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Haluska's 1990 Si Build

154K views 516 replies 93 participants last post by  crxvtec91 
#1 ·
Well, to keep myself motivated I decided to start a build thread. I picked up this car on July 23rd 2008 for $1050. I'm trying to make small progress on it every day. I hope to take pictures along the way. I even hope to keep a price log so other people can learn how much it costs to do some of the repairs I'll be attempting.

I'm by no means an expert at doing this. One of the reasons I bought a CRX that needed work was to force myself to learn something new. So expect me to be posting a lot of questions regarding the repairs I'll be doing.

My plans with the car currently are just to get it running reliably and restore the appearance and functionality of the car to the best of my abilities.

I have a wrecked 91 DX Auto that I will be using as a parts car.

Here's my current todo list:

Glass:
Body:
Rust:
Fix Functionality:
Audio:
Interior:
  • Hatch Cover Repair and Plastic Bumpers
    Fix interior storage hinge and handle
    Fix Driver Side Seat Foam
    Seat Covers (Purchased)
    Floor Mats (Purchased)
    Carpet / Smell / Water Leak
Tentative:
  • Driver Side Lock or New Key

Let's start with the pictures of the day it was dropped off.














No seat rips!






Engine bay...not very pretty:


The first repair I did was replacing the hatch struts.
 
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#505 ·
Alright, an update it long overdue. After my vacation south, when I returned I was shut out by the cold and snow and missing parts. So my car sat and it and I waited for spring to bring fairer weather.

In the mean time I tracked down a missing thermostat housing...cause this one had two too many openings.


Let's hope this one works better.


I've also I completed my 5th gear swap and buttoned up my transmission, and am nervous to whether or not I did it correctly.

Here's me giving it a once over.


Applying the the sealant.


After what seemed like an eternity, I got this to seat. Turn it upside down they said, it'll seat easily they said. More like superplex the transmission and it'll seat.


So I go about trying to get the transmission into the car, and we're having problems...lots of problems. It just won't go in! It was like the first installation all over again. Worrying about my driver's engine mount being off, I decide to go back to the stock engine mount at least till the engine is in.


Still the transmission won't go in...sheesh.


After a couple of tries, I decide to take the new clutch out and find out it won't even go on outside of the transmission. So I sigh, and decide to put the original clutch back in to see if I can at least get this guy running.

Decided to try some 3/8" dowel's to help alignment, it really wasn't needed with the proper clutch but it's not a bad trick for $1.33.


So I've hooked up the transmission, got the axle's back in, hooked up a few wires and hoses and that's where I currently stand. I'm hoping I can figure out the last few issues to at least find out if the engine runs.
 
#509 ·
With as many times as I've pulled off the plugs, the temperature sensor just couldn't take it any more.


I decided to solder it back together. I had to cut back the plug a bit to get to enough wire.


The heat shrink tubing got stuck...doh. So I just electrical tape it back together. After taking the picture, I realized how bad it looked so I redid it but forgot to snap another picture. Sorry guys.


I put the rest of the car back together, and filled the car up with water to flush the system and check for leaks. I found I have a small leak back near the thermostat, but I wanted to know if the engine worked. I filled up the transmission with 10w30 and the engine with 5w30. I know that I don't have the correct oxygen sensor, but I learned I can run in open loop in the mean time. So late at night, with a little hesitation and jumper cables to a working car, I grab my trusty fire extinguisher and turn the car over.

With bated breath, I attempt the crank the car...and the starter doesn't turn over. So I go fiddle with the jumper cables to make sure they have a good contact.

I get back in and crank the car and the starter now engages but it doesn't fire the first attempt. It doesn't fire on the second attempt. The third time I hear a cylinder or two fire....and on the fourth crank it slowly sputters back to life. :yay:

I let it run a few seconds, smile to myself and decide to call it a night.


(I don't plan on using this cold air intake, it's just more convenient for testing than the stock intake.)

With renewed enthusiasm, I had to work on addressing the oxygen sensor and the leak.

Well, I checked out the oxygen sensor that came with my D16Z6 exhaust.



Unfortunately the previous owner looks like he spliced oxygen sensor into the original D16Z6 wiring harness. Since I don't even have the connector, it means unless I also splice into my wiring harness...I need a new oxygen sensor r. Not wanting to mess up my new wiring, I order an oxygen sensor for $31.55 that's from RockAuto.

So with a little help from my friend's oxygen sensor socket, and a few of my favorite curse word's help, I pulled out the original A6's oxygen sensor you previously saw me install. Man I wish I took that out before putting the exhaust header back in the car. On the plush side, the threads looked good.


So I put it in, the wire holder is just for looks.


