I just noticed your driveway!! You LUCKY DOG!!! If you take a right to work even better - that seems AWESOME for an EOC first thing in the morning if traffic is light enough to get out and glide. Engine will be nice and warm on the way home so you won't be taking that big of a hit.
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I suspect it's to prevent you from accidently locking your keys in the car. How exactly this would help I'm not sure... Maybe it's possible to accidently hit the lock toggle when you pull the opener? I dunno. |
beats me bobski. Once it becomes 2nd nature one could easily lock their keys in the car.
Weird stuff happened today. Got a new battery, a Duralast Gold Group 51, slapped it in there, bolted it up and no go. It'll turn over and try to catch then it would die. As per the manual I tried it holding the gas pedal half way down, didn't start, then again floored. Zip. Hooked it up to the Wally World battery I had from the Jeep and it still didn't start. Going to try jumping it off the Jeeps Optima and see if that gets it to start up. Odd thing is that it started fine yesterday with a jump and the only idiot light I'm getting is the battery indicator when it doesn't catch. I'm all missing all my belly panels. Which sucks. |
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About the body, I'd probably be screwed trying to get an estimate to pull that dent huh? Haven't check the tool bag in the back. The rear hatch has been trying to take my head off. Need to find a pole or something I can jam in there. It comes in at a 2290 lbs. It has AC and the auto climate control. |
Bummer it's not starting - it'll probably come to me later what's up with it. May be something you did unknowingly. I fried my electrical system on my Corvette by accidentally putting the battery cables on reversed, they were the same blue color and they pulled a 180 on me from where I had bent them out of the way.
The hood problem as you describe it, still a common problem that they all seem to do. Get a broomstick and prop that puppy up, you never know how many kilos you'll find hidden up under the back after you pull the tub. When I shipped mine to its new owner we weren't supposed to send anything in the car or if we did it was at our own risk. That's where I hid all the extra stuff I sent him. I'm sorry, I meant VIN #, sorry I used the pound. DOH! I should of said it. Actually, you should be weighing in at something more like 1800 or less. Maybe it'll come to me why it's not starting..... |
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np, I'm #3538 with a build date of 07/00. So a late 2000. GVWR is at 2290, payload is something like 375lbs or so, which puts me around ~1900 or so. |
Duralast Gold is a real good battery. Did you put a multimeter to it and check the exact voltage?
One thing I ALWAYS did with mine was let the computer boot before starting it. I never hopped in and turned the key over and instantaneously turned to start. Still, that wouldn't stop it from starting right now. If you've been lurking enough on IC, you may have run across some of the battery cable threads. One of the Insight's weak points is the ground cable. It's something you may want to read up on. Remember, the car was essentially a prototype of Honda's hybrid technology that they sold to the public. They claimed they took a huge loss on every Insight sold. Think of it this way too, your car was built side-by-side with the Acura NSX. It IS a hand-built car, seems like hand-built cars have more problems here and there. Be patient, think it through and the solution will come----and then it'll start. |
Yeah I did lit it sit for a bit prior to starting. Didn't do anything different. I'll try again in the morning.
IC has got to be one of the most poorly organized website in existence. Its a pain in the neck to find anything there. Do a simple search and 500 pages of hits pop up. Its a cool car :D |
I've been waiting for you to say that. ;) Then when you post a question, you get a barrage of flames telling you that you should of searched it first.
cut and past this EXACTLY, quotation included "battery AND cable" This will get you headed where you need to go even though it may not be your exact problem, it gives you a little "Insight" :) on how their special search engine works. |
Thats a neat car. Is that a WAI or HAI of sorts.
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I think you got a great deal. I would personally leave the rad support alone - it's not bent that bad.
For the brake lights - check down by the pedals. It's common on Civics for the little rubber bumper pad that actually contacts the brake switch to come apart and fall off. When this happens, the switch is always closed. You can either buy the replacement part or do something ghetto like I did and just use electrical tape and some cardboard and make a new pad. :) Hope you sort the car out and enjoy it. |
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Todays stuff, only had about an hour or so before the rain started back up again but I got a few more things verified/done.
