Hi everyone.. I need some help and advice... Im in the UK, just had a clutch change last Friday.. and something went wrong.... .

Firstly, when I start my car in the morning, it hesitates a bit.. looks like it misfires when started from cold....

Secondly, there is a slight rattle when the car is hot (after ive driven a few miles).... comes from the engine bay... and it happens when on 2/3/4/5 gear... can barely hear it on 1st... it happens when i accelerate.....


and most importantly, my precious VTEC does NOT kick in.. anymore..

all this happening only after the clutch change..

I talked to the mechanic yesterday, he told me to come today as it was late.. when I went today (noon) he sed he has a car on the ramp, and bring it tomorrow morning... I know he's starting to play with me now.. but I wanna know where I stand...

As soon as I told him about the rattling, he went to me : "AHH i KNOW where it is coming from - Its this stupid exhaust which is touching the body"....

Ive had a custom BIG exhaust for nearly 10 months now, and never had any problem with it....

 

Once a mechanic goes in and tears your engine and trans apart it usually moves things in ways they are not always accustomed to. It can cause leaks, cracks, moving parts and so on.

Keep hounding him until he gets you in there. There is no need of him shrugging you off if you are a paying customer with legitimate problems after service. Go first thing in the AM and get him to take a look before he gets a chance to put a car in the bay. If there is one already in there ask him to at least take your car for a test drive to confirm your observations. Then ask him when the car in the bay will be done in order to fix your problems.

If he keeps putting you off I guess you know never to take your car back to him again.

 

hi.. thanks for the reply

yes first thing I will go there... my concern is that he will NOT admit its his fault.. He will tell me something else is wrong, and that I have to repair that..
If he doesnt do anything, I will definitely stop going there, but I dont want another repair bill for my vtec, rattling, and start-up problem...

 

Is your check engine light on?

 

nope.... is it supposed to be on if VTEC is not working??

 

If it was something electrical wrong with VTEC it would usually throw a CEL.

What Make, Model & Engine are we dealing with here?

 

Year 2000 2L Vtec accord.. saloon.... uk model ...

 

I would appreciate if anyone knows what COULD be the issue with any of the problems?? if someone gives me any clue, perhaps I could ask the mechanic to have a look at that first... before he tries to rip me off more...

like what to check on the vtec?? or the start problem...

 

Are you able to do any sort of testing or cleaning on your own, or are you just looking for things your mechanic can check? Because this stuff that I am going to list can all be done with a few regular, round-the-house/flat, hand tools.

Plugs and wires cap & rotor for the starting problem. He shouldn't have had to remove your plugs or wires but he may have unplugged something that isn't quite tight enough or not put back in the right place?

For your VTEC for starters you could, Clean out/replace the VTEC solenoid filter, check your oil level/change your oil.

 

oh ya, he also changed something else... "Crankshaft oil seal".... BEcause he gave me a call and told me that oil was leaking from this, and thats the reason why the clutch was slipping... and that if I dont change this, it will void my warranty on the clutch ....

He had to remove the flywheel and dunno what else to be able to do that... Well I can clean things myself, if there is any link with pics and details...
The only thing Ive successfully done is clean my idle valve .... and oil change (although it was a massive mess) ...

If you have any links, can you please post it, or tell me what to check or clean, I'll look up how to do it....

I just went for a quick ride to drop someone, I noticed the vtec kicks in a LITTLE bit only in 2nd and 3rd.... but not in 1st.... didnt have enough road to get it on 4th.... but its not kicking like before... My subwoofer used to slip to the end of the car after a short ride..... but its still at the same place now..

I am thinking maybe because of the battery was out? it reset the ecu??

thanks for the replies

 

do you know anything that needs to be accessed and checked while the car is on ramp??
its going to be difficult to get under the car at home....

 

any clicking sound when you go around corners. if so which direction are you turning when it usually happens? if so it sounds like one of the half shafts (front axles) could be loose. have him check the tranny mounts. maybe one is loose. i dont see how that would effect vtec but it could cause a loss in power transfer from the engine to the transmission which could be mistaken for no vtec. i would also make him check the tranny fluid level and the bolts on the bell housing.

i second cleaning the Vtec solenoid also. thats something that you could do on your own. on my car it is to the back right of the engine if you are standing at the front of the car. it is a small silver colored cylinder that is mounted vertically, there are 2 10mm bolts holding it on. you can just take those bolts off allong with the pig tail (plug on a short wire,) set the o-ring aside and spray some carb cleaner in it. let it dry before putting it back on. while you have it off you might want to replace the o-ring also its cheap and you have it off so why not. the mechanic is probably going to tell you that it has to be replaced so i wouldnt even mention it to him.

 

BTW: resetting the ECU would not cause problems like this. it may cause the car to run a little funny for a short period of time but the ECU will relearn pretty quickly. i have reset mine multiple times.

