Work on a "Project Car" is never finished. There's always something else to do, or something to clean, polish, replace, repair, modify, ponder about, and budget for.
And the more things you do, the more you find to do. "That doesn't look right", or "I didn't know those parts were that worn out", or "Gee...those vacuum hoses are cracked. Better replace them".
It goes on and on, and is subject to "As long as I'm in there....", which is a good starting point at understanding "Mission Creep".
And that's what I've been doing all this week.
This particular episode started With searching out an oil leak. A very sloooow oil leak. Since it leaked ALL the oil out the Winter before last, I assumed (ruh-roh...) that it did the same thing this Winter.
WRONG....
I slowed the leak down enough that the oil level barely showed on the dipstick. Thinking it was empty, I crawled under the car and pulled the drain plug. I was greeted by a deluge of oil. I didn't think I could get an oil plug back in that fast, but I did. After the initial surprise faded and I'd cleaned up the mess, I added a quart of oil, and it *barely* showed on the dipstick. I added two more quarts, and it was full. So, I didn't lose all five quarts, only about two. I slowed the leak down considerably, and next time I change the oil I'll put in a new drain plug and gasket.
Next was the process of putting the OEM air intake ducting back on. Which meant cleaning up all the pieces. Not difficult, but busy work. In the inspection process I do to everything I touch on this car I noticed the throttle linkage had a ton of free play/slop/looseness in addition to feeling gritty and not working smoothly. I sourced a replacement Throttle Crank assembly, cleaned it up, blew out all the crud in the moving parts with solvent, and lubricated it. Works as smooth as a baby's bottom now! I shot some graphite "Speedometer Cable Lube" down the throttle and cruise-control cables, as I doubt they've ever been lubricated. I lubricated the linkage on the Throttle Body, too, as well as putting a dab of grease on the ball studs the pushrod snaps on to. Put the throttle and cruise control cables back on, and adjusted the throttle. I had to run the throttle cable adjustment out to ~90% of the available range, and it was enough to get the freeplay out. The throttle cracks open now with a gentle push on the accelerator pedal, AND now opens 100%. Should be more driveable now, and maybe even a tad quicker.
So now she's all back together and running. I pulled the EFI fuse so the fuel pump wouldn't run, and cranked it for about 20 seconds to get oil pressure. Put the fuse back in, and she started right up, and fell into a nice, smooth idle. Throttle response seems greatly improved with a properly adjusted, lubricated throttle linkage. It should drive much smoother, which I'll find out tomorrow.
I still have to get the routing of the new plug wires nice and tidy. I used the wrong plastic wiring loom in the wrong place, and they don't lay right where they break out and go to the distributor cap.
And after the setbacks I endured over the last several months, I gave myself a little treat, and put some bling on the car.
Yeah, I know.....it's slightly crooked. Le Sigh....
It never ends. You just get an occasional pause with old vehicles while you wait on the next thing to pop up. I own a 91 Mighty Max, a 97 Civic, and I recently bought a 2004 Taurus with 103,600 miles. The Mighty Max has over 312,000 miles.
ReplyDeleteIt's different for a Daily Driver, though. I don't have the pressure to get it running so I can get to work on Monday!
DeleteThe Mighty Max is backup only I will probably get rid of it and use the Taurus as backup until the Civic gets too worn out since the Civic gets better gas mileage. 21 vs 17 in town and 33 vs 24 highway.
ReplyDelete