Starting issue, went back to Autozone they load tested the battery and it checked out fine. So I plugged it back in, no start. Hook up the Jeep and it starts, just won't idle. Going off the info that Wazabi pointed me to, I checked out the grounds. Insights have about 5 majors ones. B- to chassis Engine to chassis Tranny to chassis ECU to chassis EPS to chassis The engine to chassis one fell apart in my hand when I touched it, and the tranny to chassis looks more like steel than copper. I'm going to hit up the local auto places and see if I can find some good replacements. Hopefully they'll have something other than the usual grounding braid. If so, I'll pick up some 4 gauge wire and terminals and build a grounding chain. I'm hoping with new grounds my starting problems should go away. Did get a check engine P1162, #1 O2 sensor malfunction. I figure that with the current state of my grounds it could be a false error. Once it starts and so long as it runs above 1500 rpm its pretty smooth for a 3 banger. Even with over 200k on the clock. Found a broken broom stick lying around that was big enough to hold the hatch up. Pulled out the cargo cover since it was wet ( it had been sitting in the rain uncovered prior to me buying it ) to dry. If Rommie didn't have the HV Pack it would have an amazing amount of trunk space. I also pulled the rear storage bin out. You can see my other "find" in the pic https://www.astralfoundry.com/linkgfx.../2IMG_0256.jpg Also found out I have a 6 disc CD changer with no cartridge. Wazabi, you were right, my front tow hook was in the tool bags in the back. The spare tire is amazingly light. It couldn't have weighed more than 10 lbs if that. https://www.astralfoundry.com/linkgfx.../2IMG_0257.jpg Once I pulled everything out of the back bin, I found that Rommie was equipped with an unusual "fish tank". A very smelly fish tank. Thank god that the Insight is made out of aluminum else I'd probably be looking at a replacement floor panel. With no drain bung, manning the bilge pumps, I pulled out around 2-3 gallons worth of water out of there. With all that water I found, I hope that the HV bin is dry inside. Waiting on the service manual before I crack it open to see. Since it did start today, I got a few bars on the battery pack and no fuses popped, I'm either super lucky or the bin is dry. Hoping for the latter. Wazabi, do you know if the rear quarter windows ever came tinted? My passenger side is tinted (OEM looking) and the hatch looks like it has some kind of aftermarket tint since its peeling off. Looking at Majestic Honda's parts listing I can only see an untinted part (PN 209833). |
Easy fix for the water problem - hammer a phillips head screwdriver through the floor pan to act as a drain. The small hole won't cause any issues, and will allow water that accumulates to drain. I have done this "mod" to nearly every car I have owned.
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Well I'd like to use a semi-normal drain bung instead of drilling a hole ideally. Owning this Honda is weird. With the Jeep I wouldn't have given it a second thought, punching a hole in it for a drain but for some reason I can't do it the Insight.
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Chances are it was an aftermarket tint, I drove an Insight the first week they were released in Texas in 2000 and they weren't factory tint there. One of the highly recommended mods for an Insight is tinting the windows. Heat is real bad for the batteries - though that's common sense for most. Originally the battery pack recall was for "hot states" only. My car spent it's life in Alabama then came to Florida via a used car dealer from an Alabama auction. It only traveled 60 miles but Alabama wasn't included in the recall - I was lucky though because I have a Florida address. Didn't matter the car spent it's whole life in Alabama.
