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I have always been very mechanically inclined, however I have never taken my "skills" to cars because I was always worried that I would screw something up.... Which takes me to my 02 Ex that I thought would be a fun project.

Picked it up as a rolling chassis. The motor had thrown a rod... Big hole! $800.
250K on the body, but the tranny is new (rebuilt 5 spd)
Suspension has less than 30k on it, and the body doesn't have any rust on it. Which is huge since I live in Michigan.

Found an 05 motor with only 75k on it. That looked to be in great shape for somebody who doesn't know much... At the time.




Obviously on tap immediately was a water pump, timing belt, tensioner, and top timing belt cover. After closer inspection, I realized that the scrap yard engine was pulled sort of violently... And they chipped/cracked the housing of the oil pump.... And $250 later for an OEM pump and other timing belt essentials.....



So... Anybody make that crank pully tool that is int DIY index? Well, I did and it worked like a champ. Granted it was quite comical getting that crank pully plot off still because the motor was dancing around like a stripper on a pole... Took some heat, impact and leverage on a breaker bar, but I finally won. The crank pully tool and a large pipe wrench made it fairly easy.



Getting to work






Time for the rolling chassis


Got to be a family affair right?



Drat.... Was putting the timing cover on, and saw this gem of a crack in the camshaft pully. $&@&$&$&!!!!



Dead engine



Stupid air box


I needed to save this thermostat/EGR assembly... Yet another thing damaged on the new engine


Dang intake is a pain in the rear.... I have since realized that it is much easier to get at the brackets on the bottom, from the bottom of the car... What can I say, I'm a stubborn SOB.



Rear motor mounts


Progress.



WINNING!! Tranny separated.


Here is a picture of the hole


Gunk! Cleaned that SOB up nice with some carb cleaner



Replaced



And that's the end of the photos. Kind of got in a hurry. What I can say from there is that the new engine went in, electrical connections, and everything went in perfectly. Started right up first time. I couldn't believe it.

Then I found a problem. The idle was steady for maybe 30 seconds then it was surging up to 2k RPM then back down.

My first thought was the IAC, so I removed that and cleaned it. Nex was an air leak (ran out of carb cleaner so I used brake clean)... Winner... At the intake manifold gasket. I purchased a new gasket and I didn't put any sealant on it... Drat. So I removed the intake and put permeates ultra grey on that sucker. Put it back together, and she ran beautiful. Idle RPMs steady and low. Perfect. Did one more oil change, and a transom ion fluid change with Homda manual Tranny fluid.

So, not bad for a guy who only does brakes and oil changes I guess.

 
Rep Power: 519

Good job!

Ya, many times at a wrecking yard they will tip a car on its side and start chopping stuff until the engine rolls (or falls) out onto the ground. I got one engine that had a huge hole punched in the valve cover and had dirt in it from where it hit the ground.

I'm envious of your garage/shop/barn space.

 
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So am I. It's my Dads barn now. My grandpa built the thing when he was a hobby farmer tall enough to hold his combine, and large enough to hold his bailer, wagon, and a couple tractors. Thankfully my Dad has no issues with us invading his space, so long as we clean up after we are done.... That and he likes to help, especially when it isn't his problem

 
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holy...
fer a first timer? props to you!
great and glad things are going well!

 
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Thanks sdaidoji!

Like I said before, I have always been very mechanical. i have never ventured into the automotive side of repair because I was always in more of a "I need this thing running before tomorrow" frame of mind. With this project I was able to take my time (5 days total) and get it done. I labled things, tooks pics, and had my iPad with this site pulled up constantly. when I would get stuck I would take the ipad back into the house and do some quick google searching, or I would pull up the PDF service manual that i downloaded to it.

just drove the car to work for the first time today. its a 22 mile drive one way on rural roads. No codes, no issues. I'm a happy camper. I did have a code pop up, something like a p0426 or something like that... relates to the cat system not performing up to par.... it reset and hasn't come back yet. I have not had time to check the exhaust system for leaks yet, but maybe this weekend... if the code comes back

 
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Wow, very good job, and that hole is huge.

