Ceras Victoria (Honda Prelude) 200,000 Mile Birthday

Ceras Victoria his her 200,000th mile on October 25th, 2013.
It took 19 years (possibly 20) as she is a 1994 Honda Prelude Si.
I'd like to say there are many more ahead of her, but that's highly unlikely and she'll soon be heading for the scrap heap.

Here are the photos of her odometer.
200,000 miles!

Ceras Victoria (Honda Prelude), Throttle Position Sensor

So my friend and colleague, Aaron, suggests that he's had similar problems to mine and that I should replace the throttle position sensor. This being a less than $30 part I figure, what the heck, I need the car to run well until mid December, I'll give it a try, the forums say this is pretty easy...

(And that should have been a warning...)

Dealerships, Car Shopping, and Purchasing

Recently I've had occasion to spend a lot of time in contact with car dealerships. I figured I would take my experiences and roll it into a guide of sorts, for others looking to buy a new car.

Another Test Drive, Volkswagen

These recent test drives, of all the wagon vehicles come from looking for a new car for my parents. But, I figured I'd put my reflections and impressions up for anyone it may help.


2014 Jetta Sportswagen TDI, 2.0 L 6-speed

The seats up front were very comfortable. Faux-leather, heated, adjustable, and better than those in the Impreza. They did not have the side wing adjustment, like the seats in the Outback, Forester, and Legacy. I missed this as it eliminated some of the bucket seat feel.
Technology and standard equipment wise it was well appointed.
The car does not feel big, at the same time I would not describe it as nimble or peppy. It's comfortable but the handling is wholly unimpressive. Simply put I would not take a turn with any enthusiasm unless down in 2nd gear or so.
Driving a diesel would take some getting used to in terms of operational rev ranges and power delivery.
The clutch pedal is as soft or softer than those in most Subaru's, I do not like this as I like enough resistance to definitively know  when I am depressing the clutch or not.
Passing speed and the ability to find an "emergency out" on this worry me, it really was not quick to respond.

Regarding the engine and transmission:
Gears 1 - 5 work fine for city driving, I doubt you would hit 6th.
The dash board has a funny indicator about when it thinks you should up-shift and  down-shift.
Gear 6 worked great for highway cruising.
You need to use more throttle in conjunction with lifting off the clutch in1st gear than I'm used to in most petrol engine car.
There was very little engine braking unless using 2nd gear or 3rd gear from much higher speeds.

General Conclusion:

Efficient and goes well enough.

I was not a fan of the handling or the throttle response.

This is the first diesel car I've driven, so, I'm not sure what my expectations should be.

More Test Drives of the Subaru Product Line

Today I tested more cars offered by Subaru. I went back to Hodges Subaru in Ferndale, MI and was dealing with Danielle again (if you’re looking to buy a Subaru and live in the Detroit area, deal with her, she’s wonderful!). Today I was testing and measuring cars for my parents who are finally looking to replace Harmony (2000 Subaru Outback) or Cloud (1999 Subaru Forester).

A few notes on the Subaru product line before I review the cars. Subaru needs to offer a wagon version of the Legacy that is less bulky looking than the new Outback’s (this is available in Japan and should be here too). Subaru manual transmission vehicles still suffer from very soft clutch pedals, a bit more resistant would just let you know you’re pressing it better. Also, Subaru offers a lot of great diesel versions of their vehicles in other countries that are quite fuel efficient, these should be offered to the USA as well.

On to the cars I drove today:

Rental Cars

So, recently I've had reason to rent cars a few times...

2013 Ford Focus SE:
It was fairly peppy even though an automatic. I like that I could choose the gear. The dash was ridiculously busy. The seating position was blah and the visibility was just okay. That being said, in retrospect, it was great.

2013 Kia Forte:
This thing was meant to go from A to B. The dash and seating were okay, no complaints. The pickup and gas mileage were nothing to write home about, gut again, just fine. It was good for going A to B and did it fine.

2013 Toyota Carolla:
This was a complete and utter disappointment. It was big, it was heavy, it had tons of road and wind noise, the gas mileage was okay but nothing impressive and the entire experience was just no fun.
The seats were super foamy and gross and extremely uncomfortable.
I was miserable and I took this one for a long trip (1200+ miles to be exact).
And this was all made a lot worse by the fact that from the age of 16.5 to 19 I was driving a 1995 Toyota Corolla, she was tan and her name was Coyote. It was light, so wonderfully light. The seats were simple and comfortable. The car did not like downshifting and passing at all. Up at 70 MPH or so things got shaky. But who cares? It was a great little car, it was peppy off the line, handles wonderfully, had great brakes, and so on. I miss it. I used to drive it in the snow at a 30 degree angle to the curb because it would drag its rear end all day.
The sad thing is even that 1995 was not as good as the rear wheel drive Corollas that came before it (the 1995 was a front wheel drive). And now the car has evolved into something bloated that rather do a barrel roll than go around a corner.

I can always give more details to anyone interested.

Recent Test Drives

Recently my girlfriend finally took the Scion FR-S for a spin, I was in the back seat, she was exuberant, and it was fun. Better ask her about it if you want more.

2010 Subaru Impreza 2.5i:
I took a manual 5 speed for a test drive. First, having driven both a 2000 Outback (Harmony) and 1999 Forester (Cloud) [Harmony and Cloud are my parents' cars] I was surprised how much farther that 2.5L engine goes in the smaller and lighter Impreza, I liked it a lot.