If you had less miles there is a way to throw the required codes you need to get a new BCM, MCM, & pack. Hopefully it is a grounding problem. If you have a problem finding the correct wires which I know you will - try a stereo shop. They can build you the cables you need though it sounds like you have a foot in the door already for building your own:thumbup: . Good job on the changer, I forgot to mention to look for that. The rear area has a HUGE amount of space. When I reroofed one of my houses you should of seen all the rolls of tar paper I fit in there (new Mr. Wazabi Owner, if you're lurking - that's what the black marks on the rear cargo floor carpet are :eek: ) . On the O2 code, make sure the gas cap is on real tight too. I've thrown that code and it ended up being a predecessor to the battery code - still it may of been a freak thing, the O2 sensor never went out. When the time comes for the pack to go bad I suspect Honda will work with you on replacement. There may be some out of pocket expenses but I have a feeling they might foot a good portion of the bill. There are quit a few tips on how to deal with un-helpful dealers. Study up on how to get your battery codes with a paperclip as you can't read them with OBDII reader. The codes will be listed in detail once your factory shop manual comes in. BEWARE - you can still get aluminum corrosion on Rommie. Don't fret drilling a hole in the plug, you can still replug with a dab of RTV. :p No worries, think the car has been through worse and its for "the greater good". |
Yeah, pulling the whole plug is overkill... That's like an inch and a half hole. I would just drill a 1/4" hole in the plug rather than in the floor. The plug can be easily popped out and replaced... Can't say that for the floor. Stick a piece of open cell foam or something in the drilled hole... You wouldn't want water splashing back up through the hole from under the car while you're driving.
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Alright its been awhile but some updates
New grounding wires fixed my idle and starting problem. Rommie fires up easily on her own and idles fine. Goes into Idle stop kinda rough, but otherwise seems fine. Now that I was able to get her consistently running I was able to recharge the pack. I think I have a Gen2 pack since my SOC wont ever fill the top two bars. Speaking of the SOC meter, when recharging the pack, the read out was kinda confusing. Initially as I was warming the car up the Charge gauge was about half full, and the battery pack slowly ticked up from 0 to 4 bars. As it almost reached operating temp, the charge gauge went to 0 and the battery gauge began filling up much faster, reaching about 3/4s in about a minute or two. Charge came back on for a sec, then went off and it filled the remaining bit on the gauge. During this time I was revving up to around 3k Still getting the check engine for the O2 sensor. Since there is still some dead plant material in the area I'm hoping cleaning it up or something might revive it. New quarter panel window and belly panels should be in this week. When I was doing an oil change, found out some moron round the head off the drain plug. Some vice grips and $1 got me setup with a new one. Peering through the fill hole, the top of the engine looks pretty clean, no apparently sludge or major varnish. Fresh oil seemed to have gotten rid of the ticking, sounds nice and quiet now Washed it, looks pretty nice clean. Still need to clean up the inside. TB could do with a cleaning, along with some fuel injector cleaner. Still need to do plugs, replace the serp belt, coolant flush and tranny fluid change. Rear drums need to be checked out since the e-brake wasnt holding worth a damn on my driveway. It kept rolling when I was testing out the tranny. |
What you described is what a "recal" sounds a lot like. If it continues as you drive it more then its a warning your pack is ready to die - no worries as you still got a deal and a half for the car.
BEWARE - At least they stripped the oil plug and not the pan. You have to be extremely careful not to strip the pan and also go buy a ten pack of crush washers for your drain plug (think they were like .68 cents each at the dealer) I had a feeling it may be the ground from the what you had said earlier. You're going to love this car once you start driving it regularly. I miss mine so much but until they pave my road I can't have something like that. Read up on the coolant flush before you tackle it! |
Blah, been hoping I had a good pack........
Yeah, read up about the oil pan. Was lucky on that. Perhaps coolant flush was a bad choice of words, what I had in mind was more of a drain and refill. It already has the dark green Type II fluid in it. I don't know how old it is so I wanted to replace it and the thermostat. I wish Honda weren't as sensitive to coolant types as say the Jeep. |
Very interested in your progress on this vehicle. I've often wondered what would happen if one were to put a D15Z1 into an Insight and remove the battery pack. I know - have to redo the suspension some as it would be many hundred pounds lighter - but then again it would be several hundred pounds lighter and with the increased aero - and a regeared 6-speed from a wagovan....
