Honda Fit Engine Swap - Feb 15, 16, 17

[Loren]

So amazing to see the community effort for this project.

Can I get a crew to come help renovate my yard and garden?

Pfffth! I pay people to do that shit.

[Jamie]

Can I get a crew to come help renovate my yard and garden?

You probably should look at our yards before you ask....

[JasonS]

Still at the vet with a sick cat. Wont make it today. But I will be there tomorrow.

[Loren]

We had plenty of hands this morning, and got to the point I expected to get to.

There were 4 of us, and including our lunch break, we probably spent about 5 hours working on the car. If we were professional mechanics... let's just say we wouldn't be buying a new car this year. But, for the hacks that we are, and not being in a particular hurry... AND not breaking anything... we do okay.

The biggest hassle of the day was the alternator. It's kinda hard to reach. Just getting the wiring disconnected took us a good 30-45 minutes! And then we we decided that we needed to remove it for clearance... that took another 45 minutes! A solid 1.5 hours just messing with the alternator!

Fortunately, we were multitasking, and got a lot of other things done, too. As it sits:
- Battery and tray removed
- Wiring is all disconnected
- Exhaust flange disconnected
- Intake and Intake manifold removed
- EGR valve removed
- Serpentine belt removed (surgically)
- Alternator removed
- AC Compressor removed, but refrigerant lines still connected
- Clutch slave cylinder disconnected
- Shift cables disconnected
- Engine Oil drained
- Engine Coolant drained
- Transmission Fluid drained
- Lower control arms unbolted
- Axles pulled out of transmission
- Lower transmission mount removed

What's left to get the engine out:
- Unbolt steering rack
- Remove subframe
- Disconnect fuel hose
- Remove Radiator and Heater hoses
- Unbolt upper mounts
- That's about it, should drop right out!

On the new engine, we need to:
Replace the oil pan (it has a little hole in it... could be fixed, but probably easier to just swap the pan)
Replace the water pump
Replace the rear main seal
Whatever else Soraya wants to do with it

Then put it all back together, add oil, coolant and transmission fluid, and go play!

[dbeng]

Looks like a productive day! Looking forward to dropping the motor out in the morning.

See you in the a.m.

Dan

[nathanwilliams617]

Moving right along. Good job guys!

[friskyflea]

Wow. That was a lot of dismantling. Picture of her doing a wheelie was interesting.
All expected parts arrived today. To wit,


TUBE, RESERVE TANK 1
HOSE, WATER (UPPER) 1
HOSE, WATER (LOWER) 1
HOSE, EGR (OUTER) 1
SENSOR ASSEMBLY, WATER TEMPERATURE (MATSUSHITA) 1
WATER PUMP 1
GASKET, OIL PAN 1
HOSE, RESERVE TANK (210MM) 1

The other 3 coil packs.

Unshipped hoses that I'll deal with if they absolutely look in need/later
the East Coast dealership didn't have them and was going to order from a West Coast supplier

19506-RME-A00
HOSE, THERMOBODY IN.

19507-RME-A00
HOSE, THERMOBODY OUT

19527-RME-A00
HOSE, BREATHER HEATER

that's, *IF* they are even anywhere in the USA --- "it's for such an old car we may not have them"

The boot for the release fork I had to order directly from Japan as it stayed on "backorder" status for months stateside, way after I had the master & slave cylinders replaced. SO I may not get them in months if at all, and I'll decide then what the heck to do.

BTW, sorry about the lunch order getting to you after the official lunch. Plan was to get that all sorted out by 1130am (with proper advance notice) but work got in the way of keeping any sort of reasonable schedule. I hope they warm up OK for Saturday.

I am supposed to be done by 1PM (hah!) but will be coming in from Lakeland, so probably a 2 hr trip. Will bring all these other goodies with me.

[twistedwankel]

That Loren guy is okay. Helping his main competitor is really Cool. But you know he is going to put that old 103HP motor in his car, right?

[Native]

So what time y'all starting Sunday?

[Loren]

8am is the plan, but we can't do anything until Soraya arrives with parts. Well... I guess we could move stuff around and be ready. She's supposed to bet here at 8, though.

