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. ...

 

WOW. Sorry to hear that, after all that work

 

Okay, I lol'd pretty hard.

Thanks Sam .. ya dick.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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?

 

Yup, 4 days ... the wife works most of them so I am mostly in the clear.

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.

 

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.

 

you are the new resident relationship and marriage therapist/counselor

 

Trying to lighten the mood. It'll all turn out fine in the end one way or another.

 

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.

 

LMAO...
I'm not as positive as Tyler...
I would bail!

 

I would bail too

 

I've come too far and spend too much money to just give up

If I were to bail at this moment, it would be worthless $ wise anyhow.

 

I don't think I could bail either. You go this.

 

will you two share an apartment?

 

J is just really trying to win his way into Tyler.


Wait, what?

 

been there

 

Not impressed, eh.

 

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.

Live and learn.

 

maybe after this, you can start charging other people to do replace their main seals

 

Sunk cost fallacy: How the Sunk Cost Fallacy Makes You Act Stupid

 

If I understood that, I would be balling like the rest of you guys in my BMW/Audi/Caddy. Instead I don't understand it, and live in my loser Acura

 

Shit is too serious to read on AZ... i prefer making fun of Trump

 

Damn sorry to hear that, Tyler. Glad to hear you're not feeling defeated and you're ready to get back at it.

 

Fuck, I'm guilty of most of that article.
Great and different perspective, thanks for sharing, Tim.

 

I hope everybody had a good thanksgiving!

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.

 

The Fit is a great car & a blast to rip around.

Sucks about the S2K but I'm sure boost will keep you occupied..

 

I've heard K20s like finding their way into the engine bay of 1G Fits....

 

I'm really digging the Fit though - I guess you could say it gives me a different type of entertainment?

If it came down to it ... I would swap in a K20

 

And comes with a 6mt!

 

he got 33 mpg on the first tank where he was probably hooning...
I'm jealous...I should have fit instead of a3.

 

Here's a quick clip of what the exhaust sounds like on a cold start.

You can see how brutal the clutch is ... very grabby. Hill starts are very challenging ... I've already stalled it twice


Here's a few pictures from yesterday:

I finally got to wash it ... hasn't been done since early - mid October

Also detailed the engine bay

 

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.

 

You sold your s2k!?!?!?!?

 

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

Slow car problems

Yup ... sad day.

 

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.