[Jimmy]

I purchased a 12 oz can of R134a + dye last Wednesday, and got everything attached through the manifold. I struggled a bit with the yellow fill hose – couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t sending any refrigerant into the manifold – turns out I had to unscrew the little things inside the hose that push in the schrader valves. Part of learning new tools I guess 🙂

I started out with low side at 35, then highs around 70-75. I added refrigerant a few seconds at a time and saw the low side starting pulling vacuum. but did not notice any increase on the high side. Eventually added the entire 12oz can and now highs are still around 70-75. The A/C now cools a bit better, but not cold. Ambient temps in garage around 60F, temps on vent around 49-50F.

I purchased a 2nd can of r134a with the dye, started adding a bit more. Got about 1-1..5 oz in and still no improvement on the high side, and the compressor is cycling on and off. About 15 seconds on, then 10 seconds off. Here are the readings when off and on. When holding the throttle at about 1500-1800, the high side doesn’t get much better, maybe hitting 77.

On:

Off:

After a bit of Googling, this seems to indicate there is air or moisture in the system, and instead of adding refrigerant, I should get the system evacuated, boil off the moisture with a vacuum pump, and then go with a full charge. Is this the correct next step, or should I continue adding more refrigerant?

Thanks,
Jimmy

Attachments:

• withcompressorengaged.JPG
• withcompressoroff.JPG

[Jimmy]

Thank you somick for the response. I read on some Honda forums that sometimes replacing good seals would introduce leaks, especially if you did not have the proper install tools, so didn’t want to risk it.

I wanted to close up this thread after completing the job about 2-3 weeks ago. Hopefully it will help someone else in the future.

Some notes and lessons learned:

• Eric’s TB video was well worth the money. t learned quite a bit, and helped immensely with the comfort level and feeling confident I had set proper timing.
• The parts list is correct. My adjuster springs were fine.. you can probably skip those.
• If you’re wondering if you can do it, go for it. It’s not too hard and all the fasteners are easily accessible.
  [li]The crank pulley bolt was much easier than expected. Just use the crank pulley tool, some 1/2″ extensions on a jack stand, and long cheater on a breaker bar..
• On closer inspection, my belts looked fine – very little cracking at all. I think they were good for 20K+ miles. Inspect the P/S belt to gauge how your TB will look.
• I ended up breaking the upper timing (both inner and outer) cover because the 10mm splined “nut” inside the plastic cracked the plastic. I should have soaked in more penetrating oil before really cranking on it.
• I broke several plastic clips when removing the belly pan. Amazon sells them in bulk, like 50 for $8. I recommend ordering these with your parts.
• My first time doing a valve adjustment was satisfying, but I was never quite sure I had it “just right”. Most valves were loose, and correcting these helped with the valve ticking sound when the engine was cold.
• If you’ve had a shop do a TB / Water pump job in the past, you most likely have the generic green coolant. Mine did, so didn’t need to order the special blue Honda stuff, which is hard to find.
• To help remember where bolts/fasteners went, I used masking tape to keep them in the same hole with the part. Worked really well.

Total time, including valve adjustment and oil change, was about 8 hours, with easily 2 hours spent removing and reinstalling the belly pan. I think I can get the job down to 3-4 hours next time.

Thanks,
Jimmy

[Jimmy]

I finally got around to finishing this job. I bought some new brake pipes (part #’s 46331-S84-A00 and 46361-S84-A00) and replaced them. Breaking the brake pipe nut on the passenger side actually cracked the pipe due to all the corrosion, so it was definitely time. On the driver’s side the nut was so rusted I ended up Dremel-ing the pipe in order to get an impact on.

You can see the old pipes and cylinders here:

The driver’s side cylinder was definitely leaking brake fluid, but the passenger side was fine. I finished up the job with a brake fluid flush following Eric’s one-man brake bleeder method.

Thanks everyone!
Jimmy

Attachments:

• newbrakelinesinstalled.jpg
• oldbrakelinesandcylinders.jpg

[Jimmy]

I finally got around to finishing this job. I bought some new brake pipes (part #’s 46331-S84-A00 and 46361-S84-A00) and replaced them. Breaking the brake pipe nut on the passenger side actually cracked the pipe due to all the corrosion, so it was definitely time. On the driver’s side the nut was so rusted I ended up Dremel-ing the pipe in order to get an impact on.

You can see the old pipes and cylinders here:

The driver’s side cylinder was definitely leaking brake fluid, but the passenger side was fine. I finished up the job with a brake fluid flush following Eric’s one-man brake bleeder method.

Thanks everyone!
Jimmy

Attachments:

• newbrakelinesinstalled.jpg
• oldbrakelinesandcylinders.jpg

[Jimmy]

Checking in… due to the amount of rust, things are never easy with this car.

