[TrueZen]

Troubleshooting, Weekend 2

Alright, so after working several weekends on getting the car together(K20A2/EG), we finally got it running, only to have some small problems come about. Here's the list:

1. The car's idling at 2.5-3K. I need to check a couple vacuum lines still. I checked and cleaned the IACV, but I couldn't remove the sensor portion since I didn't have a 5-point star bit. Using cleaner and compressed air, should I be able to see the valve move? Didn't see any movement while cleaning it. Also do you think running open header could help contribute to the high idle? I've heard that some engines run really finicky w/o the exhaust piping(going to get the exhuast done on Monday).

2. Found an oil leak between the block and oil pan. I'll just have to take off the pan and reseal it. My friend and I MAY have spotted another leak somewhere higher on the block, but I sure hope not. Redoing a gasket's nothing, and this project has already taken too much time and money, so I hope that's the only leak there is.

3. The battery light stays on with the revs under 4K. Best guess is that by using an underdrive pulley it's not spinning the alternator enough to charge the battery. What would be a good solution for this?

4. The CEL comes on after while, but not sure whether it's b/c of the open header or something from problem #1. I'll have to get my friend to plug in his laptop to check the K-Pro.

5. The engine temp gauge on the dash isn't working. When the key's turned "ON" it actually twitches down a couple millimeters then stays there when the engine starts. We drove it around for a little bit and it never showed any increase of temperature on the gauge.

6. Have a couple small water(coolant) leaks. They're very slow drips though, so I'll worry about that last.

These are the only problems we've run across so far, though I sure hope that's all of them. Anyone else have this many problems after getting their swap running? I would've liked to have the car on the road and street-tuned by now. The time and costs are just ever-increasing. Anyone have any ideas or advice as to my problems mentioned above?

 

[goldywang]

hey sorry i have no advise for now...congrats though on geting it started...i hope to get my k24a2 started this weekend...if i run into any similar complications i will post up here to try and help us both out. basically just subscribing to this thread. And if i (by some crazy circumstance) have a great start up...i will post any solution i can find for your problem.

 

[OneFasCoupe]

1. The car's idling at 2.5-3K. I need to check a couple vacuum lines still. I checked and cleaned the IACV, but I couldn't remove the sensor portion since I didn't have a 5-point star bit. Using cleaner and compressed air, should I be able to see the valve move? Didn't see any movement while cleaning it. Also do you think running open header could help contribute to the high idle? I've heard that some engines run really finicky w/o the exhaust piping(going to get the exhuast done on Monday).

I had the same problem, I had no vaccum leaks also, I cleaned my IAC out then it still did the same thing (revved at 3k), so I decided to change it out with a spare one that i got from work (Honda), and still did the same thing, I remember my co-worker telling me to put my finger to cover the IAC hole and see what it does, so I did that and the idle went down, I dont know exactly what caused it to go down but it worked, all I know is that the newer Honda motors/ECU's are very smart, they can learn more than the older OBDI ecu's, ill try to find out tommorrow why it does that. Let me know if it works or not.

 

[zjigg1k]

for #1, my friend had a similar problem and to solve it, he sealed up the idle control valve that is located in the throttle body...he used some kind of apoxy and sealed the hole up like 80% and that reduced his idle to normal....open headers should not have an effect with throttle because I didnt have that problem wit my car nor my friends...correct me if I'm wrong...

for #4, I originally had a similar problem with cel and when I checked my codes, it would throw a sister motherboard malfunction or vtec oil pressure sensor or it would lose reading of primary o2 sensor.....to resolve that problem, in k-pro I had to dissable oil pressure and took care of the problem....

for #5, I still have that problem..so I dunno

 

[TrueZen]

So this coming weekend(Sun-Tues for me) I'm going to start on taking off and resealing the oilpan, then I'll try plugging the IACV hole with my finger and see if I can get the idle revs to drop to a somewhat stock level(750-800rpm). I'll then have the fun time of driving the car open header about 25-30 miles to get the mid-pipe made(since most shops around here won't touch something w/o a cat on it, I had to get a hookup). Hopefully I'll get to first two things done on Sunday and get the exhaust on Monday. Tuesday then I hope I'll be able to get it street-tuned and find out whatever issue's causing the CEL. Wish me luck guys, I want this thing rolling ASAP!

 

[humping_dragon]

did you reset the computer? pull the negative for 5-10 mins.

 

[drhonda]

for #5 are you using hasport's adapter? IF you are it must be grounded, then it should work.

 

[TrueZen]

Yes, I am using the Hapsort Adaptor piece, and it's grounded to one of the threaded bolts near the relocated radiator mounts, ground the paint off from around the hole and everything.

 

[chameleon]

for your idle problem you need to completely take apart the idle valve, get needle nose vise grips and loosen the 2 five point star bolts and you will notice it works on a little magnet system as the controller and the valve that closes and opens sits on a bearing when you pop the controller motor off you will see a little stem, you can turn this by hand and you will see the valve open and close. this is supposed to be super smoooth because it sits on bearings, but if the motor has been sitting for longer than 2 months then the inside corrodes FAST, so the valve wont open and close so easily. it doesnt rust but gunk builds up and makes the valve get stuck, mines was stuck bad! get some WD40 and spray the snot out of it, then keep turning it with your hand so it lubes up. and try to get a small brush in there and clean it all out. until that valve rotates like butter i dont think the magnet is strong enuff to control it.

after you get it as smooth as possible slap everything back together and from there on just drive the car around if it still does it then the computer will start learning the idle and it should be normal soon. its kinda a nitemare at first but gets there eventually.

 

[TrueZen]

Cool, thanks for the info Chameleon. I'll reseal the oilpan then get crackin' on that valve tomorrow. Will let you know how things turn out. Hopefully will be up and running either Monday or Tuesday, can't wait to get finished.

 

[2fastxeg]

Make Sure That You Have The Wire Harness Grounded Too... There Is One Black Wire That Is Supposed To Have A Ground On It..... That Is For The Temperature Guage... It Comes Off From The Sub Harness.... Make Sure That Has A Goo Ground.... Check For Contenuity On The Ground Source Right There..... In K-pro, You Can Control The Idle In There, So Try Pulling It Down A Few Hundred Rpms And It Might Bring It Down... Check Your Throttle Cable, It Might Be On Too Tight Causing It To Idle Really High... Clean Out The Throttle Body, Sometimes Thers Lots Of Grime In There Which Will Cause It To Rev High

 

[TrueZen]

Well, I've cleaned out the TB and took apart the IACV and cleaned that up. I'll check the grounds tomorrow. Going to get it tuned(or diagnostics run) on it on Tuesday, so I'll see tomorrow if it's running well or if I'll have to keep going through the list of stuff to check.

 

[TrueZen]

Alright, so I cleaned the TB and fixed a vacuum leak and got the idle to drop to approximately 1250rpm. I'm satisfied with that right now, so any more changes for that I'll try with the K-Pro.

After resealing the oilpan I found that it wasn't the source(or not the major source) of the leaking oil I found earlier. That precise problem I put into more detail in this post: http://www.k20a.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4289

Also the battery light problem is still there. It goes away after I've revved up to about 4.5-5K or so, that leads me to believe that the underdrive pulley isn't spinning the alternator fast enough. Would a higher-output alternator solve this problem? Do you know if/where one's available?

 

[chameleon]

your alternator might just be defective, try swapping it out with a good known one from a buddy or something to test it out see if that solves the problem. i wouldnt suggest getting a higher output because that might not be the answer. is your belt on correctly or not too loose?