The official Honda Thread

Kraut_n_Rice said:
Has to be a stand alone ECU.  Some are capable of running a drive by wire t-body, some not.  There is an adapter for the later engines to use the early t-body, but still must run a stand alone ECU.
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Figured.  The a4 seems like the way to go.  It's plenty of power for what I'm looking for.  

 
Carwashguru said:
The J35A4 is the most common swap and the easiest. Not sure if anyone has the capabilities to do the stand alone wiring harness for the throttle by wire setups.

Sourcing the motor can be tricky as there are several avenues. I know many people that bought from a wrecking to have it throw a rod first pull or like mine, ate a rod bearing in 3 trips.

Its really a gamble, but you can find many yards that have them already pulled and ready to go. Some even offer a warranty on it for 90 days as well. You will need the engine, harness, computer and adapter plate. 
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Yeah my Ls motor was a gamble.  It came with a 90 day.  Didn't hear it run till almost a year later. I haven't had any problems so far. 

I stopped by a wrecker after work, car-part.com said they had an 04 odyssey.  Didnt have it but said it would be around $600 for everything if they could source it.  Not a whole lot of money to spend to tinker on something. 

 
deyzin said:
Yeah my Ls motor was a gamble.  It came with a 90 day.  Didn't hear it run till almost a year later. I haven't had any problems so far. 

I stopped by a wrecker after work, car-part.com said they had an 04 odyssey.  Didnt have it but said it would be around $600 for everything if they could source it.  Not a whole lot of money to spend to tinker on something. 
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Have them include an uncut engine harness.

 
Cookie said:
I battled over heating issues with mine a few years ago.  Changing out the water sensor to the 175 degree one that was posted in this thread really helped.  Beforehand my fans weren't coming on until 205, but by the time they could start cooling the car down, the temp was at 220, then it would only cool to 205, and this cycle would continue and never cool the car down.  What I did to test it was add the fans to a switch and I would turn them on at 175, car never got over 200 again.  I also replace my fans because the blades were worn down from sand.

Also, since it got that hot, check your plastic timing belt covers, mine melted and I had to replace them.
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So did a leak down test and its all good. No bad cylinders/head gaskets! Did find out that it has ARP Studs installed. Decided to go ahead and change plugs and adjust valves since I had the top off to get to radiator. When I pulled cylinder 1-3 coils, all had a bunch of oil in them. So much that when they came out everything was coated in oil, the spark plug, the coil... it had a puddle covering the base of the plug. The tube seals had tears in them. So ill be replacing those as well. Got a call from Radiator shop and no leaks. So must have been the fitting that was leaking. 

Should I replace my T-Stat while I have it all apart? It normally hovers around 180 warmed up. Fans come on about 200ish and it would sit at 210-230 during a ride with fans running. Maybe Ill order the 175* fan switch. I pulled the window off of it and it stayed at about 190ish. 

 
Funco4JM said:
So did a leak down test and its all good. No bad cylinders/head gaskets! Did find out that it has ARP Studs installed. Decided to go ahead and change plugs and adjust valves since I had the top off to get to radiator. When I pulled cylinder 1-3 coils, all had a bunch of oil in them. So much that when they came out everything was coated in oil, the spark plug, the coil... it had a puddle covering the base of the plug. The tube seals had tears in them. So ill be replacing those as well. Got a call from Radiator shop and no leaks. So must have been the fitting that was leaking. 

Should I replace my T-Stat while I have it all apart? It normally hovers around 180 warmed up. Fans come on about 200ish and it would sit at 210-230 during a ride with fans running. Maybe Ill order the 175* fan switch. I pulled the window off of it and it stayed at about 190ish. 
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Change that fan switch, it should be much better.

No idea why there would be oil in the plug holes though??  I would also grab a few coils and have them as extras, I have had two go bad over the last 4 years.

