Well, the season is winding down for most of us and it seems everyone is gearing up for summer and all its fun! Why not put your sand toy away with a few of the maintenance items already checked off the list?

With Honda power plants becoming very popular in the past few years a lot of them have a couple seasons under their belts. It seems to be the general consensus that a Timing belt should be replaced every other season in this harsh environment. Have you done yours? Was it new when the engine was put in your buggy?

How about the valves? Ever adjusted them?

New plugs?

OE power steering pump leaking?

Heck, even clean oil and a fresh filter.

Doesn't the heart and soul of your toy deserve a bit of TLC?

I'm just throwing this out there to save some members a few bucks and try to keep myself busy over the long hot months to come.

I've got 10+ years turning wrenches on Hondas. Prefer OE parts and fluids.



Shoot me a PM if you're interested!

If your turboed you need to change out that 02 sensor also. Can't beat the quality of OE Honda components.

Does race fuel go bad easy? Stab-bil the tank and run it for a few minutes and call it a season?

Can get discounted OE repair/replacement parts too!



IIRC, most race fuels don't have the shelf life of regular gas. Additives like Sta-bil should help. Don't know if it will hold out 'til Fall though. A quick call to the fuel manufacture should give all the info needed.

question, don't know if you will have an answer but thought I would ask.. after 2 and a half years of 11 psi of boost, I am burning oil and smoking. Do you think there is a better chance of it being rings or turbo seal? It still runs great, just eats oil.

Do a compression/leakdown test gari.
Best way to find out without guessing.

Also forgot to add that you would see traces of oil in the intake side of the turbo if the seal was going.
Could be excessive blow-by? As the engine ages these will become more prevalent. Make sure your crankcase reliefs are not plugged and think about more/bigger ones.

Is there a bunch of oil in the compressor housing? From my limited turbo knowledge turbos usually "use" oil if the drain tube is too small or blocked.
Pull the hose off of the the turbo outlet and see if it is super oily. Slight oily film seems to be the norm.

Does it smoke at idle or under load?

Another thing that may attribute to oil usage is sand consumption. If sand is making it past the air filter your rings will pay the price.

How often is the oil changed? When it is diluted with fuel, degraded from heat/age, or just under constant load the engine can consume quite a bit of oil.

It shouldn't be too tough to remove the turbo and block the oil supply line and give it a little run to see if exhaust smoke is similar. Should help eliminate one or the other.





FWIW, if anyone is interested in internal motor work (piston/rings, rods, cams, etc) I can handle that too.

haven't looked at anything yet.. The oil has been changed every other trip since I have had it. I am just trying to figure out where to start. I think I will pull the tube from the turbo to the intercooler off first and take a look for oil there. It has a big oil return line so I don't think that is it. The block breathers are just hoses that run off the valve covers to the bottom of the chassis. been like that since new.
It was puffing a little smoke at the beginning of the season. Has progressively gotten worse all season. It is like James Bond now, laying down the smoke screen for my safe escape from the enemy

edit, video won't upload

Are you getting a bunch of crankcase pressure? Oily mess at case vents? Sounds like rings.

rbbrink@msn.com <---email

We had a motor let go last week.
It had blow by/smoking out of the breather tubes for a while and now has a bad knock. Once of the plugs is covered in oil and we believe it's a broke ring as well.

He will probably buy a brand new lower end.

Anyone have a good source and price for this?

I haven't noticed any oil or smoke out the breathers at all..

Honda sells new short blocks.

how much for a 3.5? How do you know what rods etc are in it? is it cheaper to rebuild or replace?

PM'd

Kraut-Why not post this info here?

I just PM'd the answer specific to his situation, but it basically said that unless you are after certain OE components (forged rods/crank) it would be cheaper to just get another used engine from the bone yard and swap it out. Probably what is the case for your friend. IIRC, new short blocks are more cash than a complete used engine.

I don't personally know which engines came with the better bottom end components. If you can get me atleast the engine model I can get you an idea of cost.

If I used the parts cataloge correctly..

<---NOT a parts guy


The short block for a '04 Pilot is nearly $2k list.

I read somewhere 1200ish for a short block but I forget where.
Even at 2K I'd think a new bottom end would be worth the extra as it would last longer. Isn't a used motor in the 800-1200 range?

Just idea's

pulled the tube from the turbo to the intercooler on my car. Dry as a bone... looks like I got a dead ring or something.. gonna have to do some hunting and find a motor this summer.. Not too bad. 2 and a half years on a junkyard motor at 11 psi with a stock computer.. $1500 and I should back up to speed again..

Call Steve Dose here in San Diego Jon. He's the honda guy 619.449.3835

The prices vary from model to model.

<---- Parts guy!
02-04 3.5 short block list is $1710.49
Of course my gd.com peeps would get the hook up!

John, Check with Mick. He gave me a website that you can search for engines. I got one from Omaha, NE for 450.00

Thanks, I have the link... what did it cost to ship it?

Question: It was discovered that some honda engines can't handle the 10psi of boost (I run 7 anyway). Don at SCU has a way of checking VIN numbers to see if it's a 'good' one.
How can one be sure to get one of the 'good ones' if you are buying a new short block?
Also to be clear a new short block comes with pistons, crank, etc etc, basically everything except heads and intake and ECM?

Is Don just using the VIN to figure out what year and model it came out of? Has to be. There is not Crank or rod material info encoded in that number. If that's the case then just order a short block from one of the "good years". Oh Don....

The short block is the block, crank, rods, pistons, bearings, probably the oil pump (it is driven off of the crank snout and is where the front crank seal is), and maybe the rear main seal housing. Unsure about the oil pan or water pump. No heads, intake, wiring, ECU, etc.. All things that are most likely still good from ones old engine.

Oil pan and water pump are both included

I'm spending Saturday in the garage. Are you?

Top.

Well, it seems I too have suddenly found myself with 8 "extra" hours a day.

Let me know if you need anything.

8 Extra hours? That sucks. It's been slow everywhere.

Kids work for less cash...

if i had a honda u'd be my guy!

We could make that happen...

Do the honda motors bend the valves if the timing belt snaps?

I'm assuming you're talking about a typical J series motor?

I guess it is possible, if you were at a higher RPM and the valve train stopped in just the right position. I've only seen one of these engine that had something like this happen and it was fortunate enough not to have any damage.

I have seen and fixed many Honda 4 and 6 cylinder timing belts that have broken. Out of about 100 I have seen 1 not bend the valves. The one thing that bends them the most is a 5-2 downshift. Bends them every time.
Rob

I have seen the 4 cyl motors bend em after a broken belt but havent seen the v6s....but then I havent seen any v6s with a broken belt either

Not that I need a motor but does anyone have the "Link"
Rob

The 3.5 is a interferance motor.
If you break the timing belt the valves that are open will get bumped by the pistons.

Nearly all of Honda's engines are "interference", but some are more likely to bend valves than other. Like Rob, I have replaced TONS of broken t-belts with only a couple having valve damage. The DOHC engines seem to be way worse than any of the SOHC. If an SI or VTEC Prelude (H23/H22), Integra, or DOHC Civic some in with a broken t-belt odds are pretty good you're pulling the head off. Whereas the single cammers it's almost a waste of time to even check before you slap a new belt on...


IMO..