It was all going so well...
Just came back from a lovely vacation on the west coast and decided I'd take the car for a drive on Tuesday night. All was going great until the drive home; I noticed my oil temp rising quite rapidly, but my coolant temp remained steady. This was the first indication something was up. Kept cruising on the QEW westbound, and just after the 427 my Defi gauges shut themselves off and I lost power steering. Second indication something was definitely wrong. The exit for Dixie was fast approaching, so I muscled the car off the highway just as my headlights and factory binnacle cut out. Made a couple consecutive rights off Dixie and came to a stop under a street light in the suburbs, steam pouring from the drivers side hood vent. Third indication something was definitely not well under the hood.
Opened the hood to investigate the source of coolant pissing all over the place, and discovered it was just my overflow doing exactly what it was designed to do; relieving pressure from the cooling system. Alright - car's hot. Why the hell is the car hot, and why do I not have any power? I'll tell you why, because an alternator is definitely not supposed to sit at this angle, and that belt is supposed to be doing something.
Something's Amiss by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
I'd just driven from Spadina, allllll the way to Dixie without my water pump flowing ANY water, and the car running directly off the battery. Unfortunately, this didn't register on the temp gauge because of where my sensor was located on the lower thermostat housing. (
I relocated it to the upper thermostat housing today, which is something I've been meaning to do anyways!) So, I had coolant pissing everywhere from my overflow tank, and I was stuck in Mississauga at 1:00AM waiting for a flat bed tow truck from the lovely people at CAA. Honestly, this Premier membership has saved my buns more times than I care to count!
Went up to the shop yesterday to get it up on stands and start tearing it apart. The bay is a little cramped, so I started by unbolting the radiator, and draining (what was left) of the coolant. Finally got to use this pliable funnel I bought EXCLUSIVELY for the next time I had to drain my coolant. Silver living and all that, right?
Coolant Reclamation by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
Nearly no mess.
Coolant Reclamation by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
"How the hell did your alternator end up like that?", I hear you asking. Alternator bolts from the KTuned relocation took a one way trip to snap city, that's how. This is a known issue in the K20 community, but when I phoned KTuned they refused to acknowledge that it is indeed a design error, and it's simply a user error from over-tightening the manual tensioner. I began to have belt slip on start-up and hard acceleration when the belt was adjusted with the ability to twist 90 degrees as instructed during my call to KTuned. So, about 250km ago I snugged up the tensioner. Nothing crazy - just enough to stop the belt from squealing on start up and hard acceleration.
Here's a thread that highlights the issues in depth;
K-tuned alternator bolt breaking? - K20A.org .:. The K Series Source . Honda / Acura K20a k24a Engine Forum
I'd actually researched this when I was putting my car together, and was going to purchase the revised two-part steel bracket that they're now selling with the kit, but was assured that there was no design error with the original aluminum bracket - it was all end user error. Well, now I've got a water pump housing with half a snapped bolt, and a heap of missing threads, as well as a locating tab sheared clean off. Hindsight's 20/20, and I should have spent the $80 to upgrade the bracket before the hassle.
Top bolt snapped.
Trashed Housing by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
Bottom bolt snapped.
Snap City by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
The replacement steel brackets that cure the flex issues allowing the bolts to snap;
Snap City vs. New Brackets by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
New Bracket by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
Aaaaand, a CR-Z that's stuck on stands until I can source a new water pump housing which is currently backordered from Honda North America with no ETA. Just a brilliant way to start the summer!
Going Backwards by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
You Worked Last Week, Damn It! by
Oliver Flower, on Flickr
I did find some used housings locally, but I've got one more source to try before I give up on finding a new one.