Noname 08 OBXT Rebuild Thread

Well hit 500 miles. Everything is running smoothly still. Oil change this evening looked like a stripper did it. Light gold flakes. But just light flakes and not a ton. Nothing big.

 

Don't see any leaks anywhere. I'll stick my head in the engine area again tomorrow but I couldn't see anything under the car at all. Need to do oil and trans fluid on the civic tomorrow as well.

LOL civic trans fluid. When I helped my son move in June, he still has Honda tranny fluid, some 11 years since we sold the car.

Haha yea. I remember changing it at like 150k and then uhhh.... I've given the car to a friend who needed something more reliable than her own. Trying to limp it to next summer and it's got some input shaft bearing whine. I'm hoping fluid will keep it in one piece.

 

Dang engine in it is leaking everywhere. Needs new head gasket, power steering gasket or pump, rear main seal. But at 270k it just isn't worth it. I had to run it too hard for too long and now it needs too much. Original everything on it though except the brake calipers!

 

 

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Well so far no leaks. Going to spend a while driving it between coats of plastidip today. Should make the driving more interesting.

 

I didn't check the material on the hood, didn't have a magnet with me, but the chrome pieces come off the grill individually and hood without any real issue, which will be nice for spraying without a ton of masking.

 

How I'll be driving today and tomorrow.

 

 

 

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It's also probably time to restore those headlights

But I understand, one thing at a time .

It's also probably time to restore those headlights

But I understand, one thing at a time .

 

 

 

Haha it's on the to do list. Even clouded, they are better than the clear ones on the civic. The h4 bulb is terrible. Last time I did it, I gouged the lens pretty bad. So I'm just being lazy. After I get the technique down on the civic, I'll do the outback.

 

Eventually I'll do hid retrofit and clear the reflector too. I don't think I'm going to black it out though. Idk yet.

 

 

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The emblem on the front grill however does not come off with floss. Holy jeez. Heat gun didn't help at all. Get under it and pry up and then a pocket knife to cut the tape. I damaged the outer ring slightly, but I'm just gonna use it anyway for now. I might redo the whole front better down the road.

 

This is the lip I'm talking about. I guess the other emblems are flat? Or maybe I'm just not good enough.

 

 

Got some razor blades though and gonna get all that thick double side tape off. Do people just use regular double sided tape to get it back on?

Well after some flailing around trying to get the obd link to connect, I pulled my learning views. Looks like I certainly have a vacuum leak but my iam is 1 and my timing corrections all still zero, which I understand is good.

 

 

 

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Well I took a little break after the engine had fully cooled down but it was still daylight. Sprayed carb cleaner all around but didn't hear any changes in the idle. My understanding is it should be fairly noticeable.

 

I did:

Maf hose both sides

Turbo inlet both sides and all connecting items (bcs etc)

Both sides of the tgv

Both sides of intercooler and along the side tanks

Evap from firewall and brake booster

Various things on the back of the manifold

Bpv

Every connection I could find of the secondary air pump

 

Quite a lot of vacuum hoses haha. But didn't seem to get anything anywhere. Anything I missed that's common?

 

I also haven't cleaned the maf. I was planning to replace but haven't yet. Do you need special maf cleaner or will something else work? I never removed either of the oxygen sensors because they are seized on there. I did notice driving around my afr would jump all over as I applied and removed throttle. I figured this was normal and know the narrowband isn't crazy accurate but would see from 12-20. It's the first one in the up that measures afr correct?

 

 

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Buy a can of MAF cleaner from the auto parts store. It will last you a long time.

 

You only need a spay the MAF for a couple seconds.

 

When you need to replace the O2 sensor, pay the man. Then when you get the car back, remove it and put some anti seize compound on the threads.

I mean, your numbers are not that bad. Again, that second fuel trim is questionable since you spend so little time there. FYI, these fuel trims can vary between +/-15%. We usually like them to be between +/-5%. So yours are not bad really. Just observe if they keep changing or stay around these same values.

I would not bother changing the MAF yet. You can clean it though.

Have you replaced the short vacuum hose between the MAP sensor and the manifold? I think you saw my other post in some other thread about mine being hard as a rock!

Buy a can of MAF cleaner from the auto parts store. It will last you a long time.

 

You only need a spay the MAF for a couple seconds.

 

When you need to replace the O2 sensor, pay the man. Then when you get the car back, remove it and put some anti seize compound on the threads.

 

 

 

Yea I was just hoping I could use carb cleaner or brake cleaner since I have those already. But I know the maf is delicate.

 

My plan was actually just to replace the whole uppipe! I was thinking about getting some take off manifolds from a newer vehicle and having them ported to match the grimmspeed cross pipe and uppipe and do a new o2 then. Buuuut that's a lot of money, I just hate rust. Yea if it needs to go, I'll certainly pay someone. The exhaust has given me enough headache for now.

 

 

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Have you replaced the short vacuum hose between the MAP sensor and the manifold? I think you saw my other post in some other thread about mine being hard as a rock!

 

 

 

I have not. And it is not in great shape. Yea I've been thinking about that one. I need to do that and I think one of the evap sensor hoses and then they'll all be new. Was thinking about going in and zip tieing everything as well.

 

Guess I'm just being anxious as this is all new territory. I'll keep watching the trims. I was reading a post somewhere about someone who changed the values to have them report at 0, 10, 20, 40 because of that 5 being so low. I'm not sure if that's a common thing people do or how helpful it is.

 

My understanding is this is fuel percent correction at certain airflow read by the maf. So it's adding 5% fuel to the base map at 0-5 grams flow read. And at 5-10 grams it's adding 8% more fuel. But above 10 it's actually taking away fuel just slightly. This is all closed loop so it's reacting to the afr because you don't really hit boost until well above the 40. So any sort of leaks from exhaust or intake, faulty sensors (like a dirty maf), and a whole slew of other things effect it but we use it to make sure we don't have any leaks so when we hit boost we don't explode. Is that kinda the premise?

