Honda_Boy

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Posts posted by Honda_Boy

  1. I've had my car back a few days now and baby is she ever driving sweet. Smooth shifts, power has fully returned, oh it's just great. Turns out, I do not need a new cat. I scanned my car at work yesterday and the only code that came back (other than the ignored FTP sensor codes) was just that my upstream o2 sensor was putting out high voltage. So, just order a new Denso sensor from Amazon, pop it in and it's runnin like new.

    Even without that my fuel economy has skyrocketed back to it's old numbers. I was getting 18 MPG at the worst of it. Upon last check it hit 24 MPG when my dad filled it up and with this most recent tank that I haven't finished yet, it looks like it could be getting 30+ MPG.

    Aside from the o2 sensor, all I have to worry about at the moment is the alignment. It's pulling to the left.

  2. No emissions checks in my home county where it's registered. It wouldn't pass even with the new cat cause it's OBD2 and is throwing a code for a non-existent Fuel Tank Pressure Sensor. The engine swap and ECU are from a car that had one (99 Civic Si) but my car is a 96 hatchback which no hatchback had the FTP sensor.

    And the back up lights, if you just back out slowly, you're good. Most people don't notice the dang things anyway. I do still want them working though. It's annoying backing up somewhere with no light.

  3. And she's back in action... although I haven't driven her yet. My dad called me last night and said "Guess what I'm driving?" So it's all done except the catalytic converter since it has to go to a muffler shop for that. My dad told me that my mechanic, being the always awesome guy he is, has fixed a bunch of other crap while he was at it. So now my inside hatch release works again, my fuel door release works again, and I just need to acquire one little piece and my back-up lights will work again. I think he did some other stuff too but I'm not sure what all he did. All I know is, it's gonna almost like a new car.

    Man I can't wait to go home and get my baby back. I don't get to go home until Tuesday though cause of work.

  4. OK, what happened was the exact opposite of what my brother thought. Instead of a piece of cog getting shot into the differential, a piece of the differential was shot into the cogs pretty much destroying the transmission. I was actually advised about 3 years ago that the diff was a little worn but not an immediate concern... well I kinda forgot about it and it finally gave out.

    SO, the damage... to the family wallets. My mechanic managed to negotiate with H Motors Online to get me a Civic Si transmission fully rebuilt for about $850. Now, these transmissions, that's cheap and since it's rebuilt, that's dirt cheap. Helps to know people. It's also getting a timing belt job since it's probably due for one. I supply the parts, he does the work. All in all, it's gonna about $1500 to do everything... then it's gotta go to an exhaust shop to get a new catalytic converter put on but that's cheap compared to everything else. $70 for the cat, and I'd guess $50 or less for the install. This shop made and installed an entire cat back exhaust for me for $100 so it may be cheaper.

    So it's not costing NEAR as much as I feared. So I'm basically takin a car that was worth around $3500 before the problem, about $2000 after the problem and jacking the value back up to about $4500-5000. Not a bad deal if you ask me. But I plan to continue driving this car till the wheels fall off.

  5. Since he hasn't opened back yet and he has other cars in front of it, my mechanic hasn't had a look at it yet but after listening to what happened, he thinks the transmission is toast. He thinks he can source me a rebuilt one for $800 if need be which is better than what they normally go for without a rebuild.

    My Christmas present this Christmas is looking to be a transmission replacement, timing belt job, and new catalytic converter. Not exactly the motherboard, games, and external hard drive I wanted but I guess reliable transportation is always good. But, the transmission I am gonna have to pay back at least some of it since my parents are gonna borrow the money from my granny apparently.

    I'm gonna start bothering the management at work for more hours and if I don't get them, I'm hunting for a new job that will give me hours.

  6. Transmission replacement on this thing isn't necessarily a cheaper option. USDM/UKDM/EDM B16A transmissions are hard enough to find in good shape,and when you do, they ain't cheap. JDM B16A transmissions are probably more plentiful, but fetch a higher price. It's very likely that I could buy and swap an entire B18B (1.8L Non-VTEC Integra RS/LS/GS engine) setup for less than what a lot of people ask for these things. However, if I luck out and find one at Pull-A-Part, it'd be pretty cheap.

    isteve, it still could move under it's own power before it the transmission leaked itself empty. And you're right, I'm not particularly thrilled about the VW but it is MUCH newer and 100% stock and well taken care of.

    If I get another car, I'm steering clear of anything modified most likely.

  7. Some of y'all may remember the My Project Thread a few years back. That car has been so good to me but for the first time in 4 years of ownership, she stranded me today. I was entering I-65 when I heard a pop and then a rapid clicking noise, accompanied by some light smoke out the back. Pulled over to check it out and I found an oil like fluid pouring out of it. Too clean to be motor oil (close to needing a change), only thing else it could be is... uh-oh. MTF...Manual Transmission Fluid.

    .

    ..

    ...Transmission done gone kaplooy.

