EK98 came down for a little work. On one testdrive, we zipped over to see ElijaCronin at work.

Things we accomplished:
1. Fixed the high idle issue by replacing a PCV o-ring. Erik picked the color. I have hundreds to choose from.
2. Fixed (hopefully) a leak in his washer reservoir. We'll know in a week if we got it.
3. Fixed a random multiple misfire issue temporarily until he replaces plugs and wires.
4. Gave his trans and engine a good ZillaMotorsports bill of health as a result of a good test drive. Runs and shifts great, even better now.
5. Had AZ clear the codes for his ride home.

In a nutshell, we found the #6 plug wire tightly wrapped around the O2 sensor. When loosened and 'looped' found carbon scoring from arcing. We simple looped and loomed it. Found the #1 plug wire arcing to the dipstick tube, and the #3 wire to the engine hoist bracket. We double-loomed these two wires. Wires are older Wells brand. Permanent fix will happen soon, but for the time being, it sounds like his drive home was firmly hitting on all 6 cylinders, and a noticable improvement in power. We'll watch his fuel mileage for a couple tanks and decide if it'* time for an O2.

We were quite busy due to my tight schedule, so only 4 pics were shot.



Here you can see the wire loom. This is small and medium loom, two layers:


Looming on the #6 wire and the loop we created for the time being to stop the arcing. While it looks in this pic that it'* touching the downpipe flange, it'* actually quite a bit above:


Three Bonnevilles, a Civic, and an Eric:

i have a question, how high was his idle?

Higher than normal. Don't know for sure. His Tach is at least 200rpm'* higher than the PCM at idle by my guess.

Eric is... BALD! lol, good job guys!

That was some big fixes for a starving college student. I have to tell you, that car runs GREAT. Even with the random misfires, it did well.

But it surprised him on the way home. I got a call 5 minutes after he left.

DriverJohn, a month ago I was bald. Took a razor to it for the last meet of my swimming season.


Yeah, the car runs a lot better now. I can tell a difference for sure. Acceleration is much more responsive smooth and fast, especially from a stop. Much better getting out of overdrive too on the freeway when I need to pass. Unfortunately on the way home there was too much traffic to try what Bill showed me earlier in the day I can't wait to get new plugs and wires and maybe o2 sensor on to see if it makes any more difference to performance and my crappy 18.6 mpg.

Lowrider: my idle was at about 1100 rpms, but Bill thinks my tachometer is off. Its down at about 900 right now after the fix.

Well done guys.

One suggestion though. Remove the loom from the #6 wire, it'* quite doubtful that the loom can handle the higher temps found right above the exhaust manifold. (Been there, tried that myself). The burning smell Eric (probably) later noticed was that loom melting.

I have loom on my 93'* wires in the same proximity to the exhaust. That pic is decieving. The loom is farther from the mani that it looks.

Interesting i had never thought about using looms for arching wires. Will I could possibly send you a fart cannon for that civic.

Loom is a bandaid. Not a fix. But can be a good preventive measure. Once they're arcing, it'* only a matter of time, even with loom, before replacement is necessary.