems?

My clutch slave cylinder died on me last year. In the morning, it was hard to get into gear without rev-matching, and it quickly progressed to the car being undriveable by the end of the day. I handed the car to a mechanic, so I don't know what the exact problem was, but I do know there was hydraulic fluid leakage at the slave cylinder.

Good luck with yours, and take care of it before it gets worse or gets too cold.

[HyperMileQC]

So this week-end I bleeded the clutch fluid and now the clutch works like never before, it is clear that I had this problem since I bought the car, but only cold temperatures made me discover it. The car shifts smoothly and no clutch pumping is required.

I will check regularly my fluid reservoir to see if it lowers, but I looked on the lines, the master cylinder and the slave cylinder and there seems to be no leaks.

I had to remove the air filter box to bleed the clutch, so I had the opportunity to see my air filter for the first time has I had previously failed to open my box. It is very dirty! Will change it soon. What do you guys recommend? Honda?

Also, I inflated my winter tires to 45 psi all around and reinstalled my rear fender skirts.

[vskid3]

Originally Posted by HyperMileQC

I had to remove the air filter box to bleed the clutch, so I had the opportunity to see my air filter for the first time has I had previously failed to open my box. It is very dirty! Will change it soon. What do you guys recommend? Honda?

See the bottom of this page. If you still want to change it, I would go with Honda. Definitely no need to go with anything like a K&N.

[HyperMileQC]

Update : The car works like never before, friction point on the clutch pedal has changed. I definitely had to relearn how to drive the car! It shifts so well. But its more difficult to bump start perfectly...

Beated my previous score of 2 weeks without charging the IMA battery .

I also received my 125w pan heater that I will install soon.

[HyperMileQC]

Today it was so cold outside! Around -20°C. Even after 3 hours of EBH my c°WT only showed 27°C before I started the engine. After starting it (with the 12v starter...), the c°WT dropped around ~20°C in like 5 seconds.
The car still shifted really well and the clutch was perfect .

On the returning trip, c°WT showed -21°C (EBH not plugged when I'm at work...) and I let the car Idle for 20 secs. Usually the rpms starts to lower at this point and I'm ready to go. But this time the rpm just didn't drop. So I let it idle for 15 more sec. Nothing. I decided to go after 35 secs but after backing from the parking spot, I put it in 1st and I tried to declutch and go but the car stalled instantly even if I was giving some fuel to help. Do I have to let it idle more to let the rpm drops when its cold like that or I may have a problem?

Trip A (Tank average) shows 79.1 mpg 502.1 mi. and I'm at 8/20 bars on the fuel gauge. Last time I filled was in september and I think I will fillup in febuary. Last fill is 90+ day so I'm no more displayed on team Honda and top 10 hybrids. It will take a long time before I update my fuel log .

[minispeed]

We had -16C here and about 10 inches of snow, got my worst ever round trip 90mi at about 53mpg. The roads were not plowed for most of the trip so the rolling resistance was very bad. Engine temps still got up quickly with a full grill block and would stay around 85-95C with full heat except on a long downhill section where the instant MPG was around 120ish and the engine temps started dropping off from 76 to about 66 when I turned off the heater.

I don't have a block heater yet and I was at about -12 when I started, warmed up only as long as it took to clear my car and the path to my wifes car of snow but quickly the temp got up to 27 when I left and it climbed steady with no driveability issues at all.

I've put an oil filled heater in it that I plug in at the same time as my grid charger. It's on a timer to come on about an hour before I leave. I pushed the passenger seat all the way forward, when I'm driving I'll recline it to keep the heater in place while moving. That should reduce my reliance on the cabin heater during warm up and make the drive a lot more comfortable. I should do the block heater soon. I wanted a drain plug OEM style but maybe I'll get lazy and do the magnetic one. Which one did you get?

[HyperMileQC]

I have the OEM frostplug block heater. What I bought recently is a 125w pad heater that you have to stick.