upgrade suspension with coilover springs and performance struts

I replaced the OME struts and springs on my 1992 honda accord ex with coilover springs and performance struts, on both the front and the rear.

You will need a spring compressor and a impact wrench for compressing/decompressing the spring when disembling the strut.

The following is the job flow:

1. jack up the car
2. remove the wheel
3. remove the strut mount screws (3 on front, 2 on rear)
4. remove bolts holding the strut to the damping fork
5. when the strut is free of attachment, move it around to lower it away from the car.
6. use the spring compressor to compress the spring so the it doesn't expand to the full length of the strut. Once in this state, use either a hex or a grip plyer to lock the strut axis, at the mean time loosen the screw to disemble the strut.
7. take every component of the strut apart and put them in original order on the floor. You will need to reuse some of the components for your new strut.
8. decompress the spring using the impact wrench.
9. slip the sleeve that comes with the coilover spring onto the new strut, make sure the flat end (the end that doesn't have the thread all the way to the end) is against the strut base.
10. put allen screws to center it and tighten it.
11. adjust the height-adjustment rings on the sleeve for desired spring position.
12. put on the spring
13. depend on the specific set of springs and strut, you might find out the original bump stopper are not needed, as a matter of fact, for my case, I have to remove them completely - sometimes you can cut them shorter.
14. put the components in the correct order and assemble the new strut. This time you don't need the spring compressor anymore because now you have the coilover spring, which is much shorter in length. You compress/decompress the
spring using the rings along the sleeve.
15. reverse the process of removing the strut to put it back on, tighten the screws according to torque specs in the manual.
16. be very precise about adjusting the height of the springs on all four wheels as this will affect your car's handling.

radiator replacement on 1992 honda accord ex

The header of my 1992 honda accord ex cracked on a warm day, 80 degrees.
Since the header is plastic/rubber, not aluminum. It is not repairable, or at least not recommended. A new radiator is due.

This is a fairly easy job, just requires a little patience in disconnecting the
tubes and cables that are attached to the radiator, and the removal of the
two fans, especially the condensor fan - the one on the passenger's side.

Here is the job flow.

1. remove the splash pan
2. drain the radiator
3. remove the two upper brackets that hold down the radiator
4. loosen the screws fixing the two fans on the radiator (4 on top, 3 on bottom)
5. disconnect electric wires to the fans, one wire to the condensor fan, two to
the other.
6. remove the fans
7. use a plyer to work with the clamps to detach the coolant tubes, one on top
one at the bottom.
8. similarly detach the transmission lines (both at the bottom of the radiator)
You will loose a bit of transmission fluid in that segment of the cable. It will
be minimal, but you can alway check the transmission fluid dip stick to decide if you need to add more.
9. remove the radiator.
10. compare the new one against the old one, make sure they are the same.
11. tighten the screws on both of the transmission nozzles on the new radiator.
12. reverse the process to put everything back.

1992 honda accord ex water pump replacement

Honda accord is notorious for its water pump/timing belt replacement job. Ask
a mechanic, you typically get quotes about $700 on 6-7 hours of work. I will describe how I did it below.

Before you start, make sure you have plenty of time for this job. It took me two
and a half days from the beginning to the end - including idling time trying to
find a solution and to just pray, yes things can get desperate if you don't have the right tools. If I do it again, it will probably take me 8 hours.

You will need the usual tools as those in a typical DIY guy's tool box. Then you need to be prepared for the most desperate moment of this job - the removal of the crankshaft pulley bolt. I will talk about different ways of getting it done in the proper section of the job flow.

Here goes the complete job flow that I compiled from the repair manual (Clinton), so all the page and figure indices are from the manual.

1. Disconnect negative battery cable

2. Drain cooling system. (save/reuse coolant)
1. wait till engine is cool
2. remove radiator cap
3. drain raditor by loosening the drain plug at the bottom of radiator
4. drain engine coolant plug (near oil filter), this can be hard to reach; this is not really critical to the job.
5. flush radiator
6. drain and flush reservoir

3. Remove drivebelts (power steering belt, alternator belt)
1. check belts [fig 11.2, 11.3a,b, p 1-14]
2. loosen either an adjusting bolt and a pivot bolt
or the pivot bolt and locknut on the
adjusting bolt
to adjust the components, then slip belt off crankshaft
[fig 11.6, 11.7, p 1-15]

