ARGGGHHH! I got my car back sunday. Its a '00 civic EX sohc vtec. The check engine light was on and i was told to get a synapse missing link ( an adapter to block boost from the map sensor). The part is ordered and should solve some of the headaches the car is giving me. Now.. the real headache is the damn car is over heating. Its fine while in boost, and stays cool until i start cruising or come to a stop light. Now i'm told i need a head gasket. So i know i should have stayed out of boost, but wtf, i just got my car back sunday, and only got to step on it once or twice. Anyways, a spec v came along blah blah, and the car was running hot. When i took the radiator cap off there was bubbles in it from compression getting in there. I'm so frustrated. My car is my DD and my main priority was to keep it reloiable. What do i do? Somebody has had to have gone through somethign similar. please what brand head gasket or any other advice can you give me???

 

is the lower rad hose hot as hell? could the thermostat or water pump to blame? sometimes a dirty cooling system will cause this...

 

I replaced the thermostat and the sensor while we were turbo'ing it

 

first off props to you for being a chick and liking this kind of thing....


second off it could be a number of things as far as overheating..... head gasket, not enought water, cooling fan, etc etc etc...


as far as the check engine light if your having to trick the map sensor... you mam have a bo bo *** management system probably a hack or missing link or what ever.... you either need to get one of the following especially if you want it to be reliable.. crome, hondata, neptune, ectune.... and have a very competent tuner tune the car on a dyno.... should cost anywhere from 400- 1000 dollars including the software ( things mentioned above)... if you need any further help pm me

 

Check your Radiator Fan Make sure its turning on.
How big is your intercooler? if its a decent sized one that blocks alot of your radiator you might want to consider getting a better fan that pulls more air into the radiator.

what is your coolant/water mixture ratio? Coolant heats up faster and holds heat more than water does.

 

its a d16y8. probably with stoneage fuel management, im assuming, an FMU. im also guessing you have nothing to retard the timing. your head lifted. replace the head gasket, get some ARP head studs and get a REAL engine management program and youre car will be as reliable as it was before you turboed it.

 

I would look into the fan, first off. A lot of times with turbo kits the fan has to either be rewired or a smaller fan is used ( slim fan ) . I have seen a lot of people wire these wrong, and work the opposite way. So make sure its blowing the right way.

 

scratch that---

To make certain you do in FACT have exhaust gases in the coolant, go to NAPA and get a block tester. ($20-30)
It's real easy to use and is dead accurate.
Good Luck!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SandFanatic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">scratch that---

To make certain you do in FACT have exhaust gases in the coolant, go to NAPA and get a block tester. ($20-30)
It's real easy to use and is dead accurate.
Good Luck!</TD></TR></TABLE>
you can smell gas as soon as you take the radiator cap off. And the one who commented on my head lifting is 100% correct. We torqued the bolts down yesterday but they were tight. We were just hoping not to have to get a head gasket cuz i'd like to enjoy my car for once. Well..my fuel management is limited, just whatever can be adjusted on through the VAFC. And somebody commented to retarding the timing? You can do that from the distributor on my car. The guy who tuned it was talking about doing it andthen said he didnt see a need for it. im fkin frustrated as all hell. And i dont have between $400- $1000 to blow right now... after all it is the holidays

 

You are going to keep blowing headgaskets if you do not get it tuned. Y8 heads are a bit weird, and normally like little timing. So the setup you have now is going to make to worse. You need to upgrade to a real management (Neptune, hondata, ECtune, AEM).

 

lol...setting the distributor is only base timing(correct me if im wrong) that is not the only timing that needs to be utilized when tuning.... i hope the guy your dealing with knows what hes doing.... try and bite the bullitt and have it done right and you should have no problems

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LetAGrlShowU &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
you can smell gas as soon as you take the radiator cap off. And the one who commented on my head lifting is 100% correct. We torqued the bolts down yesterday but they were tight. We were just hoping not to have to get a head gasket cuz i'd like to enjoy my car for once. Well..my fuel management is limited, just whatever can be adjusted on through the VAFC. And somebody commented to retarding the timing? You can do that from the distributor on my car. The guy who tuned it was talking about doing it andthen said he didnt see a need for it. im fkin frustrated as all hell. And i dont have between $400- $1000 to blow right now... after all it is the holidays</TD></TR></TABLE>


The VAFC is better than nothing but not all that great. And the fact that a "tuner" said he does not see a timing adjustment being necessary would make me very nervous about his tuning credibility.

to have reliability that you are wanting you will unfortunately have to spend some big bucks. you will need a proper ems such as Neptune, Hondata, Crome etc....

you will also need injectors, a 3-5 bar MAP sensor, and a good good tuner.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by agrn93ls &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
you will also need injectors, a 3-5 bar MAP sensor, and a good good tuner.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Why would she need a 3 bar if she is running low boost?