 

 

 

 

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I'm planning to finish up my 1000 miles tonight. Do an oil change to t6. I'm going to use that one for now and explore oils more later. We are supposed to drop into the low 40s and rain for the next two days and then assuming everything is still good, I'll be putting my under cover and turbo heat shield back on and driving 300 miles to Southern Utah Friday morning.

 

 

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If you have a air compressor, plug the hose off the air filter box with a pint size paint can. pull the small hose off the blow off valve, give that hose a quick short blast of air, put you thumb over the hose. Listen for leaks. When you remove your thumb, you should hear air come out of the hose.

Oh that's a neat idea. I don't have or have access to a compressor but maybe I could makeshift something. There is probably a lot of air volume in there but I have a compressor tank type thing for mountain bikes, bike pumps, and a small handheld battery tire inflation thing. I wouldn't think it would need crazy pressure, just enough air volume.

I have not. And it is not in great shape. Yea I've been thinking about that one. I need to do that and I think one of the evap sensor hoses and then they'll all be new. Was thinking about going in and zip tieing everything as well.

 

Guess I'm just being anxious as this is all new territory. I'll keep watching the trims. I was reading a post somewhere about someone who changed the values to have them report at 0, 10, 20, 40 because of that 5 being so low. I'm not sure if that's a common thing people do or how helpful it is.

 

My understanding is this is fuel percent correction at certain airflow read by the maf. So it's adding 5% fuel to the base map at 0-5 grams flow read. And at 5-10 grams it's adding 8% more fuel. But above 10 it's actually taking away fuel just slightly. This is all closed loop so it's reacting to the afr because you don't really hit boost until well above the 40. So any sort of leaks from exhaust or intake, faulty sensors (like a dirty maf), and a whole slew of other things effect it but we use it to make sure we don't have any leaks so when we hit boost we don't explode. Is that kinda the premise?

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If the hoses are hard, zip tying them won't do anything.

 

 

 

I have not really heard people changing the ranges like that. But then I have not searched for that. It is definitely possible to do though.

 

 

And yeah, if your trims are good in general, then you can surmise that the car will run great while in boost. Also, IIRC, the fourth trim (40+ g/s) affects the amount fuel that is being used while in open loop. In other words, if the car has learned to pull several % of fuel while in trim D, then in open loop, it will also pull a certain % of fuel too. It may or may not be a good thing...

 

There are threads out there which teach you how to disable this feature.

 

Here is one: http://romraider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4757

Oh that's a neat idea. I don't have or have access to a compressor but maybe I could makeshift something. There is probably a lot of air volume in there but I have a compressor tank type thing for mountain bikes, bike pumps, and a small handheld battery tire inflation thing. I wouldn't think it would need crazy pressure, just enough air volume.

 

Yeah, only need about 15psi. Fill your tank with 15psi, that should work with a air nozzle.

So I've got about 2k on the engine and the engine itself seems so far so good. I realized when I checked the oil that it wasn't very level, tilted to the passenger side so it was reading as if it had used a little more than half a quart. So that seems good.

 

I also pulled my LV with romraider this time due to Android issues. The tables are labeled different but I think this says everything is pretty good..

 

 

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I did notice a few things today though. On cold start I heard a noise that I've noticed here and there. I think it's the alternator. Grabbed a video of it. It's louder when cold and tones down as it warms up until it's gone. Is this a belt too tight sound?

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QdL9JYGbdm4smO4_hI6eLBRvRC1MjCHS/view?usp=drivesdk

 

The power steering fluid is low. A bit concerning because it was a bit over full 2k miles ago. It doesn't look to be leaking onto the block or timing cover, or around the lines. It might be leaking down by the rack. I'm hoping stuff is dry enough to get under it tomorrow. I wish the rent a stall place hadn't closed.

 

Last thing I saw was while looking for a leak is this, that's behind the air box. It almost looks like the seam between the rail and unibody is separating. Not sure what to do there.

 

 

I can see it in one of my old photos so it's not new, which means I didn't break it at least.

My trusted mechanic has told me, Valvoline Maxlife is a good PS stop leak fluid to use. I also have used Lucas products.

 

Most likely your rack is leaking. Fairly common.

 

That photo, its hard to understand what your showing. Is that the bottom of the air filter box that has that opening ?

That photo, its hard to understand what your showing. Is that the bottom of the air filter box that has that opening ?

 

I believe that's the bottom of the ABS support bracket along the frame rail.

Chocoholic has the good eye. Yea that's the seam at the rail. From my auto body days, I thought that was a weld. I think I'll need to get a borescope or something to make sure there's no rust and then cover it up somehow?

 

 

I'll have to try some valvoline and start thinking about a new rack maybe down the road. The Honda needs some dumb special power steering fluid, glad I don't need to bother with that much.

Edited December 1, 2019 by Nonamedude

So I've been backing into all my parking spots trying to get used to the vehicle size and steering differences. Well it's raining out and backing into a spot at work I noticed 3 rather large and fresh oil spots in front of the car. Checked my ps fluid and I'm just below cold min after about 15 min of highway driving.

 

This weekend I'm going to do deer killers method of flushing the ps fluid and refill with some valvoline with stop leak. Get under the car as well to see if I can locate the leak. I saw you can rebuild racks so maybe I'll pull it when I go to Florida and work on it on vacation if it looks like something I can do.

 

Apparently some obxt have vdc issues going to the sti rack and they are also really expensive so I don't think I'm going to mess with any of that. Might do the perrin lock down kit if I do end up pulling it all.

 

 

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