Scott Little

So I pulled the Severely dented Oil Pan that came on the B20 that I swapped into my wife's EJ1. We have had low oil pressure at idle so I needed to get it sorted quickly. The oil pickup was pretty smashed as well so I was able to get a replacement from a very helpful H-T member. I got everything bolted up and also added a Megan 4-1 header that I was able to get in a trade. Also changed the O2 Sensor. The car had a very rough idle once warmed up and a miss that would happen quite often.


I fired it up once I added oil and it was a bit of a rough start, I guess I should have pulled the plug wires or something and cranked it a bit to prime the system. The noise did scare me a bit. The engine is idling a lot smoother now, I don't hear any miss. But it is very loud now. I'm hoping its just the 4-1 header not being as thick at the cast manifold. I pulled each wire one at a time and it would lose power accordingly so it seems like each cylinder is still combusting as it should. I pulled the plugs and checked for any damage or oil. I also put a long extension into each plug hole to be sure each piston was where is should be and not floating with no rod.


I'm thinking the smart thing to do would be to pull the valve cover and check for any signs of metal shavings in the oil.


Good news is that there is no longer any Oil light, but I may be saying that prematurely since the car never seemed to drop down under 1k rpms. I did swap out the IACV a few days ago to one I had laying around and it does seem to idle higher with it, I may swap back to the original. The miss seems to have disappeared.


I think ill take it for a quick test drive and see how it turns out. Fingers are crossed. I'm hoping the noise I am hearing is just due to the header change. Anyone else experience this? When I swapped the DC header on to my accord I didn't notice the noise increase but maybe that's because its ceramic coated. I also never noticed this on my old H22a prelude but it had an RSR header that was very thick.

Scott Little

Just took it for a quick test drive. It feels good, I think it may just need a new header gasket. Now I just got to get that idle dialed back down

Scott Little

Got the new Gasket installed, its much better now. The sound I heard was definitely just the exhaust leak. With the new gasket installed there is still a small leak. I can see that the Megan 4-1 header is warped a bit between 1-2 cyls. Just a heads up for anyone planning to get one. I'm sure I could pull it out and get it Sanded flat but I really don't want to deal with it now. I'm thinking about picking up a second gasket and just doubling up. The original gasket that was on there was most likely the one that came with the car and was completely flat.


I made a quick attempt to adjust he idle screw on my Throttle body(new skunk2) and the screw drivers that I have will end up destroying the idle screw. Ill see if I can order something more suited for the job. I did put in the old IACV and the idle is still at about 1500. When I rev the engine and let off it will drop to 950/1000 then back to 1500. very strange.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

The hunting idle is a classic sign of IACV issues. Start off by bleeding your coolant. Just put the front of the car on jack stands (or park up a hill, or on rolling ramps), remove the radiator cap, and let the car run for two radiator fan cycles (about 15 minutes), keeping the radiator topped off at all times. It'll probably overflow. Don't worry about that. After two cycles, turn the car off, reinstall the radiator cap, adjust base idle and ignition timing, and you should be all set. If you aren't, it's time to start looking into replacing the IACV.

And yes, Megan is another Taiwanese knockoff company. It would be crazy to expect the fitment to be correct for any of their products. Also, regarding your Junk2 throttle body...those things have a proclivity for problems. Hopefully you get lucky.

Scott Little

I have 2 IACV's that I have been testing with, one was off a good working engine, both have been cleaned. I think the problem may be with the TPS. I did not calibrate it after the TB install. Ill need to pick up a Multimeter. It there any way I can slowly adjust the TPS until it starts working or does it need to be adjusted with the engine off? Im guessing ill need to just get the multimeter and do it the correct way.


No Vacuum leaks. I double checked by spraying some brake cleaner near any place where it would leak, no change in rpms.


As for the Throttle body, honestly it is almost identical in every way to the one I removed except it fit the manifold correctly and did not have the FITV port on it. The quality seemed good except I did notice the Throttle Adjustment screw was softer than the stocker and is an area of concern. I didn't get it for a performance upgrade, I just needed a quick replacement. 2 days free shipping from Amazon and the price was ok.


Yea if I paid for the Megan Header I think I would be pretty frustrated by now. But since I got it in a trade it is what it is. It was brand new so it wasn't just damaged. yea quality control is lacking. One other note about the header, the bolt holes are at least 1 size larger then the stock bolts so it did take a small bit of maneuvering to line up. Not a deal breaker but something you wouldn't expect if it was a quality header.


I would like to see the car idle a bit lower so I could validate the low oil pressure issue is resolved. I may go out and randomly try a few bumps on the TPS to see if I can improve on it. Ill pick up a multimeter soon, i'm not sure how I have lasted this long without one.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

If you had paid for it, you would have paid like....$80. They're cheap crap.

