pits200

And for them to keep telling me that I was not right about the valve job being done improperly. When I sat down and complained they offered to take the heads off and send them out but I told them that I have no confidence in their shop and that I don't want them working on my car anymore.

Nicks01CL-S

say forget it man and go with the 4 doors. get an S class Mercedes around a 2000 to 2004 model. u have like 16 spark plugs on the s430 and s500's and the s600 has like 24 plugs.... so if u fuck one up u still got another one. lol
but ya if this car is messing up its time to get something else! im looking to sell mine wanna buy it.lol

pits200

Quick question, just got back from the dealership and I spoke to the service manager and he said they have no problem putting in an 04 Odyssey engine.

I just need a final say, the 3.5 odyssey engine is a direct swap with my 3.2 type S engine except for a y-coolant adapter????

Could anyone please verify this asap.

Thanks

pits200

Ok, just purchased a 2003 Odyssey engine with 75k miles on it, having it shipped to the dealership for $20.

tnobori1

Been away for a few days... Jesus Pits, I'm sorry to hear about your continued bad luck. I hope you continue to go after the shop that did your first timing belt, but I would understand if you were tired of dealing with it. You should definitely have something good coming your way, man.

Also, just stop responding to Fries. That guy is an ass. Anybody who makes it a point to laugh at your misfortune time and time again is just a douche. His opinions are all over the place, criticizing your choice of shops no matter how big or small. I'm pretty sure the only shop this idiot would approve of is his. I'm not sure what you did to piss this guy off, but he seems to hate you.

Good luck on your new engine and sale!

phee

iTrader: (5)

pits. the ody engine will fit but u wont really see gains unless u have CL-s heads. i mean u will have more power but the CL-s heads are what open up the 3.5's

dont let the dealer fuck you on the labor. an engine swap should cost no more than 1k. i would do it for 500 if u were closer. good luck

RUF87

man o man . . looks like the head of the intake valve broke off. The valve stem is still held in place by the retainer. The question is what cause the valve head to break off??

As for the comments about the cam . . well it's pretty rough looking . . I would guess there were a couple of things going on. The coloring where the valve stem rides look like it may have been overheated . . . low oil pressure at some point . . . over tightened valves. The latter would certainly have resulted in the cams condition and the breaking of a valve head. Also, you mention it sounding a bit like a diesel . . . well if the valves were overtightened it would clatter as much as it would if they were loose. And being too tight would also account for the scoring of the cam lobe face.

I think you have a good case to demonstrate the mechanics were at fault here. The only thing I don't know is the full history to determine if there were other factors contributing to the scoring prior to the mechanic adjusting the valves. Still, there's a very strong case that the valve(s) were improperly adjusted at some point.

Oh, and it's a good bet that the whole engine was hurt when the valve head broke off. Metal bits had to get into the oiling system and get in to contact with other moving parts. Basically, if you weren't getting another engine, this one would require a complete tear down and rebuild, with new cams and possibly more.

Good luck getting your money back and getting a good engine.

Ruf

pits200

Thanks for the input Civic, the price of the Odyssey engine was the same price as the CL-S engine so I figured why not. I am not going to swap heads because mine are most likely ruined after the most recent episode and I am not about to drop anymore money into this vehicle.

As for the dealership, they are charging me $1,250 for labor which sounds fine to me, I really don't have the time or energy to look around for local shops who want to tackle this job just to save $200 or $300. If this was my first time dealing with a large problem on this car I may be more willing but my time and patience have been worn very thin.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

That was Phee btw, not me

pits200

Each time I took the car back to Precision Acura and told them that the engine was loud, they readjusted the valves. And each time they admitted that the valves were out of spec, one time being not tight enough, the next time being overtightened and their logic was that the valves were seating after the head refab and that is why they couldn't get them into spec.

And since I settled for $1,200 from Precision Acura I am thinking that I am out of luck to get anything more from them even though this engine was completely done wrong.

I feel like I am trying to get something for nothing but that is the furthest thing from the truth. I just want the job to be done right, look how much money I have spent already and its frustrating when these people think I am hassling them for no reason...

pits200

Ha, sorry Phee.. THanks for the input..

pits200

Thanks Tnobori, as for the first case against the timing belt shop.... I lost, the judge said that I didn't have enough evidence to prove that the shop was at fault.

