Wreckless Hype

Hey folks. Quick history (don't care? Skip to the 2 months part). So I've had this car for about 2.5 years now. I bought it for almost nothing because it ran. I blew up my WRX, sat waiting for work to be done, life got in the way, WRX went away, now I drive this EJ2 all the time because I have to.

I have only ever replaced what absolutely needed to be done so it would run. The idea was to dump it or park it and make it a project. Again, life

About 2 months ago, car start to show signs of running warm. Flushed the system, would be fine. Seemed I would lose about a half gallon every 2 weeks. 1 month ago it started making an odd grinding sound like a bearing was taking a crap. Car would start to get warm more often, losing more coolant (obviously direct correlation). Sound would get worse, it was to the point that it would get hot while driving and would spike to "H" and then drop to normal, I was putting a half gallon in it every other day.

I decided, might as well replace anything broken, clean anything not broken and just redo the entire cooling system. I knew the system was full of rusty sludge and since it seems this car will be hanging around a bit, I should fix it. Might as well do the heater core so maybe I can be warm this winter...

So here's how it went down:

My coolant looked like this


Head off



Ouch


Yep, no heat...



Aaaaand the water pump


The missing teeth where INSIDE the short block jacket along with more rusty sludge.

Took a Dremel and drill with wire brushes to EVERYTHING I possibly could. Cleaned the metal housings, surfaces, metal water pipe, hose fittings, pistons.




Manfiold



Coolant line was dried and clogged, started to bulge and rip apart.


More gross


So more cleaning. 180 grit sanded the surfaces and then 1800 and finally 2000 all with a sanding block, pretty much the same way you sand block.




(I did regasket these later )

Removed the rest of the A/C mount and tensioner pulley for that. Removed the disgusting Evaporator


Clean


New head. Scorched valves and I'm sure it needed a full rebuild anyway. "Rebuilt" one is just under $200 so it seemed a no brainer.


Rebuilding


Together


All in all, I removed the stock exhaust manifold, intake, crap filled radiator, A/C mounting plates and evap in the dash, replaced the head, cleaned out every hose (a lot more clogged and not flowing than I thought possible for a running car), complete tune up, new heater core, the entire coolant system is new, cylinders cleaned, flushed the coolant system with CLR (wow the crap that came out!) and cleaned an insane amount of oil / crap residue from inside the breathing system.

Put it together, cranked over IMMEDIATELY, idled a little high, very smooth, intake is VERY loud, it was all I could hear. No ticks, no misfire, no metallic banging or clunking, nothing.

Word of wisdom, triple and quadruple check the valve cover gasket. Mine was off a hair and poured oil.
Then the fuel filter need to be tightened a bit more, that started dripping
Next was the coolant (I was bypassing the heater core to get a heat cycled and keep the junk left in the system OUT of my new heater core), clamp was loose.

HERE'S where my trouble started...

The revs started ramping up and then dropping off. I don't have a tach but I'd guess it would down / up around 750 / 1500

The car hit the heat cycle, hoses were warm, fans didn't kick on yet, but the gauge was there.

*We sprayed both manifold gaskets with carb / choke cleaner, TB gasket, every hose connection we could see.
*Every plug was connected (based on fitment and cable length, they seemed correct)
*There was NO CEL
*There was NO misfire or engine shaking, or anything saying it was about to explode
*The engine started tapping lightly when it hit temp (like I hear EVERY Honda ever made ever)
*The FITV seems to suck in more air than I thought it should at temp (It would pull my finger to the hole in the TB)
*The black module on the back driver side part of the IM (connected to the Charcoal Canister was not pulling in any air)(I have recently pulled it off till I got a new one and noticed it had a vacuum to it prior to the work being done)
*The IACV was cleaned very thoroughly
**We checked timing several times after few minute intervals of the car running mostly by pulling plug #1, lightly placing a long screw driver down into the cylinder to rest of the piston and manually turning the crank until the it sat at it's highest point for half a turn at which point, every single time we noted the "UP" mark on the cam gear and lone notch on the crank pulley were both matching TDC marks and position.

Anyone have ideas? I've been reading all last night and today. Short of pulling everything off, I think my first course of action will be remove the TB, buy a second new gasket (I believe it may be torn and that's why it was RTV'd when it was put o ) and while it's off, I will pull off the FITV and clean that out (I have seen a couple places people holding a lighter to it near the plunger and the heat is supposed to make it close as in normal operation. Is this true?)

tl;dr version: Replaced head and timing components, cleaned everything. Runs just idles up and down. Checked basics except cleaning FITV and possible torn TB gasket.

Any feedback is GREATLY appreciated!

B_Swapped93

I don't see checked all over for any VAC leaks or bled coolant system, good job cleaning it up however. Can't dig the blue wires and green fuel rail tho

tubejim101

Change the thermostat?

Wreckless Hype

"*We sprayed both manifold gaskets with carb / choke cleaner, TB gasket, every hose connection we could see."