I love it when people takes their time to photograph their process too.

 
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Thanks Kenny!

and it had to get even bigger when I drove a chissel into the crank to get the manual flywheel off that motor. Dang thing wasn't frozen and the crank kept spinning so I had to make it stop... and I wasn't going to screw with ANOTHER freeking crank pully bolt.

 
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I can't see the pics (I'm at work) but that's pretty amazing you just decided to pick that up and get it done. Props to you, I hope to do something similar once I'm out of college and can afford to have a car not running on the side since I'm sure anything I attempted would not go as flawlessly as your work.

 
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So, I finally took my baby out on the highway. I was a bit nervous about it and tentative, but it had to be done. I know there isn't much logic behind my nerves, but still... first major project and I have visions of crank shafts sticking out where they don't belong dancing in my head...

She ran great. pushing 80MPH at 3500 ish RPMs. No stutters, not temp fluctuations. Perfect. I'm really enjoying the sence of pride I have in this car. More so than I've ever had with any other vehicle I've owned.

I did have one hiccup yesterday coming home from work. The AC wasn't working. It would blow air at me, but it wasn't cold. It was more like straight vent air. Not sure what the deal is and I didn't really have time to check it out yesterday. oh well.

Are there any items dealing with the AC that I could look at first... frequent issues etc?

I know that you can buy those cans of re-charge at the discount garbage stores, but I don't really want to spend $20 on a can to have it all leak out if that is the case... I know that in the industrial HVAC world, you can pressurize the system with air and use a bubble solution to find leaks... can I do that here? or is it unnecessary?

Thanks!
J

 
Rep Power: 519

Did your AC work prior to the engine blowing up?


Did you let the freon out and open up the AC system pipes to get the engine changed out?

Did you unplug/break the wires/reconnect the compressor during the engine job?

 
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1. Dunno, I bought the car with the blown engine for $500. Wanted the learning experience. However, I can find out

2. I didn't tamper with the AC system other than removing the pump from the engine block.... however that doesn't mean that I caused a leak somewhere. Are those pipes fairly sturdy? it did get moved around a little bit to get the engine by it.

3. I don't remember removing any wires, but that will probably be the first thing I check. because of that fact, and the fact that it seemed to work just fine on my Highway adventure. I have a particular distain for intermittant problems, and in my field, I've found that that usually = bad wires = headache for me.... I guess we will see if that holds true with this car.

 
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You neglected to mention this in the last post. You simply stated the AC wasn't working.

Does this now mean the A/C DID get cool at highway speed?

Could be low on freon if that is the case.



Basics:
Does the compressor clutch engage?
Do the radiator fans run whenever the compressor is engaged?
If yes to both of those, my next step would be checking high side and low side pressures while the AC is operating.
If no to either of those, then I still would need to know what the pressure in the system is.

Not all AC problems are caused by low freon.

 
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Yes I did forget sorry about that.

It worked just fine on my way home from work today as well. I'll see about getting a pressure gauge and start digging into it soon. Thanks for your help sir. I'll let you know if/what I find

 
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NOW it works just fine?

Assuming it is hot enough there to use the AC, and it works.....Does it blow like under 50*F from the dash vents?
At all times?

If it works correctly NOW, then don't touch the freon.

What you have sounds like an electrical issue.



Unless I'm understanding this all wrong.

 
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Seems like it. I love intermittent problems.

 
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I assume you still have air flow out of the dash vents when the AC quits working, right? LMK it air flow slows or quits, that's a different problem.



Anyway
Wait until it quits cooling.....leave the car running and start checking:

See if the radiator fans are still running when the compressor quits (big clue here for me).

Then go tap on the clutch relay and see if it starts working again.

Clutch relay (should be) top row, second from the left in this pic

 
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3rd time trying to post this... Stupid Tolkien expiring thing....

So AC not working again. Checked immediately when I got home. AC fan not spinning. When I went to tap on the relay, the other fan kicked on while i was tapping and so did the AC fan. I can not say that my taping caused it to turn on. It did shut right back off again as soon as the other fan stopped. Is that normal, or should the AC fan run 100% when the AC is engaged?

