StreetsideStig

It's crazy that you posted this, Sera. On Saturday I was putting the rocker arm assembly back on my '90 Accord after replacing the spark plug tube gaskets, and I was using a crappy $20 torque wrench so I could do things properly. And I snapped one of the bolts off in the head.


I left it, because it's near the middle and I didn't know what to do anyway (the car is my daily driver), but maybe now I'll get some ideas to actually fix it.

Keep us updated!

Sera_

StreetsideStig, ouch! How deep is the bolt in the head? If it's on the surface, you could punch or Dremel a small cut in its head and screw it out. Just don't go the road letank warned about yet - the "easy out" is a really crappy thing to use and it very easily breaks into the stub that is left in the threads. And then you will never get it out.

About my stub - I removed the damn head today and I can't use the gasket again because it broke apart. Dammit. I sprayed some CRC penetrating oil on the dowel root and began to use my tongue-and-groove pliers, and what amazes me is how easily the thing began to unscrew. I was ready to use the torch and wrap a wet cloth around the dowel and all but luckily I didn't have to. Here's the broken dowel, sitting on the block.



And here's the whole troublemaker.



EDIT: Bought a new stud from http://www.hondaoriginalparts.com/, costed 27 € ($39) including shipping. Now another head gasket and we're ready to roll again. I know I should've bought three studs and seven bolts, but that... that would've been over $150. I'm just trying to go with the cheapest way Still I have a feeling I will regret this because you will witness me buying a third head gasket :D

StreetsideStig

If I ever get some time to pull the head off, I'll definitely try that. It will probably mean a water pump/timing belt/head gasket job while I'm at it, but that could be fun. The trouble is, it's my only car, my daily driver, so I'm a little afraid to screw it up. One thing's for sure: I'm taking that wrench back.

That's so cool the stud wiggled right out. And hey, nothing wrong with going the cheap route. That's why we wrench on Hondas and not Ferraris, right?

Sera_

Exactly

I still haven't received the stud, and it should've arrived a long time ago if Hondaoriginalparts ship from the UK. I mailed them yesterday, let's see what they answer.

And if you ask me, with 18 € shipping costs this little bolt should've been brought it in a gold-covered package, delivered by Jesus himself.

Stellar3G

Ha Ha Sera!

Awesome thread.. My engine, and interior look IDENTICAL to yours... I just have the 4dr.
I had just made a post about my car's acceleration... have you ever encountered something like this with yours?


Cheers.

Sera_

No, I only got to drive half a year with this until the camshaft broke.
Maybe you should get the cylinder pressures checked. Or maybe the timing belt is stretched, or something exotic like that.

Sera_

Got an answer from Hondaoriginalparts.com

Order placed on the 9th, and shipped on the 26th

StreetsideStig

Haha! Yeah, something tells me the Ferrari part would have been cheaper! It's crazy that it took so long to ship. And I'm not sure how much 18 Euros equates to from here in the Colonies, but it sounds dang expensive.

Sera_

18 €
= USD $26
= CAD $25
= GBP £16
= AUD $24

So dang much

Well, received the part today and it seems to be the part I was looking for. I scared that maybe it isn't the '84 - '87 stud that comes in the package, and then what am I gonna do? But in the end everything went better than expected.



Now to get some thread locking liquid, and a new head gasket. Well, I ordered them just a minute ago so now it's time to wait. Again.

Sera_

The gasket arrived this week with the locking fluid.



So I put the gasket in, screwed the stud in place and began to assemble the whole thing. Today I got all things in place



Now I only need a battery, and that is the moment of truth. I'll post here as soon as I get the battery and get to try this thing. I'm really excited

crxguy406

Good work, looking forward to hearing if you get it running. I have a lot of under-hood work coming my way too, discovered my brake master cylinder started leaking yesterday. GRRR!

Sera_

Damn, hope you get it fixed

Sera_

I don't have a battery for the Honda yet but I placed jumper cables from my VW Jetta's battery to the Honda and tried to crank the engine. It started to turn very, very slowly, and the reason for this was bad cables (I bought the cheapest ones). So I put the Jetta's battery straight in the Honda and tried again - well the starter moves very quickly now (HOORAY, no catastrophic damage yet) but I didn't get it running yet: all the fuel lines, fuel pump, inlet manifold, carb and others are dry as a desert so it probably needs a very long start.

I'm just afraid of losing the Jetta's battery in this battle because it's my only battery and I have work tomorrow, and I don't even have a charger. I'll have to buy some fuel and drop it straight in the carb.

