Let's Talk Spark Plugs

dallasjhawk

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No cus he did it on his pc
oh so you dont even own a flashpro.... well, if you want any hope of warranty you mentioned in your other thread, you are going to need to go back to stock, get it flashed back to stock and pray to the gods you get covered. If you cant get flashed stock, you have no hope. the good news is you should be able to find a used turbo in the junkyard for relatively cheap. lots of totaled civics 4 years in now.
 

r.camlin

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He didn’t want me to take the flash pro home, he told me he would hold onto it in the shop
Do you own the FlashPro? Did you pay for the actual device and he just said he would hold onto it, or did you just pay for a tune?
 

dallasjhawk

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He didn’t want me to take the flash pro home, he told me he would hold onto it in the shop
so you paid $695 for a flash pro and then paid over $300 for a dyno tune and you dont have the flash pro in your possession? This all sounds so suspect
 


jcivics

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The guy is a thief I thought his shop was legit because all he works on is Honda and Acura. I called Hondata and told them they should take him off their list of dealers but Javier said that he wouldn’t drop any names and be sure to tell him to use the correct calibration file. I really want to believe he did the right thing for my car but he is really the only explanation. I did finally gain ownership of the flashpro , and I do know how to calibrate to stock ecu with the 17 file for oil dilution update. But as Hondata says, Honda cannot tell how many times the ecu has been flashed

I’m any case, I don’t know what to believe here. People say it was running rich and lean, what is the real culprit and how can I trust the responses I get here when they are so varied?
 

charleswrivers

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Running lean will make you be hot but generally efficient. Running rich will make you run cooler but less efficient generally. When running in a manner to make more power (safely), generally... cars run rich... and the extra fuel isn't burned terribly efficiently but the extra volume of fuel provides additional cooling as it does a phase change... and then also simply because your putting more of a relatively cold thing (gas that was just in your gas tank) into the engine where... y'know... there's a fire. Things like ethanol make more power because they actually take more volume to do the same work, because there's less BTUs per unit volume... along with the phase change.

I encourage you to read up on it if you've got more questions. Whether you're talking a new vehicle... an old vehicle... turbo or NA... fuel injector or carbureted... the whole rich vs lean thing works the same way.

You haven't lived until you rejet carburators for more power... reading plugs to figure out what works best. It's amazing what you can squeeze out if small engines which all come jetted to burn somewhat lean and efficient.

Good that you got the Hondata. You paid for the thing. It's yours. Without it... flashing back to stock wouldn't be an option.

As to the turbo... eeeh. Yeah. That doesn't look good. Then again... the blades look ok... (shrug) it might runs for years like that. Other than my current Z... I never changed turbos on the other 4 turbo cars I had for the years I had them. They can last a long, long time. I have no idea what condition their innards were... but they built boost and that's all I cared about.

The last time I looked a used stock turbo LO (non-Si Civics) or HI (Si and CRV) could be had for about $400 all over eBay. Replacement could be done with normal hand tools in a probably just a few hours to 1/2 a day... depending on your proficiency and probably with having a stud go bad and needing to be replaced along the way.

I'd not trust this tuner/tune honestly. I'd flash back to stock... count the $300 a loss... and start back with reflashes or another tune/etune from someone else when your car is sorted out. It seems like it's caused nothing but heartache.
 

jcivics

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d not trust this tuner/tune honestly. I'd flash back to stock... count the $300 a loss... and start back with reflashes or another tune/etune from someone else when your car is sorted out. It seems like it's caused nothing but heartache.
Hey thanks Charles, very interesting and informative. I’ll do a tc if they won’t, no worries. Should have followed my instinct and figure out how to process the payment on Hondata.com instead of going to the shop. Running the dyno was fun though.
 

r.camlin

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Bro this was a wild ride from start to finish.
 


jcivics

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Bro this was a wild ride from start to finish.
Most of the problem was, there were too many variables mixed into the equation at once. I hit 100k and did the coolant, brake, tranny, plugs all at once, same time I did the Hondata tune and custom tune with catless downpipe a couple weeks later. Thinking about it, I would do each one separately and run it a bit and check to see if the maintenance was a success. That would have surely prevented some of the issues I had faced or was trying to diagnose. Also if I were to do it again, would not have gone to this specific tuner. Bad experience there. Overall, lesson learned, still selling the RV6 catless if anyone interested, will give a good deal on it.

