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Well, there's really no other way to put this but ...
The good:
My tuner remotely applied my base tune last night and the car is running awesome - I was instructed to drive 40 miles to see what my fuel trims were so he could make further adjustments.
The bad:
I'm fairly certain the rear main seal blew out only after 38 miles or so.
I pulled next to my house and took a flashlight to the engine bay to verify if there were any leaks and I noticed the subframe had a few drops on it. I looked below the car and noticed a silver dollar sized puddle of oil after only sitting there for maybe 5 minutes or so.
I pulled the car into the garage and took a look underneath, lots of oil right where the transmission and bellhousing meet. Not a good sign .. at all.
What am I going to do?
I'm going to order a new gasket / flange for the rear main seal and think of a plan of attack ... I either have to pull the motor & transmission again as one unit OR I pull the transmission just by itself - 2 equally shit jobs.
Where did I go wrong?
I'm really not sure at this point - clearly the RTV gasket maker applied failed at some point, I'm just not sure where ..
Sure, another motor / transmission pull is going to be a total pain in the ass ... but the thing I am most worried about is if oil destroyed my brand new clutch disk.
I will keep you all updated.
Damn that sux but at least you caught it early.
I have never pulled motors before but i heard it gets easier and much faster the 2nd time around. ...
Damn that sux but at least you caught it early.
I have never pulled motors before but i heard it gets easier and much faster the 2nd time around. ...
I agree - All bolts have been removed and reinstalled .. the pull process should be done within a day or so. Plus, the labor is free
The only thing that bums me out is how costly it will end up being - fluids alone will total roughly $60 bucks ... new rear main seal & gasket maker is another $100+ ... new clutch disk (if ruined) could add up to another $250 - $300.
That sucks man! Is the rear main where you used the coke bottle to seat it? Is there an actual tool to install the rear main seal? Maybe you could borrow one from the dealer?
Dang sorry to hear that Tyler. Guess the positive is you are coming up on a holiday weekend with time to do it at least.
Yup, 4 days ... the wife works most of them so I am mostly in the clear.
Originally Posted by gnuts
That sucks man! Is the rear main where you used the coke bottle to seat it? Is there an actual tool to install the rear main seal? Maybe you could borrow one from the dealer?
If I were to guess, the gasket that fit over the crank was installed correctly. I think the liquid gasket maker at the bottom of the flange that mates to the upper oil pan is what failed.
Here's my theory: I applied the gasket maker too thin and torqued it down before fully setting in. My B5 mechanic told me to use a different silicon sealant and more of it.
Until I pull the transmission off, I don't really have a way to verify it since it's covered by the flywheel.
Way to stay positive, my friend.
I'm sure it was glorious to drive, even for only 38 miles.
You'll figure this out.
One word of advice, if I may. Pay serious attention to your wife...I know she's cool as fuck and you guys are newlyweds but bro garage time and tunnel vision to correct something (especially during a holiday weekend) may not bode as well as she lets on.
Don't ask how I know but if you need to put it on hold to spend quality time, do it.
That's it, none of my business and I'm not in your relationship, obviously...
Love you, man...
don't sweat the money, you're in it at this point...I'm sure it'll all be worth it and if it gets to the point where it's not, I know you're smart enough to stop the bleeding and let it be someone else's project.
Way to stay positive, my friend.
I'm sure it was glorious to drive, even for only 38 miles.
You'll figure this out.
One word of advice, if I may. Pay serious attention to your wife...I know she's cool as fuck and you guys are newlyweds but bro garage time and tunnel vision to correct something (especially during a holiday weekend) may not bode as well as she lets on.
Don't ask how I know but if you need to put it on hold to spend quality time, do it.
That's it, none of my business and I'm not in your relationship, obviously...
Love you, man...
don't sweat the money, you're in it at this point...I'm sure it'll all be worth it and if it gets to the point where it's not, I know you're smart enough to stop the bleeding and let it be someone else's project.
You couldn't be more correct.
Personal AF:
She's already made a few comments on how much time I've been spending on the car.
After getting home last night, she could tell I wasn't happy and it didn't make for a good mood ... she also knew right away that something big must have happened and it'll require even more time from me.
But no worries, we've talked over lunch today - I'm not touching the car until Thanksgiving weekend (Which coincidentally, she has off) and we've got a good chunk of time together until then ... I've got a few things in the works and I'm sure it'll smooth over okay.
I do appreciate your advice though, spot-fucking-on.
Way to stay positive, my friend.
I'm sure it was glorious to drive, even for only 38 miles.
You'll figure this out.