Fun day today. I'm gonna upload some photos, then discuss.

[Native]

I won't be that early.
More like 10, so's ya know what to expect.

[Loren]

Soraya just dropped off some of the parts. Water pump and stuff. So, I can be installing some parts on the new engine first thing. Could be doing it now. But, I'm like on the couch and stuff.

With a little motivated effort and some luck, we'll get this sucker done tomorrow!

To do:
- Install new oil pan gasket and get the oil pan all sealed
- Install water pump and pipe
- Install whatever new sensors and other bits Soraya has to go on the new engine, I don't think there's much left
- Get the engine under the car, hoist it up and hang it on the upper mounts
- Install subframe, bottom trans mount and and steering rack bolts
- Install all of the engine mounts
- Stab axles into the trans, reassemble suspension
- Install AC compressor, alternator and accessory belt
- Install shifter cables
- Install clutch slave cylinder
- Route wiring harness, plug everything in, and secure wires
- Install intake manifold
- Connect exhaust flange and all exhaust hangers
- Connect fuel hose
- Install heater hoses and radiator hoses
- Install intake
- Install battery tray and battery
- Look everything over and see what we forgot
- Install oil filter and fill engine oil
- Start the engine and very briefly check for noises, proper running and leaks and such, rectify any problems... last chance before we button up!
- Fill Transmission
- Fill Radiator
- Install covers and trays and all that jazz
- Start and test again... all good? Take it for a drive. Check for leaks. Carry on.

Multitasking will be the order of the day! Try to keep whoever is present gainfully employed "doing the needful."

[Loren]

Okay, here's a Flickr photo gallery with some pics and descriptions:

Honda Fit Engine Swap Gallery

The cause of no compression on Cylinder #2:



And something fun that we found when we pulled the transmission:



Busted piece from the clutch release bearing... that little chunk next to the tape measure is all that's left of about a 1x1" piece of metal.

[aw614]

The exhaust valve lash was extremely tight, whereas the intake valves were to spec (on the tigher end but the correct feeler gauge worked).

Honda and their valve lash that tightens over time...

[Carracer]

I'm in for Sunday Morning.

[Loren]

I'm in for Sunday Morning.

[Native]

Bah! The silence is deafening!!
Maybe I should stayed longer...

[friskyflea]

https://youtu.be/DZKPwbXxi5M

[Loren]

I'm gonna make a T-Shirt for Soraya: "Keep Calm and Keep Turning Wrenches"

Okay, so it was a long day. 8am to 7:30pm. I'll try to recap as best I can, but I didn't exactly take notes. Nor did I take a lot of pictures this time.

8am I got out there, moved cars around and got started. Soraya had dropped off some parts last night, so I started installing the water pump. Soroya and Philip arrived as I was doing that.

We proceeded to do everything we could do on the engine before installing it. Installed water pump, oil pan, alternator, transmission, starter, etc.

As we were finishing that, Steve showed up. And somewhere in there Jamie also showed up. By 11:15, we had the engine in the car hanging on the top mounts. Philip had to bail around 11:30, and Steve by 12:30. Soraya and Jamie stuck it out with me for the rest of the day.

Lots to do, of course. Stuff under the car. Stuff top side. Wiring. Hoses. For the most part, things went pretty well. Minor battles here and there, but nothing major... except...

Once we got the engine mounts all in and the wiring all done, battery in, oil in the engine and all that... it was our first opportunity to start the engine. Just a quick run with no coolant hoses, and barely enough of an intake to start and run. I got in the car, turned the key... lights on the dashboard... seatbelt buzzer... no starter. WTF?

Okay, power wire to the starter, but no switching wire. Easy enough, right? Well, after two people farting around with it for 30 minutes or so... mirrors, flashlights, right-handed, left-handed, top-side, bottom-side... This stupid connector just would NOT go on. Something is wrong. Did anybody mention that this was a new remanufactured starter from that parts store that Philip works at that shall remain nameless? Okay, so maybe it's got the wrong connector on it, or something? Really can't see it well enough to be sure. It looks close. But... maybe wrong? Only way to tell is to remove the starter. The starter that I had thoughtfully installed BEFORE the engine was installed... because it's a lot easier to do that way.