So I'm 0-1 and still have no car and out around 3.5k already plus another $2k for the engine install. I typically have good karma but I hopefully will be owed something soon. Maybe I should play the lottery tonight. Or maybe Precision Acura will call and do the right thing and offer to give me the rest of my money back from the bad head job that they did but I don't see that happening but a man can wish.

pits200

Here is a picture of the transmission filter, since it was so accessible I figure I would have taken some pictures to show. It's the black cylindrical tube under the Y like bracket.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

NOOB, lol

should have thrown a red flag that something was not right, with it not going into spec

Thank you, finally

pits200

You're a lost cause Fries, the case was obviously tough going in, trying to prove a sheered off bolt is hard. In addition, when you go in front of a judge who has very little mechanical knowledge the burden of proof is very difficult.

I'd still like to hear your logic as to why the tensioner bolt broke when it was in the car for 8 yrs and 150k miles with no incident, then it barely last 1.5 yrs and 40k miles after they replace the t-belt. (tensioner didn't fail either)

No offense but you are obviously a blue collar laborer so I'm going to guess your intelligence level is not very high besides your field of study. So asking you to comprehend the law is probably a little too hard for you. Just because you are a mechanic does not mean someone is attacking you personally when they say they had a bad experience with a shop.

Not sure what kind of satisfaction you get from me being out thousands of dollars on issues that were completely out of my hands. Karma is a bitch when you wish that kind of luck on people.

tnobori1

Look at our respective join dates... I've been on here a little longer than you, and don't give me that shit about your silly post count. Grow up and get laid buddy. You might not hate the world so much once you do!

Yeah dude, you can tell by his terrible grammar this guy couldn't wait to get out of school. My favorite quote of his is when he compared completing mechanic school to getting a bachelor's degree. I mean absolutely no offense to any other blue collar workers, because I have respect for almost everyone's occupations, but Fries deserves none. Guys like Rajca contribute to the site with their expertise, I don't see any value in this moron.

Rapture

Man, I can't say I blame you for throwing in the towel. I personally would probably have a 'roid rage episode if I was f'ed over by multiple mechanics and losing a court case on top of that. Not trying to salt the wound or anything... just saying I commend you on how you're handling it.

phee

iTrader: (5)

Go in there and have a talk with the gm. Tell him that you appreciate the earlier settlement but you have grounds to prove that the engine was improperly installed and tuned by his mechanics. You can and will seek legal attention if he doesn't agree to cover the entire cost.

Unless you signed a paper, you have all the rights in the world to persue a full refund from them. Be nice and courteous and explain that you would like to keep it out of Court because they do good work. Even if this is not the case.

Humility and courtesy go a LONG way in difficult situations. If he doesn't agree then you have a winning case. I can even have a few of my collegues in the automotive field write a letter as to why thia damage was due to improper seatig of the valves.

Sorry for the spelling errors. This was posted on my iPhone

pits200

Appreciate the offer but Im not sure as to what route Im going to be taking since the shop is so far away. I have a case with the attorney general already and they will be contacting me soon. As for talking politely, I am definitely an advocate of that the first few times when dealing with a complaint. After trying to be polite and I get nowhere, then I step up my anger level but only if it is justified.

phee

iTrader: (5)

also, what camera are you using for these pictures? the DOF is excellent

pits200

Its my small camera, Panasonic Lumix ZS3 I think. I love the camera, very handy and not bulky like SLRs, it also has 12X optical zoom on it, also does HD video (720P)

Crestwood1001

I saw this over the weekend, we were doing a plug swap on a plymoth mini van and when i pulled plug 3 the electrode had dropped off. Replaced all the plugs and wires and it seems ok, no idea what does this.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Well OPs clearly was due to valve issues.