Still happy to own a Honda rather than a Chevy Cruze. I actually saw one blowup on the freeway, biggest cloud of black smoke ever. That and their waterpumps go out too. Happened to my boss.
 
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jcivics

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Most of the problem was, there were too many variables mixed into the equation at once. I hit 100k and did the coolant, brake, tranny, plugs all at once, same time I did the Hondata tune and custom tune with catless downpipe a couple weeks later. Thinking about it, I would do each one separately and run it a bit and check to see if the maintenance was a success. That would have surely prevented some of the issues I had faced or was trying to diagnose. Also if I were to do it again, would not have gone to this specific tuner. Bad experience there. Overall, lesson learned, still selling the RV6 catless if anyone interested, will give a good deal on it.

Still happy to own a Honda rather than a Chevy Cruze. I actually saw one blowup on the freeway, biggest cloud of black smoke ever. That and their waterpumps go out too. Happened to my boss.
Honda says that there’s no issue with the crack, car builds boost fine. No reason to replace. I’m worried exhaust gases will widen the hole over time. Should there be concern?
 

charleswrivers

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Honda says that there’s no issue with the crack, car builds boost fine. No reason to replace. I’m worried exhaust gases will widen the hole over time. Should there be concern?
I base this on no personal experience... just my opinion:

If the compressor and turbine blades are fine and the cracks don't in any way cause a leak of oil or coolant from what lubricates and cools the turbo and, in turn the loss of these fluids could threaten not use the turbo but the engine itself... and it builds boost... then I'd run it until it dies and cross your finger that it will outlast the time you have your car. Realize if you ever upgrade and there is a core charge (rare for ours. No one is accepting these cores unless someone takes to machining them and replacing the CHRAs, but that hasn't really taken off)... this likely wouldn't be accepted and you'd be out the core charge.

If it builds boost and the oil passages/water jacket aren't compromised, then it's doing its job and no one would know the cracks exist other than you. If it still bothers you... upgrade or drop $400 on a used OEM turbo that was pulled during an upgrade or off a junked car.

If you Google "cracked turbo housing" you will find you're in good company.
 

jcivics

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I base this on no personal experience... just my opinion:

If the compressor and turbine blades are fine and the cracks don't in any way cause a leak of oil or coolant from what lubricates and cools the turbo and, in turn the loss of these fluids could threaten not use the turbo but the engine itself... and it builds boost... then I'd run it until it dies and cross your finger that it will outlast the time you have your car. Realize if you ever upgrade and there is a core charge (rare for ours. No one is accepting these cores unless someone takes to machining them and replacing the CHRAs, but that hasn't really taken off)... this likely wouldn't be accepted and you'd be out the core charge.

If it builds boost and the oil passages/water jacket aren't compromised, then it's doing its job and no one would know the cracks exist other than you. If it still bothers you... upgrade or drop $400 on a used OEM turbo that was pulled during an upgrade or off a junked car.

If you Google "cracked turbo housing" you will find you're in good company.
I can’t seem to find any turbos for under $600 (LKQ) , do you have a link for the $400 ones? Ty
 

charleswrivers

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I can’t seem to find any turbos for under $600 (LKQ) , do you have a link for the $400 ones? Ty
I'd just done a search on eBay at the time and came up with several buy-it-nows a couple months ago. If that well is dry ay the moment... you could just post a want-to-buy (WTB) on the classifieds forum. Since no aftermarket turbo manufacturer for our car pays for a core on our cars, anyone who's upgraded is left with an unused stock turbo. I'm sure you'd find someone willing to part with theirs.
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