One word of advice, if I may. Pay serious attention to your wife...I know she's cool as fuck and you guys are newlyweds but bro garage time and tunnel vision to correct something (especially during a holiday weekend) may not bode as well as she lets on.
Don't ask how I know but if you need to put it on hold to spend quality time, do it.
That's it, none of my business and I'm not in your relationship, obviously...
Love you, man...
don't sweat the money, you're in it at this point...I'm sure it'll all be worth it and if it gets to the point where it's not, I know you're smart enough to stop the bleeding and let it be someone else's project.
you are the new resident relationship and marriage therapist/counselor
you are the new resident relationship and marriage therapist/counselor
nah J is just angling here. Trying to get Tyler to give up on this project and sell so he can spend more time with the wife. This way J can acquire an S4 of his own finally.
Well guys, I've given this a lot of thought and I'm certain the rear main seal blew due to improper installation.
This is what the gasket / seal looks like up close:
This lip is very sensitive and very easy to fold - I'm sure as we were sliding it over the crank it gave way .. also not having the right installer tool didn't help (currently tracking that down).
Gasket goes around the crank outlined in red:
Gasket maker gets applied to what's in blue.
The good news is, (If my clutch is in fact f'd) I believe I found a replacement clutch disk that mimics the Clutchmaster FX400 disk almost to the exact specs; size, 6 puck, ceramic material, etc) for $150 + shipping.
Expensive mistake and hopefully one I won't go through again, motor is scheduled for pull #2 on Thanksgiving weekend.
Last week has been hectic to say the least, sorry for the long post:
I picked up a new daily, an 07 Fit 5 speed. It has 197k miles but was really well taken care of with a lot of maintenance records. For $3,000, it's a ton of car for the money. It weighs 400 pounds less than the S2000 and feels really direct .. I enjoy driving it.
33mpg first tank.
Now ... the sad bit.
I sold my S2000 on Thanksgiving. Certainly a bitter sweet moment, but I really got my use out of that car at 167k miles.
I bought it January of 2014 and put 52,000 miles on it, daily'd it for almost 3 years .. it never gave me issues on or off the track
I'll be back, but as of right now it doesn't really fit our needs right now and if I ever need my S2000 fix .. my mom has one an hour away.
Farewell.
Now ... the positive bit:
On Thanksgiving day, my wife went into work so I had pretty much the entire day to start the disassembly process once again:
The second time went much quicker - we had everything disconnected and all fluids drained in 3 hours .. motor came out shortly after that.
Once the transmission was off, I could finally examine my clutch and see if it got soaked in oil.
Bone dry
So happy about that - new disk from Clutchmasters is $351 shipped and a generic / lightly reviewed disk goes for $175 ... phew.
New rear main seal put on properly. Turns out the gasket folded backwards ... the new one was triple checked before putting the clutch assembly and transmission back on
Back in:
Fairly smooth process other than stripping a few bolts and heading to Home Depot, car is up and running:
Bumper will be on shortly, we need to reroute a few wires and do some last minute checks.
Got it up to oil temp and drove 30 miles to see if we could spot any leaks, nothing yet . Car runs great ... and is loud as f$(* - open 3" downpipes that are right beneath the shifter box, it makes your ears ring. I need to take my Miltek exhaust and have it welded soon.
Predictably we had a few kinks to work out - my fuel trims in partial throttle are way off. My tuner seems to think it's o2 sensors, exhaust leaks, vacuum leak, etc - we will hopefully have it figured out today so new revisions can be flashed and I can enjoy the car this week (with ear plugs)
Idle looks good, partial throttle is way off.
That's it for now ... thanks for reading, beyond happy with the progress.
nice work! glad it's up and running. that's a great price on the Fit, looks clean. My wife is going to need a city DD in a year or two and I'm going to put that on the list.
nice work! glad it's up and running. that's a great price on the Fit, looks clean. My wife is going to need a city DD in a year or two and I'm going to put that on the list.
Thanks!
Yeah, Fit is a great daily.
Merging on the freeway with 109hp can be challenging at times.
Maybe San Diego is a bit different, but traffic tends to be thick and people still drive 65+mph. I've already been hassled by a few people because I can't merge quickly enough
Merging on the freeway with 109hp can be challenging at times.
Maybe San Diego is a bit different, but traffic tends to be thick and people still drive 65+mph. I've already been hassled by a few people because I can't merge quickly enough
Slow car problems
After just over a year in my wife's Civic LX automatic, I feel you here. Huge drop in power, coming from the 2G TL. My F150 feels like a rocket by comparison.
11-15-2017, 11:28 AM
... the new one was triple checked before putting the clutch assembly and transmission back on 
