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Discussion starter · #1,421 ·
Been on the track with it yet, Rustbucket?

We might get the chance to get to TMP Cayuga later this summer, and i'd love to connect with you there if you go.
Yeah? Let me know what you've got planned for sure. I haven't been out yet, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to stretching it's legs.
 
Discussion starter · #1,422 ·
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.
 
Damn.

Hope that's the end of the damage and that the engine itself is OK.

Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!
 
Discussion starter · #1,427 ·
Well......damnitanyway!:crying:
Not a fantastic way to begin the summer, I'll say that.

Those sure do look like small bolts for that job. Unless things have changed, Allen heads should already be grade 8, so there's no upgrading on that path.

I hope it repairs easily.
Funny you should mention that. KTuned's instructions for the new bracket call for you to use a very specific OEM (10.9 or 12.9) fastener to secure the alternator to the bracket, as the socket head cap screw supplied previously was indeed 8.8 as you stated. All the fasteners are the same size as stock, however, as they're all threading in to the holes that used to secure the A/C compressor to the water pump housing.

Lesson here? Tensile strength is important.

Sad day! ?
We'll get it fixed, just a touch unfortunate in the interim.

Damn.

Hope that's the end of the damage and that the engine itself is OK.

Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery!
Yeah, fingers crossed my cooling system did it's job of relieving pressure and we're all good from here. Temp sensor is now relocated so that'll never be an issue again. Having that sensor read from the upper housing originally would have notified me IMMEDIATELY of the lack of water flow.

There is a bit of a silver lining to all this, though. I was back up at the shop today cleaning things up and getting ready for reinstallation when I get a replacement housing, and I noticed that I had some oil weeping from the inspection plate on the timing cover. Pulled that off, gave the gasket surface a good tidy up, and applied a more liberal amount of Hondabond back in place. Happy to have that taken care of.

Also, discovered why my operating temps were relatively inconsistent lately - the circlip on my thermostat had failed, and my thermostat was just floating around in the housing. There was no regulation of coolant flow AT ALL from the radiator, it was simply wide open all the time. Explains why I began having issues maintaining coolant temp in the cooler evening weather recently.

All in all, not terribly unhappy that I'm going through all this. The KTuned bracket was clearly a weak link, and I'd much rather have that fail close to home as it did rather than hours away or at a racetrack. Easy fix once I've got the parts in hand. This teardown also helped discover what could have been a rather messy oil leak, and that thermostat issue. Everything's going to be better moving forward, and should result in a worry-free package from here on out.
 
Yeah, fingers crossed my cooling system did it's job of relieving pressure and we're all good from here. Temp sensor is now relocated so that'll never be an issue again. Having that sensor read from the upper housing originally would have notified me IMMEDIATELY of the lack of water flow.
Hm. Would it? If your water's low, will you get an accurate reading from the steam?
 
Discussion starter · #1,429 ·
Hm. Would it? If your water's low, will you get an accurate reading from the steam?
It would, yeah - I could have seen the temperature rising in the head as soon as the water pump stopped turning, prior to the system actually boiling over. The hot and getting hotter coolant never made it to the lower hose (on the other side of the thermostat) because the water pump wasn't making its rounds.
 
Sorry to hear this man...but glad it seems like a relatively easy set of fixes. The few k-tuned parts I had received did not impress me that much. The upper coolant housing didn't even have some of the passages milled and was missing ports! Good luck on getting it back on the streets!
 
Discussion starter · #1,431 ·
Sorry to hear this man...but glad it seems like a relatively easy set of fixes. The few k-tuned parts I had received did not impress me that much. The upper coolant housing didn't even have some of the passages milled and was missing ports! Good luck on getting it back on the streets!
Thanks, man. Like you said; easy fixes, and should be better than it was previously with some of the niggling issues discovered and fixed.

In my research I discovered a number of people who expressed manufacturing and finishing issues with their products as well. I realize it's likely all off-shore stuff, but the quality control just doesn't seem to be there. It's frustrating because they've got the market cornered on great products (in theory, perhaps not so much in execution).
 
Discussion starter · #1,432 ·
Thankful for friends! Hopped across the border this afternoon and picked up a spare housing my friend Amir was gracious enough to gift me all the way from sunny Cali-for-ni-a.

RBC Housing by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

Spent a couple hours at the shop this evening getting the housing all bolted back up and sealed to the block. Mocked up the alternator quickly before I left for the evening. Should have it back on the ground tomorrow if all goes to plan.

RBC Housing by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

RBC Housing x KTuned Garbage by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

Alternator Brackets v2 by Oliver Flower, on Flickr
 
Discussion starter · #1,435 ·
Well, it's finally all back together. Running better than ever now with a new OEM rad cap as the KTuned unit had failed. Likely from the extreme heat it experienced when the waterpump stopped. Reoriented thermostat, as the bulb was flowing from the wrong side, which explains some seriously inconsistent temp issues I was having.

Back on stands? Bummer by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

As frustrating as all these little issues can be, I feel like I'm finally working out all the little kinks that are inventible with an overhaul of this magnitude. Put a trouble-free 250km on the car in the past two days. Kept it at home over night and used it for all my daily errands and longer trips, stretched it's legs and beat on it when I could. Scrubbed it up this afternoon and went back up to the shop, but snapped a couple photos before I pulled her inside.

The Office by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

Advan RGIII x CR-Z by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

Advan RGIII x Spoon Sports x CR-Z by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

Advan RGIII x Honda CR-Z by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

Advan RGIII x Honda CR-Z by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

Advan RGIII x Honda CR-Z by Oliver Flower, on Flickr

Two things I'd like to attack still, however; relocation of the coolant overflow can. Now that the cowl is on permanently I've realized what an inconvenient location the firewall is for something that quite often needs it's fluid level monitored. Going to hash out a plan with Mike at GT Customs (same bloke who did the fab work previously) to attack the overflow as well as a Helmholtz resonance tube for my exhaust. The 3" tubing is great for power, but the frequency on the highway can be a touch overwhelming. Hoping to address this with a resonance tube.
 
Car is FOR SALE! Asking $13500 USD, or $18000 CAD. Please shoot me an email with any interest, oliverjflower@gmail.com

Why? You have spent so much Blood, sweat, tears, money & time on such a beautiful build and have driven it very little since it's transformation. A very sad day this is . :surprise:


Good luck with sale.
 
Car is FOR SALE! Asking $13500 USD, or $18000 CAD. Please shoot me an email with any interest, oliverjflower@gmail.com
Damn, Oliver! I already have two CR-Z's--not sure if I should buy another one, but the only thing holding me back on this one is the legal aspect of buying a Canadian car for import into the U.S. I figure, by the time it takes for me to really think it out--it will be sold. Good luck with the sale, and whatever's next. :grin2:
 
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