Thinking my leak was due to me improperly putting on the thermostat housing, I tried to take the thermostat housing back out and put it back on. Well I turned a small link into a spigot. I ended up pinching the the o-ring so it wasn't sealing at all. I decided to bite the bullet and order another o-ring, and pull off the intake manifold.



Being a bit in a rush, I even order it from a Honda dealership and paid $4 to get a small piece of rubber. I also decided to replace the alternator bolts.



Anytime I'm not happy with the top of a bolt, I replace them when I have a chance. These weren't even that bad, but I just had such a nightmare time with previous alternator bolts that I decided to go with new and antiseize them. Since the intake manifold is out, I decided now would be a good time to put in the alternator, so I did just that.
 
#512 ·
Well I got the new thermostat and gasket.


Cleaned out this side with a screwdriver.


Took me a while to realize how the seal works, but it actually slides into the middle of it.


Before


After


After installing the thermostat, I noticed I have some oil on the bottom of the engine and transmission. Looks like my oil plug isn't sealing perfectly and my transmission may be leaking oil.


Bottom of transmission.



I tightened the bolts at the bottom of the transmission and hopes it slows down the leak, but they were pretty tight to start with. I might end up having to pull the transmission to redo the seal.

So I tried to time it, but the timing is pretty far off. So far off I thought the timing belt skipped a notch. I just the distributor in the center to start with.

It's been idling at over 2000 RPMs.


Well this part looks good.


Looks lined up here.


I ended up pushing the distributor all the way to one side. This dropped the RPMs down significantly. So I put the suspension back together.

Despite not having a working battery, I wanted to give it a short test drive. So I put the put the wheels back on, and took it for a spin around the block.

And after about ten minutes it started overheating, so I promptly killed the engine before it could hit the top of the gauge and pushed the car home.



Checking the coolant, I saw something I didn't want to see. It could be gunk I couldn't clean previously from the engine, or it could be a blown head gasket. Also my oil was a little low.


So today was a day of mixed emotions. On the positive side, after two years of being a driveway ornament I can move the car now. On the down side, despite my best efforts, my car still has a significant amount of issues. My plan is to do another coolant flush, top off the oil, buy a battery and work on eliminating my problems.
 
#513 ·
Drop the lower rad hose, flush the whole system with a garden hose.

On the idle issue, sounds like a fast idle issue. Pull off the intake tube, there is a port you can plug with you finger inside the TB. If the rpm drops you will know its the fast idle.

Fyi z6 usually dont have HG issues due to the mls hg. could be the fan didnt kick on, or the t-stat is doa.

Let the car warm up and check for 2 things. 1 make sure the fan comes on, if it does wait a few more min at this point the t-stat should open up, if it does not there will be a noticeable heat difference between the top and lower rad hose.
 
#514 ·
So I pulled out the fan, and unhooked the hose. I flushed the radiator till the water ran clear. I tried to flush the engine, but it looks like that thermostat was working well.


I think I know why my car overheated. I have another CRX that overheated on me two months ago, and I swapped the radiator cap to diagnose the problem...and promptly forgot about the bad cap. I gave myself a dope slap and the replaced the radiator cap with a new one.


I plan on doing another test run after I top off the oil, fill the system with distilled water as I anticipate needing one more flush, and replace the battery.
 
#516 ·
If you've come this far reading about my trials and tribulations with my CRX. You will have noticed a huge multi year gap between this and my previous post. While I had massive stress from family and work issues in that time frame, it also came down to a simple fact that I could not get the car to start again.

I tried changing out the wiring, the distributor, the ECU, compression testing, gas, checked for spark, checked the fuel injectors, etc. I was completely perplexed and demoralized from why it wouldn't start. I dropped it from my insurance and I had serious thoughts of bringing it to mechanic or worse selling it. Not having the car run has bothered me every time I walked past it.

So while I may be a lousy mechanic, I am tenacious person. I decided this month to try again...and finally today I got it to start again.

So what was the problem that confused me for so long? Well it came down to two mistakes. To my chagrin, when I was doing the valve timing I must have put the timing belt on with the cam shaft 180 degrees off. As the UP on my cam shaft is a bit hard to read.



When trying to diagnose that problem, I replaced the distributor. Somehow the rotor is 180 degrees off. I didn't even know it was possible to get a distributor that is 180 degrees off. The engine being in TDC, had the rotor pointing to cylinder 4 when it should be pointing to cylinder 1.



I found some kindred soul online who also had the same problem but claimed his car ran, so from his picture I copied his wiring order and my car, for the first time in years, roared back to life.

I went and got two gallons of fresh gas and drove it around my neighborhood for the first time in years. The tachometer isn't working, shifting is a bit rough as I probably need to change the transmission fluid again, the belts are often squeaking and it's smells horrible....but it moved. :D

 
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