What's the worst that could happen?? and other modding ?s I have

[swoody]

Well, I'm modding my 2000 Civic DX coupe, and had some questions about some things I was contemplating.

1) If I pull off my power steering belt, will it cause any problems? Are we talking long term problems, or is it going to blow up within a mile?

2) Does dimming your dash lights use less energy that fully lit? I'm not exactly sure how the dimmer switch is designed, but is it like the AC where it doesn't matter what temp you set it, it's either on and drawing a constant load, or off completely?

3) Along the same lines, would it be easy to put a switch inline to the dash lights to be able to turn off the illumination completely when wanted? (ie when there are lots of street lights or inner city driving?) Would it be easier to just cut the lights to the radio/HVAC controls, rather than the entire dash?

4) Whats the largest % underdrive pulley available for the SOHC Civic DX engine? I don't have any power accessories on my car, so I'm not worried at all about under-powering the alternator, I just want the underdrive pulley that will provide me with the greatest difference from stock.

5) What kind of improvement could I expect from swapping all my lights to LEDs? I do quite a bit of night driving (I love the open roads ) but is it really going to make a difference if I change all my lights?

6) What's so bad about EOC in my auto tranny car? I read in the owners manual that you can (although they don't recommend it) tow an auto tranny Civic with all 4 tires on the ground over short distances at low speeds (<35mph) So what's wrong with me EOC to a stop, or behind a nice draft vehicle for .5 mi? Is my tranny really going to fall out of the car??

I think that's it for now. Thank you all VERY much! Any kind of tips/advice will be greatly appreciated

[bbjsw10]

On the power steering belt I would not recommend to just pull it off. Look up to see if a CRX non power setup could be made to fit your car.

Dash lights I believe use the same amount of current whether dim or bright. They use a resistor to dim them and it draws current when dimmed.

[bikin' Ed]

When I was a broke kid, my dash lights quit working. I used a penlight to see my dash at night. You could probably use an led flashlight w/ rechargable battery and keep the dash lights turned off.

[Gregte]

Originally Posted by smwoodruff0908

...
5) What kind of improvement could I expect from swapping all my lights to LEDs? I do quite a bit of night driving (I love the open roads ) but is it really going to make a difference if I change all my lights?...

I doubt that you could save as much as 10% of one horsepower by changing everything, excluding headlamps, to LEDs. One HP is about 746 watts. You can determine the actual wattage of all the bulbs you have by multiplying volts times amps. The current draw values can be looked up for the bulbs.

If you gained a 1/10 HP advantage then that might calculate to about a 1% increase in FE at normal highway cruising, assuming your cruising power requirement is around 10 HP. So if you get, say, 35 MPG this would be an increase of 0.35 MPG.

[Tango Charlie]

If you do remove the power steering belt, drive carefully around a nearby parking lot, or somewhere there is no traffic to try it out before you hit the road. Some cars have no noticable difference, some get a little stiffer, and a few are unmanagable (or so I've been told). You will likely notice the biggest difference (highest steering loads) while manuevering at slow speeds in a parking lot.
I have also heard that you can disconnect the hoses from the power steering pump and tee them to a vent. That would help lessen the friction in the rack.

[saunders1313]

NO power steering! You crazy ecodrivers! What's next, no power brakes?! Power steering has been around since the beginning of cars, you just can't operate one without power steering. One time I lost power steering and my car almost self-destructed. What will you crazy people think of next, I suppose shifting into neutral on downhills leaving yourself completely vulnerable. Ok, now take everything I said and change it to the opposite. Power steering is useful, especially when at a stop and have to turn, but you can do without it quite well. It might take a little getting used to, so you should test it out in a parking lot, but there shouldn't be any problems. Oh, and I did lose my power steering once and didn't notice for almost two months.

[Vince-HX]

Autocross guys do this all the time

you need to loop certain lines and add a breather to do it right and reduce the steering effort.

Is it worth it? I have hit high 60's with power steering

If you want to reduce electrical load on the engine might as well bite the bullet and delete the alternator.

[Jeece]

I don't think the dash lightbulbs need enough juice to actually make a significant/measurable difference in alternator load/fuel consumption. But a LED dash sure would make a good modding project anyways!

As for deactivating the power steering, dunno if it's adviseable. My take on this is that while you don't use it, it doesn't take that much engine load (well, some, to an extent). The more energy needed to turn (low speed), the more the pump increase load. Add some newer variable steering assist technology (barely/no assist at high speed) to the mix. Removing the PS would probably result in a small MPG difference on highway driving, but *could* be worth it in urban situation.

Also, not all cars are equal. I had a VW Fox without power steering. Turning the wheel was quite manageable even while parking. I once lost my engine and all power-thingies in a '97 Jetta (not much a bigger car), on the highway. Steering on the exit off ramp was way harder than turning the wheel on a stopped Fox. The reason is that cars designed without power steering have a steering rack geared differently, to minimize effort. Not trying to discourage you, but keep that in mind. As said up there, better try it out on "closed circuit" before hitting the road.

I'll bet you're bored on long trips, driving without radio, eh?

[swoody]

bbjsw10 - I spoke with a seller on eBay that had a ton of power steering racks for sale if he had a manual one that would fit a civic, and lo-and-behold he sent me the link to an auction of his for a manual rack for a Civic, so I know I can find a rack that fits, but it's $120 for the part, $20 for shipping, and a $75 core charge you get back when you send him back your rack.... so that's $140 total, and a lot of time to install the new rack compared to the 5 mins it took me to figure out how to pull off the belt
As far as deleting the alternator, my route can vary rather drastically from day to day. One day I might drive 2 mies, and the next 250, so I'd need something that could handle long drives like that. Would a deep cycle battery work on such long trips? How long would a deep cycle last before it dies? Also, what is involved in deleting the alt? Anyone have a writeup on it?

Jeece - It's really not that bad without a radio On the way back from Ontario earlier this week I had shut off the radio around midnight when my fiance fell asleep in the car, and left it off the rest of the way home (~8 hrs.) She also lives an hour away from my house, and I usually try to leave the vent fans and radio off the entire trip. I'm thinking about just using my iPod and headphones whie driving. I once saw a guy doing that in an old beaten up car and thought "man that's ghetto" but now I'm kind of liking the idea

Vince HX - I found this forum post ( Honda-Tech.com: Acura Integra Type-R: How to: power steering to manual ) that outlines the whole process, but it seems the original poster spent quite a bit of money ($80) on fittings, hoses, etc. but you could do it cheaper. If I was going to go through all that trouble, I think I'd just swap for a manual rack. I think the reason they go through all of that is the power rack is geared better for their autocross racing compared to a regular Civic DX manual rack(correct me if I'm wrong) I don't zip around on the roads, so it wouldn't hurt me to use the manual rack

[swoody]

Originally Posted by Vince-HX

Is it worth it? I have hit high 60's with power steering

Yeah, but you have an HX you cheater Probably could hit 70 without p/s haha