Ltooz
Building, Fixing and Improving Stuff...
NON AUDI CARS FIXED
In case the pictures don't show up here, please go to the backup website.
This page is dedicated to Non-Audi cars I fixed.
1997 Honda Odyssey has the same engine and other similar parts as Honda Accord from 1994-1997. I worked on this car due to its over heating problem @290k miles. The common diagnosis from all "Master" mechanics (dealers & independents) are engine is too old and the head gasket is blown (although no coolant in oil or vice versa) and rebuilt head is a must. Well, after spending almost $2k on new head and miscellaneous parts with these "Master", the car is still over heating and my father in-law's up to the point of getting a new car. The basic cooling system for any car consists of Water pump, Radiator, Thermostat, Oil cooler and correct ignition timing.
If the Water doesn't go into the oil or oil in the water tank then head gasket is NOT blown it doesn't matter how many miles we have on the car.
After ordered a brand new radiator from AutohausAz, replaced it and the over heating problem is gone. And how much did it cost?
My trusted store for parts is http://www.autohausaz.com/ , good prices, prompt delivery, great return policy.
1. Front Brake Replacement For 97 Honda Odyssey.
2. Noisy Lock Solenoid Fix For 97 Honda Odyssey.
3. Thermostat Replacement For 97 Honda Odyssey Overheating.
4. Front Brake Replacement For 2000 Honda Accord.
5. Radiator Replacement For 97 Honda Odyssey Overheating.
6. Front Torque Engine/Transmission mount for 97 Honda Odyssey.
Honda Odyssey Radiator Replacement Solved Overheating Problem
This is how I fixed the over heating problem at high speed, stop and go on a hot day for 1997 Honda Odyssey after the car was replaced by the shops with $600 distributor, $1500 rebuilt head which never fixed the original over heating problem @290k miles.
Ordered a brand new CFS radiator for $117 shipped (ordered Monday, received Weds for the weekend).
Remove the engine cover (10mm socket)
Drain the coolant from the radiator (the wing nut in the middle of the bottom radiator)
Remove the bracket, top radiator hose.
Remove bottom fans bolts (x2 for the passenger side & x1 for the driver side).
Remove the Top fans bolts (x2 each fan) and Disconnect Battery.
Remove 2 brackets holding the radiator in place to remove the radiator when ready.
Unplug fan electrical connections and lift the driverside fan out then passenger side.
Remove the bottom hose and oil lines (x2 arrows), the clamps are hard to remove, use long nose pliers to remove them, the best is to do it from under the car.
Lift the old radiator out
At this time, if we need to replace the front Torque Engine/transmission mount, buy it and do it now since we have room. Broken torque engine mount looks like this, good one like this.
Remove air intake duct
Go inside the car and flip the heater lever to ON position, remove the heater intake line.
Loosen the heater valve bracket so the valve will be lower than the core for the coolant to drain out completely
Now it's time to flush the system using garden hose. Video is here.Keep turning on the water until the green coolant turns clear.
When the water stop dripping out of the heater valve, then it's time to put back the radiator, heater hose and fill up with coolant. Since we don't drain the engine coolant out of the engine, we assume it has all clear water, pour in 1 gallon of unmixed coolant first.
Remove the 2 rubber bushings from the base of the old radiator and put them into the new one before placing it back.
Again, putting back those clamps on the Oil lines are very hard, the best we found is to have the tool or using the big long nose pliers from the bottom of the radiator and NOT from the top. We did make many nicks and dings on our hands and the radiator by doing from the top.
Install the fans and connect the electrical wires.
Fill the radiator with concentrated coolant (~1 gallon) to mix with the water inside the engine.
Fill the radiator with 50/50 coolant until the radiator is full.
Put back the air intake duct.
Close the radiator cap and start the engine.
Bleed the coolant. 12mm nut. Until the stream of steady coolant comes out.
Make sure the engine reaches normal operating temperature, the fans will go on/off, NO LEAKS anywhere, oil & coolant at the bottom of the radiator.
The Ignition timing is correct if we have a timing light. The left mark is correct timing, the right mark is the TDC.
Test drive the car for a few miles. Wait for it to cool down, open the radiator cap and check for the coolant level, top up if necessary. Put back the bottom engine cover.
Cheers,
Louis
7/18/09
Ordered a brand new CFS radiator for $117 shipped (ordered Monday, received Weds for the weekend).
Remove the engine cover (10mm socket)
Drain the coolant from the radiator (the wing nut in the middle of the bottom radiator)
Remove the bracket, top radiator hose.
Remove bottom fans bolts (x2 for the passenger side & x1 for the driver side).