4. Remove timing belt
1. remove cover
2. remove balance shafts belt
1. position the #1 cylinder at TDC (Top Dead Center)
1. put car in neutral, apply parking break
2. [disable ignition system by detaching the primary
(low voltage) electrical connector from the
ignition coil], this is not necessary but recommended in the manual
3. remove the first spark plug, that is the one on the crankshaft end
4. turn crankshaft with a socket and ratchet
5. mark position of the terminal for #1 spark plug
wire on distributor cap
6. detach cap from distributor and set it aside
7. mark distributor cover directly under the rotor
terminal for the #1 cylinder [fig 3.7, p 2A-3]
8. remove the plug from bellhousing and locate the
timing marks inside the bellhousing access hole.
You will see the timing increments directly next
to the timing pointer.
9. turn crankshaft until the TDC mark (zero) on the
flywheel/driveplate is aligned with the grove in
the pointer [fig 3.8, p 2A-3]. Make sure the pointer
is in the middle of the view window when you make such
alignment.
10.look at distributor rotor, it should be pointing
directly at the mark on distributor cover (step 7)
11.if not, the rotor is 180 degrees off. #1 piston is
at TDC on exhaust stroke, not compression stroke.
So turn crankshaft 360 degrees clockwise

2. remove bolts that retain the cruise control unit to
the chassis and position the unit to one side. This is to
make room for working on timing belt cover. I didn't
remove it.
3. remove power steering belt, disconnect power steering
pump from mounting bracket, position the pump off to
one side
1. disconnect fluid hoses - pressure hose and return
hose, cap or plug both hoses to prevent leak or
contamination. Install new O-ring on the end of
the pressure line. Again, I didn't do this step since
it is not necessary.
2. remove the adjusting nut and bolt [fig 18.2a,b,p10-13].
3. remove pivot bolt and remove the pump.
4. remove alternator and brakcets from the timing belt
cover
5. raise vehicle, from under, remove splash pan.
*6. remove large bolt at the front of crankshaft and
slide the pulley off [fig 9.6, p 2A-8]
THIS IS THE CHALLENGE!!!!!!
There are three ways of doing this:
1. You will need a special tool called honda/accura crankshaft bolt
holder. It is a big hex shaped block with a hole in the middle.
You press it over the bolt, the hex sides match against the
crankshaft seamlessly, then you use a very long/strong breaker
bar to break loose the bolt while holding the hex thus the pulley
stationary. I didn't have the hex, I didn't have a quality breaker bar. So I didn't use this method.
2. You will need to use a high grade impact wranch. I broke an electrical one borrowed from my friend. Then I got a 15 gallon air
compressor and a 500 ft-lb air wranch, that didn't break the bolt
loose. Luckily I was able to borrow from a mechanic friend his
1200 ft-lb air wranch. In a matter of 2 seconds, the bolt came off.
By the way, make sure to turn anti-clockwise to loosen the bolt.
3. Without either the hex holder or the air impact wrench, you can use a breaker bar with a socket, the socket will be on the bolt, and the other end of the breaker bar will be positioned against the floor such that it is not going
to turn if the crankshaft pulley starts to turn anti-closewise. Once set up, use
the engine starter motor to turn the crankshaft. This manuveur is very dangerous. Not recommended.

7. support engine wiht floor jack and a block of wood,
remove left side engine mount and bracket.
1. remove fasteners
2. raise engine with jack and detach the mount
8. remove bolts from timing belt covers (upper and
lower), [fig 9.8, p 2A-8], draw diagram for bolts
and their location
9. remove splash shields, lower engine to remove lower
timing belt cover [fig 9.9, p 2A-9]
10.remove dip stick and tube from engine
11.remove access bolt from rear side of engine, lock the
rear balance shaft into place through the access hole using a
bolt (6x100mm) or equivalent size screwdriver
[fig 9.11a,b, p 2A-9]
12.loosen the tensioner bolt, push tensioner away from
the balance shafts belt to release tension then tighten
the bolt. [fig 9.12, p 2A-9]
13.remove balance shaft belts, mark their rotation direction
3. relieve tensioner
4. slip off the timing belt (mark its rotate direction)

5. remove any accessory brackets from water pump

6. remove bolts [fig 9.6, p 3-7], note location of the longer
bolt

7. clean the bolts and the holes

8. remove all old gasket sealant and O-ring

9 . clean the mating surface with lacquer thinner or acetone

10. apply a thin layer of RTV sealant to the O-ring groove of
new pump, set new O-ring in groove [fig 9.11, p 3-7]

11. attach pump to engine, finger tight the bolts

12. put back remaining bolts, tighten according to
specification in 1/4 turn increments. Don't over tight.

13. Reinstall all parts removed for access to the pump.
1. install timing belt
1. make sure #1 piston is still at TDC
2. align all timing marks on the engine block with the
marks on the crankshaft and camshaft sprockets
[fig 10.6a,b, p 2A-11].
2. install balance shafts belt

3. tension both timing belt and balance shafts belt
4. rotate crankshaft 90 degrees to both sides of the TDC
mark and then back to TDC to make sure the timing belt
returns to all the origianl timing marks (use crankshaft
pulley for this test).
5. continue install timing belt parts

6. install drive belts

14. Refill and bleed cooling system

15. check drive belt tension [fig 11.4, p 1-15]

16. run the engine and check for leaks.