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While working on the starting issue in the '97 CRV, I took the time to do a little more thorough job on cleaning the throttle body. I had cleaned it a few months earlier. One day I will remove it from the engine and do a hard core clean (back side and such). But it did make a little dent.
Even still the BEFORE picture looks mint compared to how most throttle bodies look. In my opinion there isn't really a reason to remove it to clean it unless you have a very nasty throttle body. In most cases just propping open the throttle blade at WOT is enough to remove build up that will affect blade sticking / hang up.
It looked as good as it did since I had cleaned it a few months prior. I got a crap ton of black goop when I was trying to get behind the throttle, so I am thinking there is some nice crud back behind it that I can only get coming from the other direction. I also am curious to see how yuck it gets from there down. One of those dad things I guess, since she is out and about on her own now running around in college, want to make sure everything is as good as I can make it
What's your thinking on the power steering rack? She destroyed it on a little jaunt awhile back and keeps loosing fluid out of it. She has no PS right now, lots of fluid all over the thing, but I am telling her she needs to pay to fix it. No danger in it being shot, yeah? She has no issue with steering, just does not have the hydro help on the low speed.
WTF, POS HT token failure BS!!! This is my 4th try to post this... you would have thought I would have been smart enough to copy it after the first failure... soo condensed version to the max!
I assume by jaunt you mean hit a curb or something like that? If so it could have bent the rod or crushed a seal causing it to leak. With the wheels off the ground (preferably) do you notice any resistance or dead spots while going from lock to lock?
The other possibility is one of the hoses failed be it pressure or return. This is unlikely though since it is not common at all for the hoses to fail on a Honda. They tend to outlast the car. Now if it were something like a GM, I would instantly default to the hoses since the factory crimps SUCK!!! They come apart on untouched vehicles from factory. Junk!
I have problems with this site timing out all the time from work, even after a few seconds, so I understand the frustration!
Her jaunt was a full on bottom out hard impact on some rocks or a cement block around a manhole or something on this shitty dirt road near our house. She went all dumb and too fast and slammed it. That was the cause (I think) of the first CB going out that I had a local shop replace. $192. Then a bit after a year later, the CB was tore apart again, making me think the shaft had been damaged in a way that was not obvious, unbalancing it, and tearing up the CB. So I replaced the entire propeller shaft. $313. I think about that time she damaged the rack somewhere at the bottom end of it as she started having some PS leakage and such. I am at the point of just desiring to put a new one in as I found one for $145 (includes inner tie rods). I could go through all the work to take the old one out, inspecting it and trying to replace seals and boots and whatever, but I am thinking she has a damaged inner tie rod up in there as well as there is this god awful clunking that happens. I had thought it was the bad lower ball joints, but nope. Already replaced those and the clunk is still there. Who knows. That clunk you can feel with your foot on the floor, but inspection under there does not reveal anything loose that is flopping around.
Considering the shape of the old outer tie rods and ball joints (now replaced), her slamming it out at least once (that she admits), the leaking is down around the gear box, and all the other stuff I am inclined to think the rack is damaged somewhere. Could be a hose at the rack, but like you say, less likely than other things. I don't have it now to test dead spots, and getting it is always a trial as it involves a 100 mile round trip, giving her my car, blah blah. I have been relying on my '97 Tacoma to drive when I give her my car, and it just yesterday blew a lower ball joint, so not a good idea to drive that until it is fixed. Never ending!
Oh I hear you loud and clear on that one. My suspicion would lead me to believe the possibility of the bolts loosening up on the rack or rear subframe (the one that holds the rack and pinion). This isn't common on the RD1s but is on the '88-'91 Civics, but since the huge pothole was hit there is a possibility it shocked something or bent something for sure. Hell, could have even cracked the housing somewhere at that point.
10-19-2014, 04:56 PM
Throttle body cleaning