If the minivan is still operational the spark plugs couldve been very old the electrode couldve burnt away.

pits200

Ya, i wanted to see how solid the tips were on spark plugs since you're always suppose to be cautious with them. So I took an old spark plug and grabbed a decent sized hammer and start smacking the the electrode end of the spark plug and I couldnt even come close to getting it to look like mine did that I pulled from the engine. Now that must have been some force to mangle the spark plug like it did, I was impressed with the force the piston must have hit the spark plug with.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

either just plain old worn out, a cheap-o plug (what brand was it btw), or excessive heat, literally making it fall off

there is quite a bit of weight behind that piston, let alone spinning quite fast at the same time (also don't forget about the momentum of the car behind it either, not so much with an auto though, but still there though), that the plug would have had to stop, let alone it being a very focused hit (btw it was not the piston that hit the plug, it the valve that more then likely hit, but yeah that pushed into it by the piston though )

and yeah the most you will probably due to that electrode is bend it a little, but know the porcelain on the plugs, very easy to screw that up, you drop it to the floor, say from table height, (ie it rolls off) and if it does not hit the electrode end, it will probably crack it, which then makes that plug completely useless, so the reason more so for the careful handling they say

pits200

Ok, I need some big help.. I got the 3.5 ody engine and was in the process of switching out the plenum so that I can use the IMRC from the Type-S. The problem is that the Ody engine doesn't have the connector for the IMRC. I followed the connector for the IMRC from my Type-S back to the main harness near the strut and Im not sure how I can make this work.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get the TYPE-S plenum to function on the ody engine since the harness looks different??? I am going to upload a few pics here in a little.

pits200

Sorry bout the quality, these are from my phone.

So please I hope someone has a suggestion how I can handle this harness issue. The wires that are pulled loose with slack are the ones that control the IMRC switch, one wire goes to each harness.

Thanks

phee

iTrader: (5)

responded to your pm about the imrc

pits200

I just wonder if I have to switch out the ody harness with the Type-S just for the imrc or is there another reason? I am wondering now if my VSA is going to work because Im not sure if that was available on the 2003 ody..

I might just have to wait till they pull my engine so I can look at these things.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

, not that hard to swap harnesses especially when both engines are out, and the manifold is already going to be off (let alone the tranny already has to be disconnected to go on the ody motor)

and easier then trying to wire them up separately too

pits200

Thanks Phee, I just pulled the ody harness and everything looks the same as the CL harness. So I guess once the engine is pulled I will just swap harnesses and I should be good to go.

Thanks again, I still am learning about these things and want to be thorough.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

What heads are you planning on running?

$10 says once you do the swap youre going to love the power and not want to sell it

pits200

Im just using the Ody heads since I figured the CL heads are ruined after this recent catastrophe. (Atleast the front head seems shot and I just don't want to put anymore money into the car)

So I think the stock j35a4 engine is 240hp/242ftlbs, I wonder what kind of gains I might see doing just the plenum/IMRC swap and using the CL-S ECU.

Hey, I'll state it now, if anyone wants to buy my car for $5500 after this, it's theirs. All my mods included, the car should run like a beast after all this.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Hmmmm. Im curious to see how the CL-S ECU will run it with the Ody heads. I have heard in the past that there is no difference between the Ody heads and the CL-S heads, but the parts catalog disagrees.

phee

iTrader: (5)

why sell it after the work? drive it till the wheels fall off and then replace the ball joints and keep rolling

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

You'll love the torque of the new motor. Drive it once, I doubt youll want to sell it. Its paid off right? If I were you Id fix it this time, if it fails again, part it out.

And contact NVA-AV6, he may have a spare set of heads.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

the head castings are probably the same, but where the difference lays is in the machining and such (aka valve seat sizes)

pits200

Ya, I've had the car paid off for about 1.5 yrs.

But you need to remember that I have an auto and this tranny has lasted 165k miles so that is another big problem I have to worry about. Knock on wood

pits200

I replaced the ball joints about 50k miles ago, not a fun job but definitely improved the ride quality and handling.

The suspension on the car is great, it has been pretty much worry free except for a few busted end links but that's no biggie.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

with luck the next in line will be tranny dont bother with ody engine. just put cl motor and sell it. if you really like the car get an 6 speed then play with it. get ride of this car ! cant belive that you even think about fixing it and keep it. get ride of it. with ody engine tranny will go even faster. $ 0.02