89 Accord LX engine rebuild tim

[Kromatron]

Well, had a low oil pressure issue and some engine noise. Changed oil pump and adjusted valves, engine got quieter but still had a knocking around 3k. Narrowed it down to the bottom end, on top of the engine noise every seal that could leak oil was. I will begin pulling motor tomorrow after work, gonna do my best to document this journey on this thread. Any tips/tricks y'all may have will be appreciated.
Stay tuned!

[rushell]

if its the connecting rod bearings u can drop the oil pan and change them that way I had the same problem on my 89 lxi

[Dr_Snooz]

Good luck with your project.

[Kromatron]

I had thought about just dropping the pan but I figured I'd go ahead and pull it out and replace all the seals, clean the engine bay and check out the clutch while I'm at it. Debating on going with the Weber 38 when it goes back in.

[Kromatron]

Pulled battery out, air cleaner assembly and carburetor. Pulled all belts and valve cover. Progress during the week will be slower than I'd like since I only have an couple of hours of daylight once I get home from work. Under valve cover looks pretty good considering it's age but it doesn't have THAT many miles, sitting at 173k.

[Kromatron]

I know not many people are dying to see/hear updates but I'll keep this going Lol. Haven't really made any progress over the last few days between OT at work, wife leaving for training for work and the next days of rain. I will be getting a portable garage from harbor freight so I can keep working during inclement weather. Did a bit more research on the Weber swap, looking like a much better option than the factory carb and all its vacuum lines.

[schaff70]

Keep up the good work. It sucks to hear you have to work around the weather and outside. Hopefully the temperature doesn't drop anytime soon where you live.
Any tips on removing the crank pulley bolt? I was wrenching on mine tonight and it's being a bear to remove.

[night]

The only real way to get a crank bolt off without an impact is to get under it, take off the flywheel/drive plate cover, get a second person to jamb it with a pry bar (risky for chipping/cracking the aluminum) and then getting a long breaker bar on the bolt.

On clockwise motors you can also wedge a breaker bar and use the starter, but not on old Honda's.

[Dr_Snooz]

If you have a manual, put it in 5th gear and set the parking brake. If you the car jacked up, drop a screwdriver or a drift punch or something hard into one of the vanes on each brake rotor so that they jam against the caliper brackets. That trick works great in junkyards when you don't have anything other than basic hand tools with you and need to stop a wheel from turning.

On the autos, I have a set of these guys: https://www.harborfreight.com/4-pc-1...set-67972.html



I insert one into the timing hole on the trans bellhousing and it jams the drive plate. The flared end is big enough that it won't fall completely down into the bellhousing, so you'll be able to remove it when you're done. I use another of the extensions to get at the pulley bolt through the fender hole. If you put them all together, you can get your breaker bar out past the fender and get a better angle on it (though I don't recommend extending the socket out if you have a really stuck bolt).

If that doesn't work, my disaster backup plan is this:



It's $90 and worth every cent. Seriously. If you don't have a compressor, you can borrow one, or buy the cheapest pancake compressor (HF has one for $57) and it will work great. It absolutely will get the bolt off. Just be sure that you get a big enough hose. The hard plastic coil hose that comes with a lot of compressors will NOT work at all. You need a minimum 3/8" and as short as possible to get all the torque out of the tool (HF has a 3/8" hose for $13). Yes, this is an expensive option, but when you've fought a bolt all day and the gun takes it off in less than a second, you'll wonder why you didn't buy it at the outset and save yourself all the heartache. I bought my gun after fighting with a pulley bolt for a day and a half. My brother-in-law spent a few days fighting with the pulley bolt on his Toyota. I lent him my gun and it sat on his shelf while he piddled around with his Craftsman gun instead (don't buy anything Craftsman). I finally went over and forced him to use my gun and the bolt spun off in less than a second. Use the HF gun, not some other gun that your buddy got in a kit from 3 Christmases ago and doesn't use, not a Craftsman, or something on sale at Autozone or Amazon. Maybe use a $600 Snap-On wrench, but only a Snap-On.

Once you've removed it, you want to put it back on so that you don't have this happen again. If you don't have a torque wrench, buy one. After a basic toolkit, it's the single most important tool you can own. Install the bolt to the torque spec listed in the manual (108 ft-lbs) and be sure to coat the threads with clean engine oil like the manual suggests.

Let us know how it works out.

[Kromatron]

rained here the last 2 days, hurt progress a little bit. i got some work done on sat but didn't have a chance to update yet. i appreciate all the feedback about the crank pulley bolt, ill take that into consideration once i get to that stage. I am assuming its not reverse thread??
i did order a portable garage 10' X 20' x 8' with windows, i have a had a couple of these and they work great....the last hurricane to come through decided to dump some trees through the roof of my last one. Once it comes in ill build it up around the Accord a.k.a. Betty White. ill be able to work a lot more then. more progress and pictures to come. Thanks for sticking with me yall.

[Kromatron]

My garage showed up! Gotta work a half-day tomorrow (wOOt overtime!) afterwards I'll be building it up. I'll post pictures once I finish. Hope to keep working since we are getting a break from the rain.

[Dr_Snooz]

Have fun!

[Kromatron]

thanks!
got tent together sat and went out of town sun. rain back until thursday (yay). gonna get lighting se-up tomorrow after work so I can actually get some sh*t done. been debating on selling my del sol to fund accord (& some drone builds)
ANYWAY let me know what you think of the tent!

[Shane86]

Nice I need one. How much was it

[Kromatron]

It was $200 from Amazon with a warranty. It's a 10 x 20 x 8. Car fits great and I have plenty of room to work in it. So far it has been raining for like 2-3 days straight and is doing well keeping the car dry👍🏻 Ready to get some free time so I can get back in there and work.

[Shane86]

Cool I definitely got to get one this rain is killing me

[Dr_Snooz]

Nice! You have windows. My Harbor Freight one doesn't. I think it's roughly the same size, but I can't open my long coupe doors all the way inside it. It sure is nice to keep the sun off though.

[Kromatron]

well been a few days since an update lol.
yeah the tent i had before was harbor freight, the windows are nice. ANYWAY Happy belated Turkey Day for those that celebrate it

got some work done over the last week or so. engine is ready to come out, waited for black Friday weekend at harbor freight to go get engine hoist....going in the morning to get it,hopefully ill save some $$ on that.

more once its out.

[Kromatron]

Having a hard time getting my harbor freight to have a hoist in stock, borrowed one from a friend. Gonna attempt to get motor out this weekend.

[B0CKS]

Good luck! It's easier than it looks!

[Dr_Snooz]

I had that problem too. I had to go to O'Reilly for mine. It's the same hoist, painted a different color...

[Kromatron]

It's out!!!
Holidays are finally out the way, will start teardown in the next couple days. Stay posted.

[Kromatron]

Teardown begins, Operation bag-n-tag is underway lol.

[Dr_Snooz]

Woohoo! Take lots of pics.

[Kromatron]

Engine has been apart for a couple weeks now. Turnimed out to be worse than anticipated. I will post pics once I get my new computer set up. Anyone know anywhere to source an a20? Or what a good motor substitute would be...keep in mind its carb'd. Thanks guys.