I hate mystery noises. Ever since I reassembled Earl Burner’s engine, there has been an odd rotating noise that sounds like a bearing wearing out. Yet I didn’t want to start blindly replacing everything. Stethoscope to the rescue. After probing around with it, I managed to hear the mystery noise while locating the probe on… Continue reading Mystery Noise Lost and Found Department
Category: Repairs
Success? The Civic lives…
Welp… View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Hooptie Garage (@thehooptiegarage)
Tip for valve cover Heli-Coils
In the past, I had to use Heli-Coils since a previous mechanic had gotten overzealous and overtightened the valve cover bolts, which stripped them out. When I installed a couple of Heli-Coils last time, I ended up ruining a couple of the coils since they did not go into the hole easily. This time, however,… Continue reading Tip for valve cover Heli-Coils
The Civic is grounded for the Lemons Rally
Bad Civic did not cooperate, so Civic stays home from the rally. Yep. There it sits, looking forlorn and somewhat disassembled. Wha’happn? One of the holes in the block has stripped threads. I was starting to get all the bolts in place. Got to this last one, and about halfway down it started encountering a… Continue reading The Civic is grounded for the Lemons Rally
Possibly found the oil burning issue…
I finally pulled a piston on the Civic, and found two things that may have been causing all the oil burning. There was a lot of carbon on top of the pistons, as well as the underside of the cylinder head. The first issue? Cross-hatching. Or, lack thereof. Only faint lines remain. The factory specifies… Continue reading Possibly found the oil burning issue…
Dang it! Can’t we get quality parts anymore??
Quick update this morning–I heard a light clanking from the front of the Civic and earlier this week, I put it on stands to try to track it down. There is still a loud overall clunking, but this was slightly different. Found the culprit. The left lower ball joint is loose. I compared it to… Continue reading Dang it! Can’t we get quality parts anymore??
Bad alignment is bad.
A year or two ago, while the world was locked down, I had replaced the rear upper control arms in my road trip CR-V with adjustable units, so that camber could be adjusted. To prevent wearing out the tires, I decided to get an alignment prior to the Rocky Mountain Breakdown rally. After the Lemons… Continue reading Bad alignment is bad.
Fail, fail again…
Here we go again. “This will be a quick job,” he says. “It’s only three nuts and a bolt,” he says. “This only needs a few tools,” he says. Ball joint Hell. These 3rd-generation CR-Vs have, allegedly, the easiest ball joints to replace. Rather than have the joint pressed into the steering knuckle, these ball… Continue reading Fail, fail again…
Acura TSX error code P0847
After witnessing a flashing “D” in the transmission display, I ran codes with the BlueDriver and found that code P0847 was stored. This is the “3rd clutch transmission fluid pressure switch,” per the service manual. And fortunately, the manual reassures us that this cannot be a mechanical problem inside the transmission, but is an electrical… Continue reading Acura TSX error code P0847
Buying old alloy wheels can be an issue
As alloy wheels age, particularly in climates where a lot of road salt it used, rim leaks can develop as the lip of the wheel corrodes beneath the sealing bead of the tire. We’ve had that happen on two different older cars, to the point where on the TSX, I got disgusted with fixing four… Continue reading Buying old alloy wheels can be an issue