Remove the Top fans bolts (x2 each fan) and Disconnect Battery.
Remove 2 brackets holding the radiator in place to remove the radiator when ready.
Unplug fan electrical connections and lift the driverside fan out then passenger side.
Remove the bottom hose and oil lines (x2 arrows), the clamps are hard to remove, use long nose pliers to remove them, the best is to do it from under the car.
Lift the old radiator out
At this time, if we need to replace the front Torque Engine/transmission mount, buy it and do it now since we have room. Broken torque engine mount looks like this, good one like this.
Remove air intake duct
Go inside the car and flip the heater lever to ON position, remove the heater intake line.
Loosen the heater valve bracket so the valve will be lower than the core for the coolant to drain out completely
Now it's time to flush the system using garden hose. Video is here.Keep turning on the water until the green coolant turns clear.
When the water stop dripping out of the heater valve, then it's time to put back the radiator, heater hose and fill up with coolant. Since we don't drain the engine coolant out of the engine, we assume it has all clear water, pour in 1 gallon of unmixed coolant first.
Remove the 2 rubber bushings from the base of the old radiator and put them into the new one before placing it back.
Again, putting back those clamps on the Oil lines are very hard, the best we found is to have the tool or using the big long nose pliers from the bottom of the radiator and NOT from the top. We did make many nicks and dings on our hands and the radiator by doing from the top.
Install the fans and connect the electrical wires.
Fill the radiator with concentrated coolant (~1 gallon) to mix with the water inside the engine.
Fill the radiator with 50/50 coolant until the radiator is full.
Put back the air intake duct.
Close the radiator cap and start the engine.
Bleed the coolant. 12mm nut. Until the stream of steady coolant comes out.
Make sure the engine reaches normal operating temperature, the fans will go on/off, NO LEAKS anywhere, oil & coolant at the bottom of the radiator.
The Ignition timing is correct if we have a timing light. The left mark is correct timing, the right mark is the TDC.
Test drive the car for a few miles. Wait for it to cool down, open the radiator cap and check for the coolant level, top up if necessary. Put back the bottom engine cover.
Cheers,
Louis
7/18/09
Honda Odyssey Front Torque Engine/Transmission Replacement
When we put the car in gear, if the engine jerks forward/backward due to front torque engine mount broken. Here is how we replaced ours. The part can be bought online or at local autozone store for about $32.00.
Support (NOT RAISED) the engine/transmission with a jack and a block of wood to make sure the engine doesn't drop down when the mount is removed.
In order to get the bracket for the engine mount out, we need to remove the radiator fans out. Unbolt the mount from the bolt side (left hand side with 17mm wrench or socket), we needed the breaker bar & extension to turn it loose.
The right NUT is welded onto bracket itself, therefore we don't have to worry about it's turning with the bolt.
Slide the bolt out then remove the 3 bolts securing the bracket to the engine block, the lower bolt is longer than the other 2 top bolts.
Now remove 3 17mm bolts securing the mount to the sub frame. We use long extensions all the way to the top with breaker bar.
The Good & the Bad
Put the new one back in. The holes didn't really fit perfectly, we had to secure the two inline bolts first, the push the bracket in a little to fit the last bolt in the thread.
Tighten all bolts and put back the main bracket and tighten them all. Put back the fans, electrical connection. Remove the jack.
Cheers,
Louis
7/18/09
Support (NOT RAISED) the engine/transmission with a jack and a block of wood to make sure the engine doesn't drop down when the mount is removed.
In order to get the bracket for the engine mount out, we need to remove the radiator fans out. Unbolt the mount from the bolt side (left hand side with 17mm wrench or socket), we needed the breaker bar & extension to turn it loose.
The right NUT is welded onto bracket itself, therefore we don't have to worry about it's turning with the bolt.
Slide the bolt out then remove the 3 bolts securing the bracket to the engine block, the lower bolt is longer than the other 2 top bolts.
Now remove 3 17mm bolts securing the mount to the sub frame. We use long extensions all the way to the top with breaker bar.
The Good & the Bad
Put the new one back in. The holes didn't really fit perfectly, we had to secure the two inline bolts first, the push the bracket in a little to fit the last bolt in the thread.
Tighten all bolts and put back the main bracket and tighten them all. Put back the fans, electrical connection. Remove the jack.
Cheers,
Louis
7/18/09
Front Brakes Replacement for 97 Odyssey
The 97 Odyssey brakes made noise and needed to be replaced. Since the brake discs have grooves and the price of the discs are not expensive, we decided to replace discs and pads. Honda designed 1 type of brake system for all their Accords & Odysseys, it's exactly the same design as the 2000 accord which I replaced a few months ago, easy and simple.
