Mk1 Honda Insight
Discussion
It's been a frustrating day working on the car, in between various sporting events on TV.
The one job that did go right was the ball joint dust covers.
Bit fiddly but worth it, saved £170 not having to replace both sides completely and they're now packed with fresh Moly grease so should last a while.
All 4 disc retaining screws were seized in. My drill bits were blunt if not at the start, definitely at the end. I found a punch and hammer worked best but still annoying.
New discs on with the backing plates painted.
And that's where it started to go tits. The dust covers on the sliding pins were removed last night and put together with all the bolts and pins in degreaser, big mistake. Overnight they had swollen to at least twice their size if not 3 times. No way would they seat back in the caliper. I ended up tearing the first 2 before giving up.
The day before they were smaller than the bush. Luckily I'm not relying on it for transport as it's staying on axle stands until it's fixed.
Apart from that it is starting to look good.
Also got the gearbox oil done. Why Honda don't put a spout on their bottles is beyond me, at least half a litre ended up on the floor, it only takes 1.5 to start with.
Fitted the new striker plates to the door apertures
Got a new badge for the front but left it as after the day I've had no doubt it would have ended up upside down.
The one job that did go right was the ball joint dust covers.
Bit fiddly but worth it, saved £170 not having to replace both sides completely and they're now packed with fresh Moly grease so should last a while.
All 4 disc retaining screws were seized in. My drill bits were blunt if not at the start, definitely at the end. I found a punch and hammer worked best but still annoying.
New discs on with the backing plates painted.
And that's where it started to go tits. The dust covers on the sliding pins were removed last night and put together with all the bolts and pins in degreaser, big mistake. Overnight they had swollen to at least twice their size if not 3 times. No way would they seat back in the caliper. I ended up tearing the first 2 before giving up.
The day before they were smaller than the bush. Luckily I'm not relying on it for transport as it's staying on axle stands until it's fixed.
Apart from that it is starting to look good.
Also got the gearbox oil done. Why Honda don't put a spout on their bottles is beyond me, at least half a litre ended up on the floor, it only takes 1.5 to start with.
Fitted the new striker plates to the door apertures
Got a new badge for the front but left it as after the day I've had no doubt it would have ended up upside down.
Cleaned up a few brackets today.
Also regassed the A.C. It was working but needed to keep it on 18 to feel the effects and then you could tell it was working at max chat. It's ice cold now, set to 22 where it will probably stay.
Also wet vacced the seats and they've come up ok for a once over.
If anyone's heading to Japfest on the 1st I'll probably be there, feel free to have a poke around.
Also regassed the A.C. It was working but needed to keep it on 18 to feel the effects and then you could tell it was working at max chat. It's ice cold now, set to 22 where it will probably stay.
Also wet vacced the seats and they've come up ok for a once over.
If anyone's heading to Japfest on the 1st I'll probably be there, feel free to have a poke around.
I've been using the car as a daily for the last few weeks with no issues. I'm using it normally now so it will be interesting to see what the MPG settles down to. It also passed it's MOT last week with 1 advisory for handbrake travel.
The last few bits arrived from Honda.
Also chased a few trim rattles down, had the AC regassed and replaced the type A plugs with the correct Stamp B ones.
Nothing much to report other than I get asked more questions about it than any other car I've owned.
The last few bits arrived from Honda.
Also chased a few trim rattles down, had the AC regassed and replaced the type A plugs with the correct Stamp B ones.
Nothing much to report other than I get asked more questions about it than any other car I've owned.
Decision time with the Insight.
The Hybrid battery, which has been slowly getting weaker, it's now 12 years old finally stopped providing juice to the DC-DC charger and I ground to a halt a while ago.
Apparently you can disconnect the battery and run on the ICE solely but again this doesn't seem totally conclusive as I have the later Battery Control Module that might not play ball.
Options are limited and most are prohibitively expensive. I've got a baby on the way and two 2-seaters and a van is looking less and less practical. That said it's still a great car and I will miss it if and when I do sell.
Realistic courses of action are:
Sell as is; although I wouldn't let it go for silly low money, might try this and see what happens.
Break it, they're rare and some parts are either expensive or scarce.
Keep it, pull the hybrid battery and attempt a fix myself. This is within my capability but with my track record it would remain in bits 'on the healing bench' for a long time. Cycling the sticks also seems like a long and laborious job with sometimes limited outcomes.
Pull all the engine and hybrid gubbins out and engine swap. I believe there's even kits in the US to fit a K20. Again appealing but would be costly and take me ages. Would probably piss the neighbours off having 2 effectively scrap cars in front of the house.
Decisions Decisions.
The Hybrid battery, which has been slowly getting weaker, it's now 12 years old finally stopped providing juice to the DC-DC charger and I ground to a halt a while ago.
Apparently you can disconnect the battery and run on the ICE solely but again this doesn't seem totally conclusive as I have the later Battery Control Module that might not play ball.
Options are limited and most are prohibitively expensive. I've got a baby on the way and two 2-seaters and a van is looking less and less practical. That said it's still a great car and I will miss it if and when I do sell.
Realistic courses of action are:
Sell as is; although I wouldn't let it go for silly low money, might try this and see what happens.
Break it, they're rare and some parts are either expensive or scarce.