- We did double check the few hoses and sprayed for any loose or hanging off.


Yep, new


In this photo
Attachment 529341
I didn't actually know what that was (where the bulged hose is connected to) until I started reconnecting hoses and troubleshooting. It was getting nothing through that line prior. I guess could it be possible the thing is dead? Or at least clogged, if the hose was backed up...

A quick look shows local Advanced Auto has a new TB gasket for $2 so I think I'll try and get that off after work tonight. Redo the TB gasket and try to get the FITV off and cleaned. Even if it's not the issue (I'm not pro at this by any means.) at least it will be done.

Wreckless Hype

Took throttle body off and the gasket was in fact torn. It was RTV'd to the IM and sat there when I pulled the TB off, torn

PB Blasted the 10mm bolts for the FITV, snapped one anyway. Tried to drill and back it out, no good. TB fugged...

Had to use vice grips to get the screws out of the FITV. Snapped two of those but had the threads and vice gripped them out. Will just get new.

Oh, when the bolt for the FITV snapped off on the TB, the TB fell and smashed the TPS sensor to pieces.

One of those nights...

Left it alone. Just going to get a whole used setup for like $50.

The element in the FITV was caked with old dried coolant crusties. Cleaned it all out, used the lighter trick to check and watched the plunger move ever so slowly closed. So if I need to, I can use the FITV.

fragmare

I'd say the FITV was your culprit after your initial clean up job (nice job, btw. that thing looked FUCKED before you did all that). If it was pulliing in air while at full operating temp, it was stuck open or otherwise not working properly.

Funny you mention dropping the TB while gaining access to the FITV. I did the exact same thing the first time I took off my FITV. Though, i didn't smash my TPS... just took a small chip off the electrical connector. Still works fine.

Wreckless Hype

Not so bad side


Then just clumps falling out...


I really should have tried the lighter thing before and after but I did not. Oh well. It's clean now, seems to be working and the broken bolt is out so I can just grab a few and slap it on a new TB if need be.

Wreckless Hype

Replaced the Throttle Body, came with MAP and TPS sensor and also an FITV (That was WAY easier to take apart )

Slapped new gasket in, put it all together, nothing. Same crap.

Tried to "Relearn" the idle by letting it sit at a slightly higher idle till the raddy fans kicked on, dropped it down to normal (was bouncing, obviously) for 5 minutes and turn it off. Pulled the ECU fuse to reset and then put it back in to start it up. Made no difference.

Here's how it runs now (warm or cold, it makes no difference)

Notes:
*FITV no longer sucks in air when warm
*EVAP Purge Solenoid now pulls air as it had before.

Video:

Wreckless Hype

So I believe we have the issue narrowed down to the IAVC.

When the engine is running, I can put my finger over the IACV and FITV, car dies.

The timing lines up every single time we check it, like ever.

If I finger over the IACV and cover most, but not all of the hole in the TB, the car idles completely normal.

When the engine was warm (at this point), we disconnected the IACV and it idled totally normal. When it's cold, it idles rough (obviously). Drove it to Advanced Auto for some stuff and it was fine. It idles like crap but it seems like the issues are around the IACV so I got a new one coming.


I do have a new set of issues I guess. My Radio, Key Chime, Cig Socket, and Horn does not work. Did I mess up a harness somewhere? The Radio / Stop fuse under the hood is fine. The fuse under the dash is also fine. No clicking at the relay under the dash. Not sure what I missed. I connected everything I could fine. I have 2 4 pin connectors around the dash, male sides, that do not have female friends. Could it be one of these?

Thanks!

Wreckless Hype

Changing out the IACV seems to have steadied out the idling issue for the most part. The car has always had a random fluttering idle since the day I bought it. It would last a few seconds and then just go away. It's back to doing that. It will sit for an hour and flutter for maybe 10 - 20 seconds total, at just random times.

Car drives incredibly smooth. Me and the mad scientists had to tear the block apart (j/k), readjust the valve lash. My cylinder 4 was about a half rotation loose on the intake side and the rest needed love. I suppose as it should after a new head install, initial adjustment and some heat cycles.

Seems like it still is burning a bit of oil, but never touched the short block at all. I'm sure 200k miles has put some wear on the rings, etc...

The inside issues still remain however; radio, key chime, seat belt chime, cig socket, horn, etc.

Wreckless Hype

Just kidding. It still very much has an idling issue. I have no idea what the hell it could be at this point... Starting it to warm it up, it's alright. When I get to work, 15-20 minutes later, every stop light it's up and down, up and down.

pityocamptes

Have you tried looking for vac leaks around the intake, etc. once the vehicle is warmed up? Can of carb spray will help...

Wreckless Hype

Scroll up. Yes. I have gone through about an entire can spraying every hose, intake mounting points, everything. I've doused the motor bay at this point with carb cleaner, never skips a beat.