Discs for $48.00
We got the semi-metallic pads from Autozone for $20.00
Tools needed are: 17mm & 14mm boxed wrenches. Philip impact driver to remove the 2 retaining screws. Piston compressor.
Jack the car up with the rear tires blocked. Remove the wheel.
Remove the caliper bolts (2) using 14mm boxed wrench.
Put or tie the caliper in the back so that it won't stretch or break the brake hose. Remove the brake pads.
In the back there are 2 bolts 17mm need to be removed to take the caliper bracket out.
Use the impact driver to remove the 2 philip screws holding the disc in place. Make sure the rotation is counterclockwise (unscrew) before hammering them away. Press the driver firmly and hammer it one at a time until you see the screw turning (loosen) and then use the philip screw driver to remove it. It should be easy when it's loosen. Remove the Disc.
Install the new Disc and make sure the holes for the retaining screws aligned with the hub, then put some locktite on the screws and screw it back in.
Put back the caliper bracket. Clean the bracket with wire brush if the bracket is too dirty.
Tighten the 17mm bolts with torque specs, don't over tighten it.
Next is to compress the piston using the tool until it's flush with the caliper for new thick brake pads to fit.
Place the new brake pads in the bracket, we use the backing plates from the old pads to reduce brake noise so we don't have to use any grease. We don't like any kind of grease around the brakes. Make sure the pad that has the metal indicator is on the top, not the bottom (it may break when the brake pad is low).
Put back the caliper and tighten the 2 14mm bolts to the torque specs and don't over tighten them.
NOTES: Since the owner never top up the brake fluid while the brake pads are wearing out, we didn't have to remove any brake fluid while compressing the pistons. If we had topped up the fluid before, we had to open the reservoir and remove some excess fluids. Since the system was air tight and good, we didn't have to bleed the brakes. Don't bleed if you don't have to.
Put the wheel back on, tighten all the lug nuts BEFORE moving to the other side.
Again, this is the way we did our brakes, you can use it as reference and do yours with your own risks.
Cheers,
Louis
11/9/2008
Honda Odyssey
My father in-law asked me to fix his power door lock solenoid that makes noise on the driver side every time he locks the door. This is how I fix it since there are no site on the internet that show me how. Here is how I fix it. You can down load the pdf file and use it as a reference if you have the same problem and please use it at your own risk.
Odyssey_solenoid.pdf
Cheers and hope you save money,
L2
Odyssey_solenoid.pdf
Cheers and hope you save money,
L2
97 Odyssey Overheating
My in-law's 97 Odyssey was overheating. The temperature gauge was high (close to redmark) in stop-n-go traffic, driving at high speed 70mph+, the water overflow tank was boiling and the coolant leaked out from the reservoir cap due to high pressure. Everything happened after he took the car to a shop for the rough idling in the morning & higher temperature. The shop replaced the distributor & some other parts for ~ $600.00. They "shotgun" the car, didn't fix the problems and the customer's out of $600 with a more servere problems. Again, the car has 270k miles, but still very strong and smooth.
Here's the logic before you replace the distributor ($320). Since Honda makes only 1 type of engine 2.2 liters for all accords and Odyssey, you can buy the wrong distributor and it still works. The one the shop replaced didn't have the timing adjustment and the part # is different from the original one. If the car revs smooth at low and high rpm and there's no missing fire at anytime, the chance that your distributor that's bad is NIL. The rough idle in the morning can cause by temperature sensor/some other sensors for the fuel injection.
The shop's trying to fix the overheating problem by pouring liquid radiator filler to the coolant although there's NO signs of leaks anywhere around the radiator.
Well, after spending all the money and my in-laws had to stop every few miles to wait for the engine to cool down, he asked me for help. The first things to check is visually inspection of leaks at the water pump (NONE), hoses (NONE), radiator (NONE), water-in-oil (head gasket blown NONE) milky look at the oil dipstick.
Check the thermostat to make sure it works correctly, since it's only $10 with gasket new, we bought one.
Remove the intake air hose from air cleaner to the fuel injection body for easy access.
Drain the radiator by loosen the wing nut at the middle bottom of the radiator, place a pan under to collect the coolant, open the radiator cap for the pressure to drain all out. Remove the reservoir and clean it.
Locate the thermostat housing, I believe all 2.2 liters Honda engines are similar. 2x10mm bolts need to be removed. Unplug the temperature sensor cable.
After removing the bolts, tap the body of the housing lightly to separate them and remove the thermostat & gasket.