StreetsideStig

Dang. Don't you hate the moment when it doesn't start, after all? But you're right, it probably does need a long start. If you can, you should get some video of the first start. It will be a moment to document!

Sera_

I hate the moment when it doesn't start, you said it. Now I tried to crank the engine for some 30-45 seconds, and the fuel lines still didn't get wet from the inside. Maybe the filter has clogged up form the old fuel, after all it's been sitting with the same soup inside for... about nine months. I'll try to place the lines that go to the fuel pump into a glass of fresh fuel, and pump it by hand and see what happens.

Regarding the video, I only have this dSLR and it can't shoot video, but I'll try to get a video-able camera somewhere

StreetsideStig

I never would have thought of that. I would have just started throwing parts at it. We have a thing or two to learn from you Finns!

Sera_

GUYS! IT RUNS. IT FREAKING RUNS!!!!

I'm _VERY_ excited atthe moment so please don't mind the possible typos and logical fallacies: so I put some fresh fuel into a glass and so on, and it started to make some noises, and all the sudden the engine was running smoothly! Holy SH**!!

I poured some new fuel into the tank and put the fuel lines to their original position, and there it was, it started again and ran amazingly well. I didn't even have to keep the choke on for more than 10 seconds (before this engine job it needed at least 3 minutes of it or else it'd die) until it began to ran completely well.

I didn't manage to get a video camera for this, but I'll be posting some photos for sure.

IT RUNS!!

crxguy406

badass! so whats next for it??

Sera_

- add some oil
- add some radiator fluid
- change the torn CV boot
- replace the broken aerial
- renew the muffler
- renew the tyres

And then to the MOT test to get it approved for driving on Finnish roads 8)

Stellar3G

AWESOME!!!! Glad you got 'er going...

Mine died however. I was having problems with idle, and then lack of "GO"... found out last week (of course) after filling up... my clutch IS DEAD.. well.... Dying.. I made it home... 35kms/hr all the way (3 blocks) so I have to do that
now.... UGH!


Cheers.

Sera_

Clutch job, not very nice Nevertheless, best of luck in that.

Sera_

A random shot of the baby.



Yeah, so I got a battery just now and found out it was dead. I charged it overnight and placed it in the Honda, with a very optimistic mind, and when I tried to crank the engine only the solenoid was ticking. No starter motor noises whatsoever, even the lights were very dim.

I checked the battery's voltage levels which were 12.60V (= the level of a battery charged to 90%) before tying to start, and after they dropped to 12.15V and soon ascended all the way back to 12.60V. These numbers give a message that the thing is fine.

But no can do, it's dead. Still the car runs fine when I jump started it with my other car.
Well, that's about it for the battery part. I'll just have to get a new one.

The more interesting part is the one with the torn CV boot. See the photo, it's now this bad (removed my MacGyver plastic bag thingy for clarity). The rubber boot is actually town in half now.



I bought a ball joint puller tool and tried using it, but the joint didn't seem to notice my efforts. I sprayed all kinds of penetrating oils in there and came back later, and then I screwed the crown nut back to its place (because the tool slipped every time when it was pressing real hard on the threaded ball joint bolt) so I got more area to hold the tool in.

I placed a jack under the joint again, locked it in place (I had a really good feeling about it) and screwed the thing as hard as I could, and FINALLY heard the famous popping sound. For a while there I thought I'd broke something because it was LOUD. It was a sound not heard in 26 years because this is, definitely, the first time anyone has ever been there.

So now the ball joint is free, but not as free as it should. Because now it twists freely on its axis and I can't get the damn crow nut off :D
I Dremelled the nut for a while but I thought it's probably easier to use a nut splitter. So I still can't get the driveshaft off.



The project continues. But it's good that the car runs fine

BTW. It was nice to see crxguy406's brake disc clean and shiny, and compare it to mine

slowcivic2k

I sure hope you replaced all those head studs, the ones that have flutes on them are torque to yield, which is why it broke. You will blow a head gasket eventually. They are NOT reusable, not even twice.

Sera_

I didn't, but thanks for the info. If the head gasket fails, then there's nothing to do about that. I've been checking the rust levels on this one and it's a miracle if it passes the tests. I'm already beyond my goal, which was to get this thing running. Everything else is a bonus

StreetsideStig

So awesome that you got it running, Sera! Keep at it. (Do they really keep your cars off the road in Finland if they have body rust!? That's crazy.)