    SO, my brother and I figure 1 of 3 possibilities. Since we didn't feel any MTF on the axles, it's likely a cracked casing, ($420 plus labor to transplant parts if internals OK, but doubtful), busted differential ($80-250 depending on where I get it plus labor), or a cog exploded and flew into the diff (new transmission or a rebuild, either way, expensive as hell).

    Engine still runs like a champ, but has no way of transferring power to the wheels. Before it leaked itself empty of MTF, it would still pull so it may be repairable. I'm hoping it's just the diff since that's the cheapest but knowing my recent luck and VERY few hours at work, it's gonna be the rebuild/replace option.

    If it's worst case scenario, I'm likely to no longer be Honda Boy, or well at least not in the sense of ownership, but rather Toyota or even possibly Volkswagen Boy. Right now I'm driving my dad's 98 Toyota Tacoma, which he has been hinting that he might give it to me in a few months anyway. But my brother said if it's gonna cost more than I can afford to fix it, he'd buy my car from me. He also offered to sell me his 07 Jetta but that's very doubtful. It's a possibility if I can get a new job, or more hours at my current job but it's very unlikely.

    But I still have my eye on a Prelude I've just spotted though. Looks immaculate, bone stock, but possibly automatic. I'll look at it next week if it's still there (it's back in my hometown).

    As much as I love my car, I wasn't too broke up about it. Yes, while I was on the side of the road, I was cussin up a storm but I stopped and thought for a second. "Ya know, I can't be too mad. It took FOUR YEARS for this beater that I originally found in pieces to leave me stranded." Back over 3 years ago, the poor thing had a destroyed clutch, but managed to limp back home from another town. If it does turn out to be super expensive, it's gonna be a tough choice between a loan for repairs or selling her.

  8. OK, these few shots are just random cars I've seen around town while in my car or while making deliveries in my work truck:

    Herbie the Love bug taken from my old delivery truck on my way back to the store I used to work at:

    0227001551.jpg

    This is some tiny little car with motorcycle tags I spotted in the same manner as Herbie and in almost the same spot. This car actually was pulled into our parking lot. Oh and as for a size comparison, the other car is almost right next to it.

    0301001543.jpg

    A Ford Ranchero I spotted on one of my almost weekly trips home

    0423001438.jpg

    Some Bentley I spotted while heading back to the store from a delivery run

    0715001419a.jpg

    Another Bentley I spotted on the way to work

    0613001406.jpg

    Some snow shots from last winter, about January or February. What prompted me to take these pics was because of how sudden it was. Not even 30 minutes before I took these, there was absolutely no snow to speak of.

    0129001221.jpg

    0129001223.jpg

    0129001223a.jpg

    Actually this one, I can't remember if I took it the same day or not. I think I did, just much later in the day, either that or it was the very next day.

    0131001159.jpg

    And since everybody else is posting pets, my 13 year old mutt, Mille (pronounced the same as Millie), and my 9 year old Silver Hair Tabby looking cat, aptly named Kitty

    0428001523.jpg

  9. I reckon I should post the pics I took of random cars I've seen running around this place in the last year. Bentleys, Maseratis, Astons, weirdo cars, Herbie the Love Bug, etc. I also have some pics of snow on campus from last winter. I just need to quit being lazy and get them off my phone. Too late tonight though.

  10. Holy crappenstack that's nice. Makes my place look like crap (actually it doesn't take much to do that). Looks like it's a pretty good size place. Kinda reminds me of my brother's house a little.

    I live in an older townhouse with counters and cabinets made in the 80's so it's not quite so nice looking. It's also inhabited by 2 male college roommates in their 20's so it's often cluttered, full of furniture and other junk obtained for free (our couch and chair were made 1969), and the most organized area of the entire place is the DVD/Game rack.

  11. The only public transportation here is a system called Rover. I see the little green buses every now and then. The only other provided transport I see is a few apartment owned shuttle buses that take people to and from the University and the University's own bus system that only runs around the campus as it is so large. What's awesome, is the campus is so large there are multiple bus routes on it.

    I've often looked at the wireless around. I live in an apartment complex amongst other apartment complexes right now and there are wireless network's out the wazoo. Some are pretty humorlessly named.

  12. I'm going to have to reinstall anyway. I think I somehow wound up with the UK version. Though I set everything to US, it seems that all the spelling corrections are for UK spellings of words and not US spellings such as giving me the red line for Color, Behavior, and Mom and suggesting I spell them Colour, Behaviour, and Mum. So I'll download a US version ISO, burn a new disc and reinstall it.

    If the issue is still present (which I'm willing to bet it will be) then I'll give your fixes a try. But that'll have to wait till Saturday most likely. I keep this box at my parents' house and I'm heading back to my apartment in the morning.

  13. My most recent foray into linux has left me with thankfully only one minor issue. I just installed 32-bit Ubuntu 9.10 onto an old computer and I can't get the nVidia X Server thing to save my resolution. I want it at 1280x960 but it keeps defaulting to 1024x768. I've tried both drivers Ubuntu offers me and I keep getting this error every time I try to save the resolution on both.

    graphicsissue-1.jpg

    It will happily change to the new resolution no problems. It just won't save and it goes right back 1024x768 every time you start it up.