Had to remove the oil dipstick tube and the oil filter to get enough clearance to get a wrench on the upper starter bolt. Remembered to disconnect the battery cable. And the power wire on the starter is a pain. Jamie had fought with it installing it... before we put the intake manifold on. Now the manifold is in the way. Joy.

Got the starter off. Routed the offending wire to the top side. Sure enough, the damned thing does NOT fit. It looks like it's either the correct connector, or one that's really, really close to correct. It's either just a very similar connector, or a problem with manufacturing tolerances. But, it wasn't going to fit!

Took a small file and made some adjustments to the corners of the connector on the starter. That got it to fit. Cool. (I guess)

Now to reinstall the starter. Yep, that main power wire up under the intake manifold where it can't be seen, only felt... and barely reached with two fingers... and buried under a stupid rubber boot... fought us just about as much as the alternator did on Friday. Once we got past that, the switching wire went onto the corrected connector without issue. Tightened a couple bolts. Reinstalled the dipstick tube and the oil filter... back where we were an hour and a half ago.

Get in the car, turn the key... give it 5 or 6 brief cranks to get the oil moving... and... it fires right up! Idle is cycling up and down because most of the intake is still missing, lots of open vacuum lines and stuff. But, it's running smoothly and happily. That's all I wanted to know!

From there, we finished up the coolant hoses, intake, filled the radiator, filled the transmission, bled the clutch (yeah, somehow the clutch release rod ended up falling out of position upon assembly... so the first time the clutch pedal was pressed, the piston popped out of the slave cylinder, spewing fluid... it's always something), and generally just buttoned everything else up.

Sidebar: I'm very good about either putting every nut and bolt back in the hole that it came from, or bagging and tagging it if it can't be put back... and insisting that people DO that. It helps a lot. One thing I didn't do this time just because I thought the wiring harness would be logically laid out and that none of the connectors were the same, was insist that all of the connectors be labeled as they were disconnected. This cost us probably 60-90 minutes of time this afternoon! "Where the hell does this wire go? Where did this hose come from?" Sure, we had a few reference photos. But, labels would have been priceless! Time spent on disassembly saves TONS of time and frustration on assembly. Don't say nobody ever told ya.

Fired the car up again. Perfect idle. Smooth and quiet.

Warmed it up, checked/filled the coolant, checked the oil. Engine light is on. Checked the codes. 5 of them. Weird. Stuff like Cam Position, and Cam Control Actuator Stuck, and a couple other odd ones. But, it seems to be running right. Let's clear the codes, drive it, and see what happens!

Codes wouldn't clear or stay cleared... drove it, anyway. Drove fine, but was clearly in limp mode. Wouldn't rev over 3k.

It was dark by now. Happy that the engine was at least running... and our problems are likely electrical... and pretty beat from a full day of wrenching, we called it a day! Threw all the tools and stuff in the garage (thanks, Jamie!), backed the car in for the night.

After dinner, I was out in the garage clearing a path to the washer and dryer so that Cathy can do some laundry tomorrow, and taking out some trash... walking by the car, I decided to do a quick leak check. Grabbed a flashlight, looked under the car. Dry as a bone. Not a sign of a drip anywhere.

And then I was thinking... "well, cam position sensor, and VTEC actuator..." Cam Position is on the back of he head under the throttle body. Meh. But, the VTEC actuator is right there on the front... right where my light is shining. Yeah, that sucker wasn't plugged in. It was in place, and looked right at a glance. But, whoever put it there must have been just routing the harness and never committed to it. It wasn't even close to fully seated. Cool! Maybe that'll fix things?

I was gonna let it go until morning. But, after a shower, I had to know. So, I went back out, reset the OBD codes, and started the car. CEL came back on, dammit. Checked codes. Only ONE code remains! It's the Camshaft Position Sensor code.

I can live with that. It's either not connected, a broken wire, or a bad sensor. We have a spare sensor.

So, 97% success. The engine itself is good. We'll work through this final problem. Then, maybe we'll install the hood.

But, it might be Tuesday or Wednesday before we got back to it!

[Native]

Excellent!