Before replacing the new thermostat, it's a good practice to go to the kitchen, boil some water and throw both of the old and new ones in the hot water to see if they open. In our case, both of them opened and closed with hot and cold water. Place the gasket around the thermostat rim and put it in the housing. Make sure the keys on the gasket fit with the key in the housing. Notice the bleeder valve is sticking up on top the housing with a 12mm nut. We will loosen this bleeder valve when we fill the tank with coolant.
Put everything back, don't over tighten the thermostat bolts. If you want to flush the system, you have to drain the engine coolant also. I couldn't open the nut in the back of the engine, therefore I didn't drain engine's coolant. Screw the radiator wing nut back in (I used my fingers), don't over tighten it with pliers, you may break it.
Unscrew the bleeder valve, go inside the car slide the heater lever to max, put back the over flow reservoir and hoses, start to pour coolant (50/50) into the radiator until the bleeder actually bleeds with coolant, do it slowly because the radiator small, it takes a while to fill up the system. Without draining the engine, it took over 1 gallon of coolant. Close the bleeder valve when there's no air and the coolant comes out in stream, fill the tank to top with coolant. Leave the cap open, starts the engine and wait for the temperature to rise, you should feel the heat of the engine is high and the other side of the thermostat is cooler. When the engine fans comes on, the bottom hose (other side of the thermostat) should be hot, which means the thermostat is totally opened. Turn of the engine, close the radiator cap and check for leaks again to make sure there's no leak. Take the car for a test drive, make sure the engine fans are on with the engine running, this is to check the temperature sensors and solenoid are working. The fans on this car didn't go on while the engine was running, only when it stopped. I had to clean the connection (filled with dirt, grease) for it to turn on at the right time.
The car definitely runs cooler, but the temperature does rise above normal operating temperature, guess what, the ignition timing is well advanced to stabilize the idle. The shop cheated since he didn't fix the idling problem and replaced wrong parts for $600.00. Since the engine at idle is already so advanced, when he goes at high speed, the engine is knocking, the temperature rises and when he drive at 50mph, it's has less advance at lower rpm, the temperature came back to normal. I told my in-laws to take the car back for the shop the adjust the timing to normal, and guess what, he didn't want to and he removed the new thermostat that I'd just put in to make the car runs cooler and my in-laws agreed. Well, it just showed any pig can pass the state test to get a license to open a Japanese car auto repair shop and poor ignorant customers are plenty.
Here's the logic before you replace the distributor ($320). Since Honda makes only 1 type of engine 2.2 liters for all accords and Odyssey, you can buy the wrong distributor and it still works. The one the shop replaced didn't have the timing adjustment and the part # is different from the original one. If the car revs smooth at low and high rpm and there's no missing fire at anytime, the chance that your distributor that's bad is NIL. The rough idle in the morning can cause by temperature sensor/some other sensors for the fuel injection.
The shop's trying to fix the overheating problem by pouring liquid radiator filler to the coolant although there's NO signs of leaks anywhere around the radiator.
Well, after spending all the money and my in-laws had to stop every few miles to wait for the engine to cool down, he asked me for help. The first things to check is visually inspection of leaks at the water pump (NONE), hoses (NONE), radiator (NONE), water-in-oil (head gasket blown NONE) milky look at the oil dipstick.
Check the thermostat to make sure it works correctly, since it's only $10 with gasket new, we bought one.
Remove the intake air hose from air cleaner to the fuel injection body for easy access.
Drain the radiator by loosen the wing nut at the middle bottom of the radiator, place a pan under to collect the coolant, open the radiator cap for the pressure to drain all out. Remove the reservoir and clean it.
Locate the thermostat housing, I believe all 2.2 liters Honda engines are similar. 2x10mm bolts need to be removed. Unplug the temperature sensor cable.
After removing the bolts, tap the body of the housing lightly to separate them and remove the thermostat & gasket.
Before replacing the new thermostat, it's a good practice to go to the kitchen, boil some water and throw both of the old and new ones in the hot water to see if they open. In our case, both of them opened and closed with hot and cold water. Place the gasket around the thermostat rim and put it in the housing. Make sure the keys on the gasket fit with the key in the housing. Notice the bleeder valve is sticking up on top the housing with a 12mm nut. We will loosen this bleeder valve when we fill the tank with coolant.
Put everything back, don't over tighten the thermostat bolts. If you want to flush the system, you have to drain the engine coolant also. I couldn't open the nut in the back of the engine, therefore I didn't drain engine's coolant. Screw the radiator wing nut back in (I used my fingers), don't over tighten it with pliers, you may break it.