    Here's the specs:

    AMD Athlon XP 2000+

    VIA KT333 Chipset

    768MB DDR 266 RAM

    GeForce FX 5700 Ultra 256MB DDR2

    Anybody have any idea how to fix? Wouldn't bother me to much to reinstall if you think that'll fix it. The disc I used probably wasn't the greatest.

    Thanks for any help!

  14. I started an anime the other day, Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When the Seagulls Cry), and during the opening theme I kept thinking, "Man, this sure sounds like Ar Tonelico music". Looked up the artist who performed the OP of the anime, then I looked up the music of Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia. Sure enough, this girl did the opening song for the game, she was the primary singer for 3 of the hymns, the primary singer for 1 of the insert songs, and was part of a trio for one of the hymns (by primary singer, I mean she sings the main parts with a choir accompanying her singing other parts). She also performed much of the music for Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica. I still need to finish that game. I may wind up restarting it cause I haven't played it in a few weeks. It's just not sucking me in like the first. I had the first done in less than a week (32 hour clear time at that).

    Any who. This is the girl, and the music I've been listening to by her from Umineko no Naku Koro ni:

    Shikata Akiko - Kata Tsubasa no Tori

    Shikata Akiko - VII

  15. Did it break? No?.....damn... I mean oh good!

    .... I hate you. You have money, I have student loans :(

    Oh well, I got a GeForce GTX275 RIGHT before I moved though. So at least my PC will hold up a little longer.

    That was pretty funny though. Why did apple make the box like that? Every LCD, I've ever bought only the skinny end opened and you lifted the monitor out long ways.

  16. I'm good with my 8 button mouse thank you (Logitech MX518). I couldn't think of a need for something like that. Talk about a learning curve. It'd be best to just stick to keyboard short cuts. Heck I have a G11 gaming Keyboard with 12 programmable G-keys (each supporting up to 3 functions) that are meant for macros in MMO's (that I don't play). I wonder if I could program it to replace keyboard shortcuts in Office. That'd be smarter than this mouse if you ask me. Plus, it just looks stupid. Crappy color scheme, looks like it's out of the early 90's, I can't imagine many sales.

  17. I'm slightly confused by what you are saying but in Windows XP and Vista, you push a hold Alt, then tap Tab. It brings up a menu and stays up while you hold Alt. you tap Tab till it highlights the program you want. Let go of Alt and it should go right to that Program and if you have Vista Home Premium or 7 Home Premium or higher, you can use the Windows Key instead of the Alt key and it brings up a 3D rotating menu instead. I've never had trouble out of either.

    Hope that helps.

  18. Try resetting the modem. If all else fails, call Comcast. I had trouble setting up my Comcrap internet when I first got it. For a while it kept redirecting me to the stupid Comcast setup page every time I tried to get on even after I went through the whole load of crap the software made me go through. Out of the blue, Google popped up when I opened Firefox and I went straight to the Control Panel and uninstalled the Comcast software and I was good to go.

  19. If it's an nVidia chipset then go to nVidia's site and download the latest version of nForce (and if you use nVidia graphics it wouldn't hurt to get the new GeForce drivers while you're at it).

    You should go through and determine everything that missing drivers and try to install them manually from new downloads rather than old CDs.

    I would do the same as TT though. If you had already planned to go Windows 7, it would just make the most sense to just back everything up you need and do a clean install of Windows 7.

  20. All I've had experience with is Verizon and AT&T. I used to have AT&T before I moved to go MTSU. In my hometown, we didn't have 3G but AT&T picked up perfect while many Verizon people I talked to complained about crap signal.

    When I moved though, they had 3G but I couldn't keep a signal on a call longer than 15 seconds. Plus they had recently jacked the price on my dad (he was getting some kind of discount they decided to take away). He decided to switch us all over to Verizon cause he got a discount through work. We got a new phones (me getting a nicer one, I love my parents), and a plan with a crapload more minutes and unlimited texting. Costs about the same or less I think. I haven't lost a single call, always get a signal and every AT&T customer I talk to complains about bad signal.

    Only downside to the Verizon is the texting..... cause my parents love it. Despite the fact that I'm 21, I'm not a fan of texting.

  21. What I've always found funny is that the reason why Windows has all the Malware and crap is cause it's the most commonly used OS. If Mac's user base increases (well actually it already has), then more people are gonna start writing more malware for it. Then all the people that got suckered in by those retarded ads will be pissed to find out malware DOES exist on Macs.

    Don't get me wrong. I'm not hating on Macs per se, but I am sick of all the misconceptions people have about either. And I hate the snob factor it creates in most people (no offense to anyone on here). I've come across too many people thinking they are so cool and better than me cause they own a Mac (and even funnier, half of them don't know jack about them or computers in general). "I've got a MacBook and you've got some Windows HP pile of junk"..... cram it. My HP's got Blu-Ray and I have a desktop I FRICKIN BUILT.

    ...... Sorry. Rant over now.