Mk1 Honda Insight

[Evanivitch]

Great cars, great ethos, and well loved by drivers too. There's atleast one,maybe 2 at Evo towers.

[JonnyVTEC]

Not bad for the badge as the fronts are colour coded afterall.

[ChocolateFrog]

AmitG said:

For such an old car I'm surprised that the Honda main dealers are still able to supply so many of the parts.

It only went out of production 11 years ago. I think most manufacturers commit to around 15 years for parts, I could be wrong on that one.

[ChocolateFrog]

JonnyVTEC said:

Not bad for the badge as the fronts are colour coded afterall.

Yes I didn't think it was too bad, Silverstone is the colour.

[ChocolateFrog]

My new fog light arrived.

Before



After





Rear deck still looking good despite the comically flimsy trim.



A small job to tidy up the cargo pocket, which had sagged over time.



Better

[Krikkit]

Looks great, always liked these. I presume its real forté is the suburban commute?

[ChocolateFrog]

Krikkit said:

Looks great, always liked these. I presume its real forté is the suburban commute?

Lack of sound deadening means the cabin is quite noisy so yes definitely better at the urban stuff. Having said that it will sit at 80 happily should you wish.

It's geared very long, 72mph in 2nd IIRC. 3/4/5 are really overdrive gears to get the economy right down.

It's not a bad contender in the traffic light GP.

[ChocolateFrog]

The curse of the dealer strikes again.

The spark plugs are indexed with 4 options suffixed A, B, C or D. The letter is clearly stamped into the cylinder head next to the coil.

Here's mine.



Definitely a B.

Here's what's installed.



It doesn't hurt but equally it's pretty slack from the dealer. NGK UK never bothered to import them to the UK and according to my local Honda dealer they only get C and D versions.

They're readily available in the US so ill order a set from there.

[SturdyHSV]

Really cool car, still a pleasant enough looking little thing as well

[Krikkit]

What's the difference A-D with the plugs? Temperature?

[bgunn]

Krikkit said:

What's the difference A-D with the plugs? Temperature?

The position of the earth electrode. 'Tis to get the perfect burn, such is the attention to detail on these things.

[Zoobeef]

Krikkit said:

What's the difference A-D with the plugs? Temperature?

No its to do with where the thread starts in relation the gap in the electrode. Using the right lettered plug means that when it's torqued in correctly it's pointing in the right direction for the best fuel burn.
The correct direction on thsee engines is one of the inlet valves, not an exact thing though as each type of these plugs covers a 90 degree arc. Some guys seem to over torque slightly so they are all pointing the same way at the valve.

You can manually do it with a standard plugs by marking the gap on the top of the plug and then fitting it and seeing where it is, then shimming it so it stops in the right place. Or, as every plug is slightly different, try lots until you find 3 that fit correctly out the box.

[ChocolateFrog]

I thought the brakes didn't feel 100%.

New discs and pads are on order. I'll strip and clean the calipers at the same time.

Have had a poke around underneath today it's mostly looking pretty clean. It almost all plastic and aluminium so there's very little corrosion. The rubber bits look past their best and there was a few trim clips missing which is pretty standard.

Rear trailing arm bushes are a bit cracked, not sold separately and the rear beam is in the region of £750, one for the future I think.

[JonnyVTEC]

Mine has brake lines the last MOT and the fuel lines on the bulkhead under bonnet can be a hot spot for corrosion so remove the clip clean and grease it up.

As a hybrid owner are your sandals still in the post hence bare feet

[ChocolateFrog]

JonnyVTEC said:

Mine has brake lines the last MOT and the fuel lines on the bulkhead under bonnet can be a hot spot for corrosion so remove the clip clean and grease it up.

As a hybrid owner are your sandals still in the post hence bare feet

Rear brake lines have been done by the looks of it. I'll check the fuel hoses.

They're on order, along with my white socks.

[peterperkins]

ChocolateFrog said:

Rear trailing arm bushes are a bit cracked, not sold separately and the rear beam is in the region of £750, one for the future I think.

They all look cracked. Ignore them until it fails the MOT.. Use some silicone grease/spray on them to keep salt/crap/oil off them.

Ditto ones at the front which also squeak. use silicone lubricant liberally applied to stop the groaning over low speed bumps etc.

[Mark Benson]

I've always like Insights - from the era when Honda was an engineering-led innovator.

[ChocolateFrog]

peterperkins said:

They all look cracked. Ignore them until it fails the MOT.. Use some silicone grease/spray on them to keep salt/crap/oil off them.

Ditto ones at the front which also squeak. use silicone lubricant liberally applied to stop the groaning over low speed bumps etc.

Good tip

Although my OCD tendencies already have my finger on Honda redial.

[ChocolateFrog]

First proper fill up.

32.01 litres and 479.2 miles driven. My maths equates that to around 68mpg.

Not bad considering AC has been on max for most of it and cruising between 70-80 on the motorway.

Hoping a good service will see that go up a bit.

[designforlife]

regarding those plugs, give Mike at Viamoto a call...he deals in parts sourcing for all things Japanese, and has gone above and beyond for me on numerous occasions when I had a rare Mitsubishi.