Raf99 : 1993 Accord EX

[Raf99]

I was troubleshooting the bumper pole not working for a few weeks now and ...dam... I dunno. I'm thinking relay but the relay isn't a normal relay. It's more of a control module box that has IC on it etc. But... the pole works when I give it power. & ... even if I muck up the 3 power wires it has in the fuse box they are all hot with lights on / ebrake off / car on. Soo.... I think relay. But can't really jump a 6-pin relay for power... & haven't found a reliable diagram to show me the wiring. I'm thinking of buying a .... power probe thing which may help me out. vs. blowing fuses :P According to what i can see there is one harness / relay available online in the world and it costs $300USD.





Questionable welds... this would connect a power wire to the relay on the PCB... should this weld be a weld? Anyone have one of these things to tell me ?




Well....I'd say Sally is pretty much dying to be repaired now haha. Took her out for a last run yesterday. Was a bit too hard on her and now she has some more symptoms. (and... lost a mudflap and inner fender plastic guard while going far too fast. Went back to get them, the mudflap is ok, the guard is toast. ) Some different sounds in the engine... , at 3000rpm she's super rich. Like... an exhaust bolt broke for example. But meh.... I was ripping through an intersection in 2nd on redline and missed 3rd. Ohhh 3rd gear isn't happy now either. And..... let's be honest. This is 400HP for the past ... 8-9-10 years? Ripping on it every time I take her out. & the head was never built. So... 30 year old OEM / head on 400HP. Enough said. Was super fun to to this project! Expected this to happen one day.
Sooo.... not sure what her issue is now but doesn't matter. Need to rip in to this thing and do the rings (which I have never done). .... Even with cell phone pics the writing is on the wall (inside and outside 3 & 4 )...

#1 & #2 - clean.. silver piston tops / can read the serial numbers, clean-ish outside.


#3 & #4 - oil dying to escape. Everywhere! forced up the threads. Absolute mess...


Down the engine side of #3 & #4 oil seeping out through the valve cover in a spray / mist / on the fuel rail, etc. The catch can filling up on every outing! Obvious #3 & #4 rings are packed with junk and need to be replaced. Also... probably worn.
And the head needs to be built! So.... new rings (& bearings), built head needed, ... just debating how much I want to do on my own here. Tempted to try it all on my own.

Oh ya... we are now in the realm of "let's make a reliable turbo H22 with used parts". (car = old = parts = old / used). IE: pretty sure cams don't have bearings and the worn part of the head = not worth fixing?

See if your ear can pick up the.... 5 tick...sound but skips a tick, then 5. There are many sounds that shouldn't be here now... haha

[Raf99]

Good work on the voltage meter!

What's behind the name change for the CB? What prompted the sale of the Audi?

Never did like the name, an ex-girlfriend came up with it and she knew nothing about cars. (and that Sally is a reference to mustangs; Mustang Sally).
I may just call her cb7 or "the cb7" from now on. Tried to think of another name but... nothing comes to mind.

Ahh the Audi. Where to begin. I guess if money was not an object I would keep it and mod it. But the plan was to sell the Audi to pay off most of the Acura. Money is also needed on the cb7 and other things. But it's an expensive daily driver and now has 111,000km (69,000miles) and from what I've seen so far I don't want to be the one to take it to 200K. Not with the numerous electrical issues, idle / engine issues, and drive-train issues. Still have idle hesitations but no-one knows why.... sigh. The Quattro is amazing in the snow, but we don't get that much snow here now and the salt on the roads will kill cars. It's one of the last manuals which is cool but only a turbo 4cylinder (252hp), I'd trade it for an S4 V8 auto in a heart-beat. &.... I have 3 cars now which I guess is too many. It's a shame to see it go as I do love the car. Amazing in every way to be honest. Going from the Acura to this car is ..... hard to put in to words. Like going from a Ford to Audi (german engineering shows) everything is so much better & the technology in it rocks! Oh & finally the dealership here is a joke, the worst I've ever seen (takes more than a month to get in, no support, have dented scratched the car twice now, argumentative...). If I don't sell it, it will stay a weekend driver and I'll keep it. I once had a thought of selling the cb7 and modifying the Audi to the max but can't do that to the cb7

[SSMAccord]

Good work on the voltage meter!

What's behind the name change for the CB? What prompted the sale of the Audi?

[Raf99]

Well we are home sick this week with a cold, and sick of sleeping and resting so I always wanted to do that volt meter in the clock thing. And where I had my volt meter got taken up by the JDM fog light button + my clock always gets reset when I disconnect the battery. So I had a spare clock and the volt meter thing, so let's do it. There is a write-up on cb7 for this but once I started looking at it I realized I could make this work no problem without running and additional wire somewhere else.....

Got the parts....