 
Funco4JM said:
So did a leak down test and its all good. No bad cylinders/head gaskets! Did find out that it has ARP Studs installed. Decided to go ahead and change plugs and adjust valves since I had the top off to get to radiator. When I pulled cylinder 1-3 coils, all had a bunch of oil in them. So much that when they came out everything was coated in oil, the spark plug, the coil... it had a puddle covering the base of the plug. The tube seals had tears in them. So ill be replacing those as well. Got a call from Radiator shop and no leaks. So must have been the fitting that was leaking. 

Should I replace my T-Stat while I have it all apart? It normally hovers around 180 warmed up. Fans come on about 200ish and it would sit at 210-230 during a ride with fans running. Maybe Ill order the 175* fan switch. I pulled the window off of it and it stayed at about 190ish. 
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These are probably just issues that have nothing to do with your radio problem.

If you had ignition failure because of bad coil connection, oil soaked tube, bad plug/coil wire by oil it would be prevalent during hard accel...maybe.  I've probably pulled hundreds of wires out of oil filled plug tubes without any bad drivability complaints.

Typically,.... an operating system has a pretty low voltage threshold, like 8~9vdc. It can operate, but that doesn't mean the the supporting systems can.  Fuel pump, fans, etc..Will it crank? Sure. Is it making any fuel pressure when you hit the key.?..?..

I'd make 100% sure you have adequate chassis grounds, no less than 4ga.  Engine to chassis, chassis to battery, and sometimes battery to engine/alternator...

 
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So I mounted the motor just fine to fab things up while I waited on my clutch kit I got my clutch and holy crap I have been fighting with this thing and can not get it to slide all the way in I’ve checked and re adjusted to make sure the clutch was straight double triple checked but for the life of me can’t get it 1/2-1inch in the rest of the way any ideas besides just take a break and drink a couple cold ones?

 
Shifty2006 said:
So I mounted the motor just fine to fab things up while I waited on my clutch kit I got my clutch and holy crap I have been fighting with this thing and can not get it to slide all the way in I’ve checked and re adjusted to make sure the clutch was straight double triple checked but for the life of me can’t get it 1/2-1inch in the rest of the way any ideas besides just take a break and drink a couple cold ones?
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Try moving it up and down while connected to hoist. I struggled with this as well.

 
Shifty2006 said:
So I mounted the motor just fine to fab things up while I waited on my clutch kit I got my clutch and holy crap I have been fighting with this thing and can not get it to slide all the way in I’ve checked and re adjusted to make sure the clutch was straight double triple checked but for the life of me can’t get it 1/2-1inch in the rest of the way any ideas besides just take a break and drink a couple cold ones?
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Take the flywheel off and see if the pilot bearing will go over the input shaft of the trans.  Sounds like that is the part you're fighting.

 
Embarrassed to even say what I figured out but yeah had to pull the part off the pressure plate and it fit just fine.. 

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Just found this post! Awesome way to keep everyone informed on these J-series engines. they are pretty stout. 

 
Ok so as I go through things I’m finding more questions. I just found out I don’t have a thermostat in this at all. It’s been gutted. Should it have a thermostat?!

 
Funco4JM said:
Ok so as I go through things I’m finding more questions. I just found out I don’t have a thermostat in this at all. It’s been gutted. Should it have a thermostat?!
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I run one and feel they help cool as much as warm up motor. Think its a 195 degree unit.

 
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Since my new to me Honda J35 doesn't have a thermostat, I've been googling around and trying to find out if I need to add one. Most of the online articles mention things we don't care about (warm up time, heater core, etc) but I keep seeing articles and comments saying some engines might actually run hotter without a t-stat. 

The main reason given for runner hotter is that the coolant is moving too fast through the radiator, and doesn't have as much time to shed heat as slower flowing coolant. The second (less frequent) reason mentioned, is that on some engines (without a t-stat), the coolant could increase the flow rate through the bypass and decrease the flow rate through the radiator. I have know idea if this is true for Honda manifolds. Anyone? Kraut? 

Here are some diagrams (which btw, look kind of weak to me) from an article advising not to remove the thermostat. 

So like I said, for our application we don't care about most of the effects, but if removing the t-start can make the engine run hotter seems like I should add one back in. 

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