Keep it, pull the hybrid battery and attempt a fix myself. This is within my capability but with my track record it would remain in bits 'on the healing bench' for a long time. Cycling the sticks also seems like a long and laborious job with sometimes limited outcomes.
Pull all the engine and hybrid gubbins out and engine swap. I believe there's even kits in the US to fit a K20. Again appealing but would be costly and take me ages. Would probably piss the neighbours off having 2 effectively scrap cars in front of the house.
Decisions Decisions.
leglessAlex said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Options are limited and most are prohibitively expensive. I've got a baby on the way and two 2-seaters and a van is looking less and less practical. That said it's still a great car and I will miss it if and when I do sell.
They're worth solid money now though, what's classed as prohibitively expensive? Max_Torque said:
BeV it! Tesla motor + battery.
DItch all the heavy complex smelly ICE rubish and just go full EV! It's so slippery and so small it will go miles even with a small battery!
Beyond my skill and ambition I think, despite watching Rich Rebuilds. DItch all the heavy complex smelly ICE rubish and just go full EV! It's so slippery and so small it will go miles even with a small battery!
It would also cost a fortune but the end product would indeed be awesome.
A Zero Motorcycle setup would probably work well too.
Evanivitch said:
You sound quite technically capable, why not actually inspect the cells in the battery and see if there's a few bad ones? Perhaps you could swap them for something comparable. Might be an easier fix than a complete replacement and really shouldn't take that long. Does the OBD2 allow you to look at the cells?
Yes that's certainly possible. Although I don't have a proper charger to bench cycle them. RazerSauber said:
There's rebuild kits available for Prius batteries in the US, is there nothing like that available? ChrisFix did a video on it. Looks like a full day affair but not "difficult" as such.
There's a guy on here, Peter, who builds his own uprated pack and fits them or you can go to Honda and buy a new one. Both options are around the same price at £3k. The US suppliers won't ship to the UK and in any case it isn't cheaper.There are battery sticks available from the likes of Aliexpress but you're still looking at around £1k and from reading around they're not very good, significantly worse than the OEM batteries and can fail within months.
Similarly a lithium replacement pack isn't simple either.
Took the car to get MOT'd today. The first thing the guy said was "we haven't had a pass yet today" at 3pm, a few alarm bells ring. Then tells me he hates hybrids and I should buy a diesel. Already regretting the enticing price.
Got a call about half hour in to say he needed the logbook. Nip home to get it. Turns out he's spotted that instead of reading 1000*** the chassis no is recorded as 100***.
His words "you're running round in a dodgy car mate"
Me, "I think I can see what's happened"
Result, no MOT. It hadn't been spotted since import in 2003, I'll give him credit for that.
Still an absolute jobsworth though.
Got a call about half hour in to say he needed the logbook. Nip home to get it. Turns out he's spotted that instead of reading 1000*** the chassis no is recorded as 100***.
His words "you're running round in a dodgy car mate"
Me, "I think I can see what's happened"
Result, no MOT. It hadn't been spotted since import in 2003, I'll give him credit for that.
Still an absolute jobsworth though.
TR4man said:
That seems harsh if he failed it on just that.
It didn't fail he wouldn't even start it. Reckoned it would be illegal for him to do so. Basically insinuating it's a cloned car when it's patently obvious the DVLA monkey couldn't tap out the right number of zeros when it was imported.
shalmaneser said:
This is the solution.
OP, 2k for a battery from the Peter chap above sounds like a good deal tbh.
It would be if I planned on keeping it long term but too many 2 seaters with a baby and a German Shepherd is becoming somewhat impractical. OP, 2k for a battery from the Peter chap above sounds like a good deal tbh.
It's worth £2k as is or maybe £4k with a new battery so it's not worth it from an return POV for me.
Max_Torque said:
B'stard Child said:
ChocolateFrog said:
TR4man said:
That seems harsh if he failed it on just that.
It didn't fail he wouldn't even start it. Reckoned it would be illegal for him to do so. Basically insinuating it's a cloned car when it's patently obvious the DVLA monkey couldn't tap out the right number of zeros when it was imported.
I had similar with another import (imported in 1987) all the paper MOT's had the wrong chassis number on it (S instead of a 5) and several of the computerised ones too - then a fastidious tester entered the right chassis number (they didn't tell me) and shortly after the fun started - got a letter from the DVLA saying I could no longer tax the car until it's identity had been resolved
Took about 6 mths to sort it out................
(kinda like reverse ringing a car !)
And just like that Insight ownership comes to an end.
Got the MOT sorted, used one of the outfits that come and pick it up, do the MOT and deliver it back. Much cheaper than the temporary insurance cover quotes I was getting.
The new owner came and picked it up today.
Apparently he's got another Insight in poorer condition but with a working hybrid battery so he's going to swap the good battery into 'mine' and sell the other one.
Definitely sad to see it go. A significant car in the story of 'the car'.
In pure depreciation terms it cost me £150 per year, not bad considering the battery issue.
Got the MOT sorted, used one of the outfits that come and pick it up, do the MOT and deliver it back. Much cheaper than the temporary insurance cover quotes I was getting.
The new owner came and picked it up today.
Apparently he's got another Insight in poorer condition but with a working hybrid battery so he's going to swap the good battery into 'mine' and sell the other one.
Definitely sad to see it go. A significant car in the story of 'the car'.
In pure depreciation terms it cost me £150 per year, not bad considering the battery issue.
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