After having driven the CRX for several years and the Insight (a 2004 or 2005 IIRC) I much preferred the ride in the CRX, and the Insight seemed noisy to me. Let us know how this one does for you, and keep up the commentary! The pics are great - and I'm for sure pulling for you to come out on top. I hope that Honda will work with you on a new pack, or at least help fix problem spots with the old one. Just in case you care, if you have problems with your Honda dealer and exhaust all other possibilities, they might trade you free advertising (they paint their info on your doors) for fixing some expensive thing or things like the pack. Just a thought. |
Actually, the pack and it's components are surprisingly light - no where near several hundred pounds. Also the 3cyl is EXTREMELY light. I want to say the pack is 90 pounds and the engine/w electric motor is like 148 pounds. I know I'm wrong, but I think I am in the ball park. Been a while since I researched it and little by little I've been omitting Insight info from my head. :o
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Answering both of you guys
101, The thought has crossed my mind that if I have to fork 2-3k for a new pack and associated hardware, pursue an alternative drivetrain instead. I would want to do an EV but that could be too big of a project to tackle with my current lack of fab equipment. After riding in a Jeep everything is quiet. :D The car as a whole feels buzzy though. Could just be stuff thats loose. My only worry is that Honda will stonewall me because this will have a salvage title as soon as its registered. The wording of the warranty book isn't clear whether every warranty on the car if void thereafter or just all encompassing ones e.g. body, powertrain that kind of thing. eh never been a fan of making my rigs advertisment magnets but hey if they give me a free pack, warranty it and are good about the whole deal, I'd be game. A granny low in this thing would make take offs much easier; been used to the jeep, all i have to do is bring up the clutch and its rolling no need to gas it. With Rommie, unless I'm finessing the clutch she'll stall out at idle. From my reading I don't think the pack tops 100lbs? Its about as heavy as a really big SLA battery. Tranny is supposed to be dead light, and it sure is small enough to be so, and the engine is made out of light weight metals. If I could shoe horn in a little 3 cylinder diesel that would be sick.......A ton of work but cool Question for you wazabi, on the stick its normal for the throws to get shorter the higher you go? 1st is the longest while 5th is the shortest. Feels kinda weird. |
1- Don't worry if the pack flies the coupe, rebuilts can be found for a reasonable price (under $1k)
2- Wait until you finally get a set of Potenzas filled up to an ungodly psi if you think it feels buzzy. :) Either way, its not a Jeep. I'm surprised you don't mind driving it without the window, it stills lets in less water in the rain than the Jeep - right? :p 3- I actually have a Yanmar 3cyl tractor but I could imagine acceleration times being measured with a calender. 4- I can't honestly answer that correctly as my memory of how it shifted is fading. I had a Husco armrest so I may have sat a little more relaxed in the car than you do. Granny gear? You can start out fine from 2nd on it if you want to.........it seems a lot like a granny rear the way it is. |
2) For sure, every time it rains my so called trunk floods, rear passenger wheel well gets soaked, passenger side floods and water has a way of appearing in the most strangest of places, but such is the way of a Jeep :) Rommie is dead dry even with the window gone.
Been meaning to order a set too, the fronts on this thing are ungodly big and the rear Potenzas are nearing slicks. Every place I've called says they are still on back order though. 4) Probably still don't know how to drive it yet. Even though the Jeep has a hydraulic clutch you can still feel its weight. To me the Insight just feels numb. |
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So with the engine & tranny & battery pack the thing STILL weighs 1800 pounds? You'd think they could have cut some weight SOMEWHERE with all that aluminum. The '87 CRX HF weighed less, although there are all those airbags and such safety equipment.
I've thought of having hood, doors, roof and trunk redone in aluminum for the CRX, at same rigidity but about 30% lighter weight. Also thought of having a few other parts redone to save weight. Yes, expense, but can you imagine having a 1200 pound CRX with VTEC-E D15Z1 engine and six-speed tranny? I'm interested to see what they do with the CR-Z when it comes out. I've also thought of seeing what I could do with moving as many parts from an Insight to a CRX (extensive body mods but live in NASCAR country where you can actually find mechanics who can turn a donkey into a zebra with very little effort.) to see how much could be lightened. |
1800 lbs is light IMO. The average car weights about 3200 lbs? Almost half the weight. Plus I'm a little longer than an CRX. Friend of mine has an HF, I think I have maybe a foot of length on his. Air bags and their associated electronics aren't that heavy. The Insight doesn't use the traditional foam bumper, just a tiny bit of foam up front, a few pieces of foam in the back and crush cans. There are impact beams running through the doors. Then the mondo glass hatch in the back. Dunno, if I ever have to tear it apart I'll weight all the bits and see what happens.