Definitely do the TPS adjustment the correct way. Use a voltmeter. Make sure you can set base, and set WOT, to both be within spec. That's one common problem with the Junk2 TBs - they don't have enough sweep to reach the full range.

I'm not worried about vacuum leaks, but you really should do the coolant bleed as I mentioned. If you replaced the IACV, you were fiddling with coolant lines, which means either coolant came out, or you introduced air into the lines. Bleed the system.

Between the bleed, the TPS adjustment, and the base idle/timing set, your idle should drop down to where it belongs.

Scott Little

No coolant lines to the IACV. Its rarely cold here in SoCal. Again engine came this way but I felt no need to correct it.


The timing and idle were ok before the TPS replacement. If anything the Idle was low. Ill get the TPS adjusted then go from there.


Hopefully the TB doesn't end up being a problem. The car felt a little weak when I drove it to get the gasket, I'm not sure if it was a TPS problem. It may have been ok and I was just overreacting due to the loud exhaust leak.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Uh...there damned well should be coolant lines running to your IACV. How exactly do you think it works?

98vtec

How it works has nothing to do with coolant

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Then why the **** did Honda design it with coolant lines going to and from it? **** on a mule, dude.

JarvisW

lol thats pretty funny. almost as good as another thread I'm following the progress of..

Yes, the IACV DOES use the coolant to work. Thats how it knows its at operating temp, and opens. when there are bubbles and one gets stuck in it, thats where the idle problems come from. (or if it never gets to temp because the lines aren't attached.

OP, trace the hoses they cut/bypassed or plugged off and get it working BEFORE you spend any more time or money on the TB.

Good luck

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

The IAC has coolant running to it so it can control the fast idle speed of the engine until it warms up. Then, the valve closes and it should stay closed until the coolant temp drops. Many people in warm climates bypass the coolant line to it, something I have never done. Megan started as eBay garbage, like BWR, Godspeed and all the other knockoff crap, I am not shocked at all that it sucks. Better toss some loctite on that s2 throttle body, the screws have a habit of backing out and destroying engines.

JarvisW

ok, if it only has a FICV then yeah, it shuts off and does not work at temp. but if its like my z6, it has 2 valves, one is Fast Idle and the other is regular idle, then it works the way I said.

I forgot the B20 may not have both.

98vtec

the coolant simply keeps the valve from freezing.....

Being that I live in Florida, I have always unbolted the coolant nipple plate from it as well as bypass the FITV and it still operates normally. imagine that.

if you take that plate off, please tell me how coolant does anything in the way it "works". the IACV is nothing but a slave being told what to do. the master being the ECU.

The ecu has no idea there is coolant there, nor does it need to

Scott Little

There is no point in arguing with some people. I have been running bypassed for more than 12 years on various Hondas and has never been a problem. The coolant warms the valve and that's it. Believe me its not a problem getting warm here in California. No point in arguing the issue, we can just agree to disagree, no problem. Generally a IACV issue would be a hunting idle, that doesn't seem to be an issue at the moment.


EG.. What screws need Loctite? The ones Securing the plate? I don't think there are any other bolts/screws that could get sucked in.

Scott Little

Calibrated the TPS. It was at almost .8 closed. I dialed it in to .5 closed and 4.5 open. I also found that the throttle cable may have been a little tight with the new throttle body. It was making the adjustment about .02 off of where it should be. The cold idle went from 1500-2000 at idle down to 1000. The engine was still warm so ill have to drive it a bit to see where it actually is.


The header still has a leak that makes the car sound like a Subaru so I think ill pick up a second gasket and hope that's enough to mask the problem. I do not want to pull the damn thing off and sand it flat. The new gasket definitely took away about 80% of the sound.


Just a note, the B20 is using a LS manifold.

eghatch9295

iTrader: (1)

iirc those are the ones. google it, there were a few threads about it.

Scott Little

Doubled up on the gaskets and now the header is sealed. That was a pain.


I pulled off the throttle body and put on the stock D16 one and it idled at 750. So its definitely the throttle body.


I put the Skunk2 back in but I also used the new gasket that came with the throttle body along with the Thermal gasket and this time it seems to be idling better. I also swapped the Map sensor. I didn't get a chance to drive it yet but I did drop down to about 750, which unfortunately isn't awesome with the Innovative motor mounts. I may want to move up the idle to about 1000 but ill drive it like this a bit and see what happens.

Scott Little

Idle is great now, sitting at about 1000 I don't get that rough vibration from the motor mounts.


Looks like the reason it was missing was the 02 sensor. Oil pressure light has not even blipped since installing the new oil pan and oil pickup.


I have to add that the sound of the car is completely different with the 4-1 header, instead of one steady exhaust note its more of a rhythm. The car feels great, I can finally relax and feel like it wont give me any issues.


Now if I can stop myself from adding a vtec head ill be in much better shape. I gota shift my attention back to my Accord.