I bought a pair of new wheel cylinders and tried to install them today. I got the 2 10mm bolts holding the cylinder on loose, but the 10mm brake line nut is completely rounded off. Went out and bought a set of flare wrenches and the 10mm just spins around it. As a last ditch effort, tried vice grips but those just smash the nut smaller. There not much metal left.

My next plan of attack is to replace the steel brake lines that connect the wheel cylinders to where it becomes rubber brake hoses. As you can see they are pretty badly rusted and due for a replacement. The 10mm nut at the other end isn’t in bad shape.

Attachments:

• 20131005_121845.jpg
• 20131005_124314.jpg

[Jimmy]

Checking in… due to the amount of rust, things are never easy with this car.

I bought a pair of new wheel cylinders and tried to install them today. I got the 2 10mm bolts holding the cylinder on loose, but the 10mm brake line nut is completely rounded off. Went out and bought a set of flare wrenches and the 10mm just spins around it. As a last ditch effort, tried vice grips but those just smash the nut smaller. There not much metal left.

My next plan of attack is to replace the steel brake lines that connect the wheel cylinders to where it becomes rubber brake hoses. As you can see they are pretty badly rusted and due for a replacement. The 10mm nut at the other end isn’t in bad shape.

Attachments:

• 20131005_121845.jpg
• 20131005_124314.jpg

[Jimmy]

Thanks Tom.. feels like less of a mistake now :cheer:

I’ll check back when everything is back in order.

[Jimmy]

Thanks Tom.. feels like less of a mistake now :cheer:

I’ll check back when everything is back in order.

[Jimmy]

Thanks wysetech and college man. I’ll pick up some new cylinders, and since the brake fluid is getting dark I’ll flush out the system as well. Need to buy some 1/4″ tubing for the homemade bleeder bottle. 😆

[Jimmy]

Thanks wysetech and college man. I’ll pick up some new cylinders, and since the brake fluid is getting dark I’ll flush out the system as well. Need to buy some 1/4″ tubing for the homemade bleeder bottle. 😆

[Jimmy]

87 VW GTI 16V: parents got rid of it when I went to college
95 Honda Civic DX: used to fill it up back in the mid-90’s for $8 and it would last 400 miles. Sold to a co-worker who just moved into the area.
99 Audi A4 1.8T: Fun car, still running strong and just hit 100K miles. Currently has a strange stuttering problem that I still need to figure out.

Every car was/is a 5-speed.

[Jimmy]

87 VW GTI 16V: parents got rid of it when I went to college
95 Honda Civic DX: used to fill it up back in the mid-90’s for $8 and it would last 400 miles. Sold to a co-worker who just moved into the area.
99 Audi A4 1.8T: Fun car, still running strong and just hit 100K miles. Currently has a strange stuttering problem that I still need to figure out.

Every car was/is a 5-speed.

[Jimmy]

I had a local shop knock off that troublesome nut – he didn’t even want to charge me but I insisted on paying him $20 for his trouble. Just needed an impact wrench on it for about 10 seconds.

Got the car home and installed the new link. Feels great! 😛

Thanks again for everyone’s help.

Attachments:

• 20130905_093529.jpg

[Jimmy]

I had a local shop knock off that troublesome nut – he didn’t even want to charge me but I insisted on paying him $20 for his trouble. Just needed an impact wrench on it for about 10 seconds.

Got the car home and installed the new link. Feels great! 😛

Thanks again for everyone’s help.

Attachments:

• 20130905_093529.jpg

[Jimmy]

Wow, a response from The Legend himself! I feel honored! :cheer: Thank you Eric.

You know, I swear I watched every video you have posted on YouTube, but some of those views were late at night so may not have retained all your wisdom in my half-conscious state. As soon as I saw that front stabilizer link I thought “THOSE THINGS!” 🙂 I proceeded to laugh when you said “seemingly easy, but deceptively hard”, and “if you don’t have heat, and if you don’t have air tools, this may not be a job you can do.”

Well, I didn’t have heat or air tools, but I DID manage to get one of the nuts off with a 18″ breaker + vice grips. My wife didn’t give me permission to get heat next to her car (she feels it’s dangerous so close to the gas tank). I wonder if I would have had better luck with an impact… don’t own one but would have invested in a cordless one if it would have taken it off.

I will remember this for the rest of my life:

“Looks deceptively easy.”
– ETCG on stabilizer links

Thanks Eric! I also wanted to say I went from someone who knew nothing about car repair (well car audio a bit, but that’s different) to someone that’s looking for car problems, just so I can wrench for the experience, all thanks to you.

[Author]

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