Landon

 

+1 for a girl and a boosted honda. I just got done installing a turbo on my gf's turbo gsr. the **** is faster than mine now .

also she would need is some injectors (dsm 450cc) which are only like 75 bucks. and then a chipped and socketed ecu with a good basemap until she can get it tuned is like 75 bucks. IMO running a basemap is better than the fmu VAFC hack combo. also going to get it tuned can run inbetween anywhere from 400-600 bucks.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LetAGrlShowU &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
you can smell gas as soon as you take the radiator cap off. And the one who commented on my head lifting is 100% correct. We torqued the bolts down yesterday but they were tight. We were just hoping not to have to get a head gasket cuz i'd like to enjoy my car for once. Well..my fuel management is limited, just whatever can be adjusted on through the VAFC. And somebody commented to retarding the timing? You can do that from the distributor on my car. The guy who tuned it was talking about doing it andthen said he didnt see a need for it. im fkin frustrated as all hell. And i dont have between $400- $1000 to blow right now... after all it is the holidays</TD></TR></TABLE>

since it is the holidays, ask santa for a good tune on your car so it runs well and u dont have problems.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by agrn93ls &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


The VAFC is better than nothing but not all that great. And the fact that a "tuner" said he does not see a timing adjustment being necessary would make me very nervous about his tuning credibility.

to have reliability that you are wanting you will unfortunately have to spend some big bucks. you will need a proper ems such as Neptune, Hondata, Crome etc....

you will also need injectors, a 3-5 bar MAP sensor, and a good good tuner.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The guy whos tuning my car is credible. I've had some second thoughts about him, but hes turned out to be right in our discussions. And ive seen the work hes done on at least 3 or 4 other cars. Whats going on is that the weak links in my car are now showing as opposed to before when there was no power, no problems. Typical. I have 440 injectors. The map sensor... like i mentioned earlier, the missing link map sensor adapter is ordered and on its way. I just purchased a cometic 3 layer head gasket which will be done today or tomorrow. And he knows what hes doing, but i wouldnt mind tuning it on a dyno as opposed to street tuning. And he doesnt have one. Anwyas, the car is back at the shop awaiting the head gasket to arrive. I'm just praying that the head isnt warped. Andthat this damn over heating problem will go away.

 

Tune your **** with some real fuel management, or you'll be kicking yourself when the motor blows the f- up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95dc2teg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
since it is the holidays, ask santa for a good tune on your car so it runs well and u dont have problems.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Will you be my santa? lol. im just kidding but realistically I cant afford to get the ecu chipped etc. The guy whos street tuning my car is the one who turbo'd it, and has done allthis labor and tuning for free. Im glad for those of you who can set aside $500 for yourselves on the holiday but i rather spend the money i have on friends and family. So0o i'll just hope and pray

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LetAGrlShowU &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The guy whos tuning my car is credible. I've had some second thoughts about him, but hes turned out to be right in our discussions. And ive seen the work hes done on at least 3 or 4 other cars. Whats going on is that the weak links in my car are now showing as opposed to before when there was no power, no problems. Typical. I have 440 injectors. The map sensor... like i mentioned earlier, the missing link map sensor adapter is ordered and on its way. I just purchased a cometic 3 layer head gasket which will be done today or tomorrow. And he knows what hes doing, but i wouldnt mind tuning it on a dyno as opposed to street tuning. And he doesnt have one. Anwyas, the car is back at the shop awaiting the head gasket to arrive. I'm just praying that the head isnt warped. Andthat this damn over heating problem will go away. </TD></TR></TABLE>

VAFC can not adjust timing. No need to go to the dyno unless you want to see numbers.

If you really want to be tuning, I can work a payment plan to help you

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbogixxer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

VAFC can not adjust timing. No need to go to the dyno unless you want to see numbers.