We are just going to sandwich the volt meter against the glass, the same way the clock does.


Use fabric tape around the unit, and this also gives the glue something to stick to. It will be sandwiched in here anyways....


No easy way to do this I guess.... so let's just cut the clock out and see what happens.

Solder the wires on the the back for 12V ignition and ground...


PCB board tells you which ones to use, but I did test with a volt meter on the wiring harness in the car.


Still work......... yep


No problems....


Love mods that are functional!

[Raf99]

Took cb7 (new name pending) for a good 2 hour drive today! No issues of course. Fun to drive, relaxing, lots of power. I do need to replace the hood release cable. It's all messed up and not working...
Took a photo when we got back; you can also see the new addition. Trying to sell the 2017 Audi A4 S-Line.

[Raf99]

Ya... CybortGT. I feel like the brakes will always feel 90's-ish no matter what. It will never be like a new car where resting your baby toe on the pedal = instant brakes. But I will also admit an Audi has far better brakes than my 2020 Acura. Our only option for our cars I believe is the prelude BMC with a 1" diameter but there's no proof that it does anything. (like the brake proportioning valve). I always wondered though. Seems new cars like my Acura still uses all the same "bits". So why can't our cars have amazing brakes without soft pedal non-sense.

SSMAccord..... ahh no idea anymore. I'm going to move the bumper pole and mirrors to a different 12V and not worry about the cigg. light / ring thing lighting up (or the ashtray blue light). *shrugs*. I wish I had a ....... ...... umm. ... ... 12V probe .. thing. I think I'm going to make one so I can energize that line to fold the mirrors out. & at least then I can work backwards from there.

There is something else i was working on too..... but it's slow going.

[SSMAccord]

Oooooooohhhh…this will be a good upgrade!

Your electrical issue seems really odd. It does seem to be ICU driven, but maybe just a grounded out wire?

[CyborgGT]

Noice. Is the stock master cylinder enough for those on our cars? It sounds like even with the smaller Spoon calipers, the '90s Civics needed to upgrade the BMC to feel an improvement in braking.

[Raf99]

I have been waiting 5+ years to do this one....

05-12 Acura RL Front Calipers (4 piston)
98-99 Acura 2.3CL Front hubs & bearings (supplied by FFC)
05 - 06? Nissan 350Z re-drilled / slotted rotors 4 x 114/.3 (supplied by FFC)
FFC Centric rings
FFC caliper bracket set

[Raf99]

Got the windows working, but bumper pole and mirrors have no power. They run off the same wire that the cigg. lighter LED light runs from, which is the red/blk wire. So .. ya.

[Raf99]

Well F me ... been a while since I've been stumped. Windows won't work (or JDM mirrors unfold) and I can't figure it out. Been at it for over a week now. Window sw. fuses are not getting 12V from ICU. Tried another ICU too, same thing. But not sure why ICU is not sending out the 12V to those fuses. ...... assuming that's the order. Tried different door handle/switch, ICU, relays and tripple checked all fuses. Simply put is fuses are not getting power,, which unfortunately comes from the ICU. Which... isn't a relay... but a mini computer? Car is in pieces now bc of this..... REALLY is not fun removing the whole under dash fuse box unit by the drivers side clutch pedal. I think I'd rather do the gas tank with no lift vs. this one....









Ya.. just reach up and to the left. Hours! ug...



95 accord wiper delay moded ICU on the left. OEM on the right.

[Raf99]

Ya. got water tests back today and they are good. So I am good. Still smell burnt houses outside each day and the trees will look like this for the next 5-10 years. Definitely looking into moving as it's just not fun living here anymore. Anywho.... on with the show.









Hmmm..........

[deevergote]

Holy crap. I didn’t realize you were in the area where the fire was burning! I’m glad you, your home, and your cars are ok. That’s absolutely insane how close it got.
I’m across the river from Philadelphia, and we were choking on the smoke all the way down here.

[Accord problems]

dang raff . i hope that all is good and water test good .

[Raf99]

Thanks all. Still waiting for the water tests to come back. Other than that, everything is fine. Not fun driving through a war zone each day, but was looking to move long term anyways.

Moving some projects slowly for the car.
- Got a dent / hammer kit off Amazon. Learned I suck at fixing dents (trying one on the hood)
- Ordered the FFC caliper bracket kit. The only thing left is to get the rotors
- There's always been a buzz/rattle from the back passengers side speaker. Really annoys me when the bass is a booming. I tried many times to look into this. May try to swap the speakers from R to L which I Haven't tried yet. Still absolutely LOVE the stereo system in this car.
- Still need to order tires for her too....
- Still thinking of giving her a new name too

Her first (2 second) appearance in a YouTube video which is pretty cool. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96a_cdKh_ZI