Another odd thing. The AC button control light. Is that always on when you have the vent control set to the windshield? I cannot turn off the light if I push the AC button when I'm in that mode. I can turn it off when I'm blowing to any of the other vents.


So... Does that help?

Just noticed your question regarding airflow. That's sort of weird as well. If I crank it all the way up it blows like an SOB, but if i start to turn it down any, then it seems to cut right to slow. There doesn't seems to be much changing for that blower.

 
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Both fans are supposed to run together (on a 7th gen), not independently. AFAIK.

Fans must run whenever the AC clutch is engaged.
Fans must run whenever the coolant temp/fan switch turns them on.
Both systems have control of the fans.


So, the fans started running while you were messing in the fusebox makes me think that the coolant temp switch probably turned them on, not you poking the relays.
If the AC clutch had come on when you poked the relays, I'd think differently.





Do you have wiring diagrams for the HVAC?

I think now that I'd get it to quit and check for control side ground signal, like from the HVAC control panel to the MICU, or thru the pressure switch to the PCM.
At work, I'd stick my scanner on and see if the PCM is receiving the AC request, and if the PCM is turning on the AC clutch relay.

AC is always on when defrost is selected, it's on by default. You don't get to control the AC until it is off of defrost positions.

Some cars run the AC whenever defrost is selected, even though the light is not illuminated.

Sounds ok to me? As long as the blower does not shut down.... The AC will be shut off if the inside blower quits running.

 
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Hmm. Electrical schematic. I don't know. I have the service manual on my ipad, but after a quick look, I don't see it... Off to google I go!

Now the service manual did say to jump a couple of pins on the ecu/PCM and see if the clutch kicks in, or at e relay box, same deal. To determine if the PCM is bad, or if the relay is sticking..., but I didn't find a schematic yet

 
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http://www.hondacivicforum.com/forum...hooting-65504/

Looks like I found some info on the schematic. Now time to find time to dig into it.

 
Rep Power: 519

HOLD IT!

The diagram on post #6 and #20 is not for your car. That's for a 2001 model year ONLY. The thermal protector is only wired to kill the compressor clutch.

02 thru 05 have the thermal protector wired differently. It is now wired to be in series with the pressure switch, so that when tripped the entire system shuts off, the AC request to the multiplex unit is interrupted.


I never bothered to figure out if there are other differences in the diagrams, because I had to learn to pick the correct diagram before I wasted a lot of time diagnosing crap that wasn't broke.

 
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Dang. Well, that's why I posted the link here. Back to teh google I go.

 
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Hey ezone, does this look accurate?

 
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Yes it looks right...... it even says 02-05. Goog yob!

 
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Wee! Found a problem. Thermal protector = open when engine was cool. Just as a test, I jumped pins 1 and 3 on that connector for just a second and the fans kicked on immediately. Is this something that I should replace ORM, or is the zoo going (hmmm...removal of P.S. pump, and alternator).... Nevermind. I don't want to do this again anytime soon. Oem it is.

 
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Goog yob!
What's ORM?
Would the Zoo even sell something like that without making you buy a whole compressor to get it?

 
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Sorry. OEM. You'll have to forgive my random messing up words. When I'm home I am 100% ipad mini. I'm not the greatest types on it.

And after some quick searching of the local parts shops they didn't have anything so I ordered it from Majestic


Types... Stupid autocorrect!

 
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So... I wanted to post this earlier this week but.... New thermal protector and AC works like a champ again

 
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Wow. Well after almost 2 years of 0 mechanical issues and now pushing 280,000 miles I have since replaced only the hood release cable. Not too shabby if I say so myself...

Well, up until now. I've been having a hell of a grinding noise that I knew was my AC compressor but didn't want to touch it because its in such a user friendly location. Gonna have a buddy of mine suck the system out, get an OEM Reman pump from Majestic and see if I can hit 350K.

Anything else I should replace on the system when I do this?

 
Rep Power: 519

How about replacing just the pulley (clutch set) if that's all that's wrong, instead of the whole compressor?





I changed the pulley on the CRV compressor because the bearing was getting loud.