If you really want to be tuning, I can work a payment plan to help you </TD></TR></TABLE>

i am thinking i have been to this movie before.
all this was discussed, this could have been avoided.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2159945

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Turbogixxer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


If you really want to be tuning, I can work a payment plan to help you </TD></TR></TABLE>
PMd

 

yeah the vafc is the reason for headlifting, if your lucky the gasket hasnt been blown out. Yeah the y8 out of all the d-motors seems to want the littlest amount of timing under boost since the combustion chamber promotes a "fastburn" so excessive timing is not necessary and leads to crazy cylinder pressures that will cause your unwanted head lifting. Vafc can/does advance timing under boost telling the motor via map sensor that you have more load on the motor which is terrible under boost. Everyone is going to tell you the same thing, chipped ecu will solve all your problems no more head lifting, no overheating, healthy motor, better gas mileage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boosted_dc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Why would she need a 3 bar if she is running low boost?

Landon</TD></TR></TABLE>

who said it will always be low boost or stay at lower that 10 psi? at some point im sure it will go up and its better to have a MAP capable of reading higher in case you turn it up, and its more accurate, and for boost cut if it boost spikes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by boostedcivicsir &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i am thinking i have been to this movie before.
all this was discussed, this could have been avoided.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2159945</TD></TR></TABLE>

ouch

 

I remember your previous thread about how much boost/power could you get while remaining reliable, and we all told you to get proper management. The my post got deleted because of my r kelly comment, the thread got locked, and you blew your head gasket. So what's the moral of the story?

Edit: I know the timing curve will be off with the vafc garbage, but I should still find out Exactly how it works. I suspect it works only by modifying the map signal to the ecu. Which Would actually require lowering the static timing, (physically) since the input voltage the ecu can receive is limited, and you need less timing under boost.

You keep mentioning how you don't have money, but a turbo honda is an expensive hobby. It is always cheaper to do it right the first time than to replace the wrong parts repeatedly. If you can't afford it, save and wait. (Don't do what I do and resort to credit..)

And for my final comment, I think it is extremely cool for a girl to venture into something that is largely viewed as solely the domain of the male. Most guys who like cars aren't any better at modifying them than their female counterparts, they just have the attitude that since they're a guy, they should be. Keep learning, and always ask how and why. If someone can't explain, you know what that means. I remember a guy who went to school to tune the aem system, and this moron actually unplugged the vacuum line to his fpr, to "let it get more fuel". Unbelievable. I still wonder if it dawned on him when I asked him how that would work and he couldn't say, that I knew something he didn't.
p.s. Maybe you should find a girl to tune your car too. But then you'd have to pay..


Modified by rorik at 7:35 PM 12/6/2007

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rorik &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I remember your previous thread about how much boost/power could you get while remaining reliable, and we all told you to get proper management. The my post got deleted because of my r kelly comment, the thread got locked, and you blew your head gasket. So what's the moral of the story?
Seriously though, if your "tuner" thinks it is an acceptable practice to retard your timing via the distributor, you need to find someone else. You said he didn't charge, well, you get what you pay for. By physically retarding the distributor, the timing will be off for almost every single map/rpm point. Have you ever looked at an ign map? Download the s300 program and check it out. Imagine lowering all of those values a set amount. All of the part throttle will be off. You'll lose power and efficiency out of boost, add several hundred degrees to your egts, and your fuel mileage will go to ****. Only a small portion of the boost timing map will be ideal, if any at all, and without a knock retard system like the safeguard, the other parts that are far off could easily destroy your motor. None of that would be acceptable to me, and I'm not a "tuner". Not yet anyway.

You keep mentioning how you don't have money, but a turbo honda is an expensive hobby. It is always cheaper to do it right the first time than to replace the wrong parts repeatedly. If you can't afford it, save and wait. (Don't do what I do and resort to credit..)

And for my final comment, I think it is extremely cool for a girl to venture into something that is largely viewed as solely the domain of the male. Most guys who like cars aren't any better at modifying them than their female counterparts, they just have the attitude that since they're a guy, they should be. Keep learning, and always ask how and why. If someone can't explain, you know what that means. I remember a guy who went to school to tune the aem system, and this moron actually unplugged the vacuum line to his fpr, to "let it get more fuel". Unbelievable. I still wonder if it dawned on him when I asked him how that would work and he couldn't say, that I knew something he didn't.
p.s. Maybe you should find a girl to tune your car too. But then you'd have to pay..</TD></TR></TABLE>

I love the word venture that you strategically put there. How is this venturing? You might venture into stocks or, house flipping, but I've loved cars for as long as I could remember. I dont feel any different than anybody here. Yes we're all alike and some know more than others. The only timebeing a girl in this industry is crappy is when theres males around you talking and they dont even give you the opportunity to put in your two cents. Very agravating by the way. But I'm pretty knowledgeable for "being a girl". I dont swear to know everything. But could you have had this thread convo with any other female you know?