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New stuff, got my parts in only downer is that one of the little clips required to retain the quarter panel window is on back order. Enough so the Majestic removed my order after its been sitting for a month. So I've got everything I need to to replace the window except that clip. I figure I'm going to attempt to save the original clip and try to reuse it. Else I find some heavy duty sticky tape and use that instead. The two front clips along with all the RTV should hold it in just fine.
Got a new hood lock to replace the busted one. No amount of greasing was able to save it or so I thought. The new one helps some, but the whole thing is still too loose and the hood is sitting too high. Got a dead blow hammer from HF so I'll wail on the rad support a bit more and knock in back into position. Due to all the recent rain my car smells like mildew again which is a pain. Need to find some cheapo way to remount all the under body panels. Honda wanted something around 120 bucks for all the ones I need to replace. There has to be a better solution. Front parking lights are both blown and for some reason when the emergencys are on, nothing up front flashes. I'm hoping new blubs will correct this. Else time to run through the schematic. Still need to figure out why bank 1 sensor 1 O2 keeps claiming its shorting to ground. Need to buy my spark plugs, seems like I have an all B head. Clean out the intake Clutch feels funny cause the master was empty. Refilled it, going to keep an eye on leaks School and rain have been the biggest time killers. But its slowly getting ready to get inspected and registered. |
In reading this thread, I would say you are running into many of the common issues with the car.
High humidity in the car due to the broken window or other leaks can set codes. The O2 sensor and Catalytic converter codes can be caused by the ECM software, and honda is offering to replace the ECM if people are having those codes. Hondas policy as far as warranties on salvage cars is clear,warante is void if the car has ever been salvaged, but I suspect that product recals may still be available??? I just joined this forum. I have 3 insights, the one I drive: https://www.99mpg.com/Projectcars/mikesinsight/ I have worked on and helped diagnose issues with many insights, with people calling me from all over the country, Austrilia and the UK. I have the full set of service manuals. My website has a lot of information about the battery packs and other Insight related issues. After checking out my website, https://www.99mpg.com/ feel free to give me a call to discuss any further issues you may have with the car. |
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Pick up a tube of 3M Windoweld. It's a polyurethane based sealant. I've used it to repair rotted out engine mounts, but as the name suggests it's meant for mounting automotive glass. AutoZone carries it IIRC, but I may be thinking of Advance Auto. What's that saying... "Do it right or do it twice"? Quote:
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True bobski. I've seen tubes of the stuff at Pepboys, I'll check out Autozone.
No bleed yet, just refilled it, rain has been a pain in the butt. Mike, far as I know in CA a recall can't be voided but according to the service records I've found, the ECU has been replaced atleast once for that problem. Warrenty, I know is void as soon as it has a salvage title. Considering its mileage it is possible it could just be dead. I don't know, I haven't really spent all that much time trying to figure it out. Wilco on the call, spring break is coming up, I'm hoping to have it good to go by then |
Remount underbody panels? So you have the panels, just need clips?
Front parking lights......the whole time I had mine I thought I had a bad wire - should of checked the bulb first! DOH! Idiot! That was just one though. Now, if/when you have problems with your low beams - remember I mentioned there was a recall on the headlight switch.....at least I think I did:o Quote:
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Nah the bulbs blow. They are tiny little things. You did post a reminder about the head lights, no worries ;) |
Good luck on the car. I was always intrigued by insights but they arent too common. Cant they pull off 70 MPG?
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Thanks Three6Eight, thats their claim to fame, 60-70MPG
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