2009 Subaru WRX:
This car was much faster than the Impreza. It also had very heavy steering. It felt a little heavy but more so the steering was really heavy.

2006 Subaru WRX STi:
Ok, so I'm really glad I did not pick up this car, I would not be able to afford the speeding tickets. It picks up speed so quickly!  The short ratio gear box is wonderful. I really like this car. The handling and braking were absolutely wonderful. The handling was also light and easy to throw into a turn. One day I may end up with one of these, we'll see.

Ceras Victoria (Honda Prelude), Tune Up Adendum

So, the car was running a bit rough on the way back from Toronto and even worse as time went on.

During the tune up I may have messed up a little in removing a stuck and rusted rotor that would not come off its spindle. The wires inside the distributor cap were damaged. (Did not know this when I took it to the dealership.)

I had it towed to LaFontaine Honda figuring if the cap, rotor, or distributor coil were bad a Honda dealership would be the most likely to have them in stock, and my girlfriend and I were planning to drive up to Toronto.

Fast forward a week or so later. It was getting unbearable, so I popped the hood.

The top bolt from the distributor cap was gone leaving a small gap, quite possibly causing incomplete burn or miss fires.

Also, they apparently took off the air intake pipe and put it back together wrong. There was a gap between the air box connect and the pipe letting unfiltered air in. The hose clamp by the throttle body was also ridiculously loose. Last time I take a car there, ever.

Ceras Victoria (Honda Prelude), Tune Up

Replaced the cap, rotor, spark plugs, spark plug wires, and air filter.
Car was running pretty darn smooth.
Drove it to Toronto, Canada with the girlfriend to visit a friend. (Note: never tell the border guards that you're there to visit your gaming friend... it leads to additional questioning.)

After a week though (this post is being written on 9/8/2013) there are some issues back again, it is still acting like there is a restriction plate.

That said, it was nice to have it running well for at least one trip.

Ceras Victoria (Honda Prelude), CV Axles

 Ceras Victoria has had some serious vibration issues. The motor mounts were recently replaced and the I did the axles as well.
My girlfriend and I did the CV axles. We also helped my coworker Z do his first oil change on his Mazda 3 (a new one).

Ceras Victoria (Honda Prelude), Motor Mounts (Part 2)

So, fixing the rear motor mount was a bit on the tough side. Last weekend I tried to do this myself and I did not succeed.

Two of my coworkers assisted me, special thanks to Jason and Daniel.

In the foreground there's a piece of slag from the break bar. The break bar was dropped across the battery terminals resulting in some sparks and a bit of fire. Luckily it didn't drain much from the battery.

Tools (Part 1)

I still need to replace the rear motor mount on Ceras Victoria. Shops were quoting me $250 - $400 base, and if you read the reviews of the shops it was likely to be much more.
So, rather than paying someone else to do it I figured I'd dump the money into tools that will work now and let me get other things done in the future.
One such tool is an air compressor from Craftsman. 26 gallon, so, not huge, but decent enough for what I need, and a 20 gallon increase over the tiny pancake my dad has.
Ordinarily I would not consider this newsworthy, but I should let the pictures do the talking:

Ceras Victoria (Honda Prelude), Motor Mounts (Part 1)

Did 3 out of 4 motor mounts this past weekend.
The front, side, and transmission mounts were done, the rear one still needs to be done.

 

Nausicaa (Honda Prelude), Tear Down (Part 4)

Trimming along driver side door removed.

Test drive of a Scion FR-S

As previously stated, I've been contemplating a Scion FR-S, okay, more so a Subaru BRZ, as my next car. That may have changed, at least in terms of the preference between the two. I test-drove a Scion FR-S today. The person who I have been in contact with at the dealership, turns out his son is at law school at Kent. Kind of cool!

Keep in mind, I tested on normal streets, no extreme turns, or acceleration was taken.

Chciago Auto Show 2013

I figured I ought to post up all the pictures I took from the 2013 Chicago Auto Show.
I was there with my friend Sonny and we were using complimentary Press Day passes from Jaguar.
I was pretty awesome, almost no one there, no lines, nothing. You could sit in cars, adjust the seat, get a sense for how you'd fit. I liked it a lot.

Anyways, on to pictures!

Also, I will be numbering the cars again and let people who want to go through and name them in the comments.

#1

Ceras Victoria (Honda Prelude), Timing Belt (Attempt 1)

I went to do the timing belt on my car which did not end up happening. The last time a timing belt was done it seems like a mechanic used seize or lock tight on the pulley bolt (most likely) or cross threaded the whole thing.

So, despite having a professional grade 1/2" and 3/4" drive air gun at my disposal, the 3/4" meant to work on medium and large trucks, we were unable to get the bolt to budge. In fact, we had around 400 lb. ft. on a bolt  that was only supposed to be torqued to 180 lb. ft.

Needless to say, timing belt, front main oil seal, and water pump did not happen. The lower timing belt could not be removed.

The day was not a total waste though. I wound up replacing the spark plugs, valve cover gasket (little leaky) and valve cover grommets (much more leaky) all before having a misfire.

Also discovered that the camshaft seals need to be replaced, but those cannot be done without being able to have full access to the timing chain.

I may try the belt again when it is warmer. Otherwise, and at the moment, it looks like the timing belt will not be coming out without removing the crankshaft. Oh joy!

My family friend Norman was helping me out with this.