 

Hi cstone, there is no clicking sound at all.. . it a sound like 2 thin metals are rubbing/vibrating against each other... Ill have him check the transmission fluid and the bell thing bolt...

I'll definietely clean the solenoid when I get home, and its also time to clean my intake valve/idle valve..

thanks

 

i'm glad to hear there is no clicking. i have heard horror stories of the reliability of remanufactured axles and used ones there is no real way to know the condition of it. i would think that the fluid would cause hard shifts but it is something worth checking. let me know if you need any help with the solenoid. i replaced mine about a month ago so i can try to help walk you through it based on my experience. my car is a 94 but i believe the solenoid is basically the same process.

 

I do have hard shifts..... It feels like I have not pressed the clutch enough for the gear change (although its all the way IN) when going on 2nd and 3rd (mostly)..... But I thought thats normal and its going to get better with time....

Is there any pics of / on how to clean the solenoid?? I dont even know how it looks like - will have a look tomorrow...

 

There are 2 pictures of mine. My car is a '94, but I am pretty sure it is the same for your car. I was wrong about it being 2 bolts, its 3 but you just take the bolts out, unplug it and spray some carb cleaner into it. Let it dry before putting it back on. I replaced mine and it only took about 30 minutes. I probably could have done it faster but I wasn't in a hurry at all and messed around with cleaning my IACV too. I still have my old one. I am pretty sure it is fine. I only really needed the o-ring but I got a good deal on buying the solenoid too. I am not sure if it is the same part number as yours. I will try to look that up. If it is I would send you my old one if you just paid shipping, but you would need a new o-ring unless your o-ring is in good shape, which it probably isn't.

 

There is a screen in the part that that cylinder bolts too that could be what Ghost was referring too also. If you unbolt the part that the cylinder bolts to then you could clean that screen, that would probably require another o-ring. Here is an exploded view of the cylinder head assembly on a 2000 Accord EX (US model.) The screen I am talking about is labeled as 13 in the picture.

Here is a link to where I got that diagram, it is the US Honda eStore you should at least be able to give a dealer the part number that you need. I would recommend replacing assembly 13 which consists of the screen and the o-ring between the head and the part that the solenoid bolts too.
http://estore.honda.com/asp/printpar...%2010&&popup=1

BTW the part number on my solenoid does not appear to be the same as the one on your car. And mine is just the solenoid anyways. It is just the cylinder part with the little triangular base.

 

Hi I went in this morning, the old man was not there (thankfully).. he's the arrogant one and always assumes things before even having a look at the problem... My usual mechanic was there, he came for a drive with me, and heard it..... he tried a few things which didnt work

then he asked me to come back later on during the day, so that he can check and re fasten every single bolt from the beginning.... I left the car there and will pick it up tomorrow.. hope it gets done..

I will clean the things when i get it tomorrow..... thanks guys

 

Hope it gets done as well There's some good customer service for ya! It's unfortunate that it happened but at least now hopefully everything will get a good going over.

 

hope all goes well this time and you get your car back the way it should be.

i cant stand mechanics like that first guy. anyone can make a mistake no matter how many times they do something. it says nothing bad about them if they admit that they could have made a mistake and are willing to look at it. when someone acts like its impossible that they could have messed up it just shows that they are arrogant and probably aren't nearly as good as they think.

if he says you need something else replaced it may be wise to get a second opinion before having the work done, if it started happening only after a clutch change then it is probably something they did and not just a coincidence. not saying its impossible that it could be something that isn't their fault just that it would be very unlikely for something else to go bad right at that time. Ghost is very knowledgeable about these cars, i think among the top on this forum. IMO he would be a good person to ask.

 

Hi I got it back, the mechanic did the bolts etc again from the start.. but said he couldnt find anything loose.. and when I drove it, the noise came but its far less loud now... I have to leave my passenger window open and make an effort to be able to hear it... thats sorted...

I just cleaned the IACV, the vtec solenoid, and the bit that opens up to let air in the engine (which is controlled by the accelerator wire)...... I havent tried driving yet.... but will drive soon and see.....

I didnt replace the "solenoid ring" as it was too late and the honda dealer was closed.. Its a Square'ish and round black rubber, isnt it???

 

as i remember it was like 2 circles stuck together like an "8" shape. but that one was just for the soleniod. the part where it attaches to the head is a more squarish one with 3 openings i believe. the only real reason for changing it is because it could leak. if it looked like it was in good condition then you should be fine. i would keep an eye on that area though to see if it is leaking. mine was like hard plastic and it ripped when i took the old one off. needless to say mine needed replace (it was leaking so i already knew that), but my car is also 6 years older than yours.

glad to hear that your car is running better

 

is that the "ring" then?? I just had a drive, i dont feel the old vtec kick, but its improved a bit more since yesterday... I checked my oil, its on the right level... Maybe i will get it changed... is there anything else except the solenoid and oil that could affect the vtec??

 

did you take out the 3 bolts on the solenoid? or did you take out the 2 that bolt it to the head?