Unscrew the bleeder valve, go inside the car slide the heater lever to max, put back the over flow reservoir and hoses, start to pour coolant (50/50) into the radiator until the bleeder actually bleeds with coolant, do it slowly because the radiator small, it takes a while to fill up the system. Without draining the engine, it took over 1 gallon of coolant. Close the bleeder valve when there's no air and the coolant comes out in stream, fill the tank to top with coolant. Leave the cap open, starts the engine and wait for the temperature to rise, you should feel the heat of the engine is high and the other side of the thermostat is cooler. When the engine fans comes on, the bottom hose (other side of the thermostat) should be hot, which means the thermostat is totally opened. Turn of the engine, close the radiator cap and check for leaks again to make sure there's no leak. Take the car for a test drive, make sure the engine fans are on with the engine running, this is to check the temperature sensors and solenoid are working. The fans on this car didn't go on while the engine was running, only when it stopped. I had to clean the connection (filled with dirt, grease) for it to turn on at the right time.
The car definitely runs cooler, but the temperature does rise above normal operating temperature, guess what, the ignition timing is well advanced to stabilize the idle. The shop cheated since he didn't fix the idling problem and replaced wrong parts for $600.00. Since the engine at idle is already so advanced, when he goes at high speed, the engine is knocking, the temperature rises and when he drive at 50mph, it's has less advance at lower rpm, the temperature came back to normal. I told my in-laws to take the car back for the shop the adjust the timing to normal, and guess what, he didn't want to and he removed the new thermostat that I'd just put in to make the car runs cooler and my in-laws agreed. Well, it just showed any pig can pass the state test to get a license to open a Japanese car auto repair shop and poor ignorant customers are plenty.
2000 Honda Accord LX Front Brake Pads Replacement
My sister 2000 Honda Accord LX coupe front brake pads need to be replaced. Here is my way of doing it. Honda really designed their cars with ease of work in mind. This is the most easiest pads replacement ever. A Honda shop would charge her $145 to replace them. The semi metallic pads from NAPA cost me $23.00 which was my gift for her this Xmas.
Put the blocks on both front and back of the rear opposite the wheel that you work on. Pull the hand brake on. Put the car in gear if you have stick shift.... all those safety things that you should know before you start the job.
Jack the front of the car up so you can get the wheel off. Loosen the lugs while it's still on the ground for easy removal when it's jacked up.
The wheel
Front Disc brake
All I need to do is to remove 1 bolt that securing the caliper to the wheel. The wrench was 17 or 18 mm, I forgot to write it down, see the picture below.
After the bolt is removed, just lift the caliper up and the pads are there to be removed and installed. So easy!!!
Remove the old pads, use the old pads_backing to minimize the squeaks on the new pads if they don't have any.
Install the new pads: Make sure the warning metal tap is at the top so it won't break when the pads got low and the tap starts to scrape the disc to create the noise that tells you to replace the pads.
We need to compress the piston to the original position. Open the brake fluid reservoir cap to catch the overflow fluid. I use the turkey juice sucker to suck some of the fluid if necessary. Normally, the fluid level is low due to the piston expansion. We need the tool to compress the piston.
Close the caliper and put back the bolt, tighten to specs. I tighten it as much as I can.
Put back the wheel, wheel cover and tighten all wheel lugs before moving to the other side.
Cheers,
12/08/07
Put the blocks on both front and back of the rear opposite the wheel that you work on. Pull the hand brake on. Put the car in gear if you have stick shift.... all those safety things that you should know before you start the job.
Jack the front of the car up so you can get the wheel off. Loosen the lugs while it's still on the ground for easy removal when it's jacked up.
The wheel
Front Disc brake
All I need to do is to remove 1 bolt that securing the caliper to the wheel. The wrench was 17 or 18 mm, I forgot to write it down, see the picture below.
After the bolt is removed, just lift the caliper up and the pads are there to be removed and installed. So easy!!!
Remove the old pads, use the old pads_backing to minimize the squeaks on the new pads if they don't have any.
Install the new pads: Make sure the warning metal tap is at the top so it won't break when the pads got low and the tap starts to scrape the disc to create the noise that tells you to replace the pads.
We need to compress the piston to the original position. Open the brake fluid reservoir cap to catch the overflow fluid. I use the turkey juice sucker to suck some of the fluid if necessary. Normally, the fluid level is low due to the piston expansion. We need the tool to compress the piston.
Close the caliper and put back the bolt, tighten to specs. I tighten it as much as I can.
Put back the wheel, wheel cover and tighten all wheel lugs before moving to the other side.
Cheers,
12/08/07
