Cody's Blazing Yellow MSP

I've officially had the car for over a year and 10,000 miles. I bought it the day after Thanksgiving last year. Not much to update on. I did replace my rear strut mounts and spring pads last month and I got new Firestone tires for the front. The squeaking sounds went away for the most part but now the suspension has started to squeak again over bumps and has sort of a knocking noise while driving. I did the sway bar bushings and end links when I got the car. I'm not sure what else could be making the noise or how to prevent it but I'm not too concerned at the moment. I may get underneath and spray some white lithium grease on the strut mount.

Otherwise, I've been driving it a lot to work and enjoying it. Here's a picture I took today... I really need to get out the nice camera lol.

8dd2e3fdea7a796d1c841b660c43c629.jpg
 
Last edited:
i would check if the endlinks are loose again. sometimes they just need to be tightened again. you could also check this fix out on posts 53, 54, 55 (check attachments)
 
i would check if the endlinks are loose again. sometimes they just need to be tightened again. you could also check this fix out on posts 53, 54, 55 (check attachments)

I raised the car up and pulled on the endlinks. They seemed tight. But, I did notice that it seems as if the subframe/lateral links are what is making the noise. It creaked pretty bad when I raised and lowered the car with the jack. Maybe the bushings are shot. I will investigate more tomorrow. Also, I don't see any attachments in your post.


And, I was checking some things under the hood and it looks like my new radiator (bought in August) is leaking. It appears to be leaking around the seams where the plastic meets the aluminum on top. Kinda pissed about that...
 
Last edited:
The Mishimoto aluminum radiators are on sale, or were recently for $155. You would have to upgrade to a front mount though, which is completely worth it. For the suspension noise I would double check the nut that secures the strut mount to the spring/strut. It is difficult to get them tight, I used a spring compressor and tightened it around the odd shaped washer to keep it still and it allowed me to tighten the nut. I had a knocking noise when I installed lowering springs and tightening that nut more made it go away.
 
oh yeah i forgot about that. if you have an impact, that helps as you'll see the nut tighten down more.
 
The Mishimoto aluminum radiators are on sale, or were recently for $155. You would have to upgrade to a front mount though, which is completely worth it. For the suspension noise I would double check the nut that secures the strut mount to the spring/strut. It is difficult to get them tight, I used a spring compressor and tightened it around the odd shaped washer to keep it still and it allowed me to tighten the nut. I had a knocking noise when I installed lowering springs and tightening that nut more made it go away.

oh yeah i forgot about that. if you have an impact, that helps as you'll see the nut tighten down more.


Thanks for the suggestions guys. I looked at the rear suspension again and, as I raise and lower the car with the jack, the noise comes from where the lateral links bolt up in the center. I used an impact gun on the top strut nuts so those should be ok. As far as the radiator goes, I wish I had been able to get one of the Mishimotos on sale. My dad needed a radiator for his P5 as well. $155 is a steal! How will the car feel with a FMIC on stock boost? Will the extra length of the pipes make it lose throttle response?

EDIT: I saw some people on the facebook page running aluminum 3 row Civic radiators along with the SMIC. The only downside is that it is narrow and you can only use one fan. This would probably make my A/C less efficient. I would also have to make custom mounting brackets. I would rather not do all of that. I emailed Partsgeek.com about the leaky Nissens. We'll see if they send me a replacement that I can use until I come up with a better solution....
 
Last edited:
no you won't notice much throttle response loss. with my smic, my car seemed to always heatsoak and run super duper lame after about 20 minutes but that could've just been me with other underlying problems.
 
I don't notice much of a difference in throttle response either. Since I have turned the boost up to 16psi I have noticed a bit more boost lag but my BOV is vented to atmosphere so it has to build boost up every shift and lags more than a recirculated setup would. In Texas where it was 75 degrees today and consistently 100 degrees in the summer there is no other option for a modified car with forced induction than a FMIC.
 
no you won't notice much throttle response loss. with my smic, my car seemed to always heatsoak and run super duper lame after about 20 minutes but that could've just been me with other underlying problems.

I don't notice much of a difference in throttle response either. Since I have turned the boost up to 16psi I have noticed a bit more boost lag but my BOV is vented to atmosphere so it has to build boost up every shift and lags more than a recirculated setup would. In Texas where it was 75 degrees today and consistently 100 degrees in the summer there is no other option for a modified car with forced induction than a FMIC.

Well, that's good to hear. I'll remember that down the road if and when the replacement radiator starts leaking.... If I do go the FMIC route, I'll have to figure out how to keep the BPV. I see the CX Racing kit on ebay uses a blow off valve.
 
I'll betcha the clunk is the swaybar where it bolts to the subframe.

I learned something about those civic radiators. Thanks!
 
Update: Installed the replacement Nissens radiator on Christmas Eve. Then, the car did that weird thing where if I don't drive it for about a week, it runs like crap. I got in one day and it would barely idle, died at stoplights, and hit fuel cut regularly. I did some investigating and found out the coil packs were bad so I replaced the coils, wires, and plugs all at once. It runs much better now but still hits fuel cut. So, I put the air compressor to the wastegate actuator and discovered it was not working consistently. It would open about 2 times when pressurized, then the 3rd time wouldn't do anything. Oddly enough, my dad has the turbo out of his Lotus Elan right now so we tested his actuator too. It works so much better than mine lol. So, needless to say I ordered a new wastegate actuator. I decided to go with the Turbosmart. We'll see how that goes. I've read it's easier to take the turbo out to do it. What are you guys' experiences with this?

Here's a pic for now. It's a rainy weekend here in Georgia.

089af5bcd4028f80ad2746750cea2ff8.jpg
 
Last edited:
I've done two wastegates without removing the turbo, even with the vehicle in the hoist it sucks.

Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk
 
Last weekend I put the car back together. Pulling out the turbo really wasn't hard at all. It only took about 2 hours to remove it. I had to wait a little longer to put everything back together because I had Advance Auto order a new exhaust manifold gasket along with a new downpipe gasket. After getting it back together, I was still having problems with hesitation. I went out for a test drive and it shut off at a stop sign. Then, it seemed like the starter got stuck. I pushed it into a gas station and finally got it to start. I got it back home and swapped the cam position sensor with dad's car and also tightened up my air intake hose to the turbo and the MAF. I forgot to tighten those!! I went for another test drive and the hesitation was gone but it now hit fuel cut at high boost. At this point I was pissed. My dad suggested I swap out my MAF so I got out the spare and cleaned it and threw it on the car. After this, the car ran GREAT!! It runs perfectly now. No fuel cut, no hesitation. I couldn't be happier with it.

0f84d12ad2c56ff3987bf2afa340faab.jpg


1855311e142b379f6d9564d5030f608b.jpg


a14eb341e12c871d1e7a1b6f0a03c346.jpg


d5f0201128b7378ad0012e77925859df.jpg
 
Last edited:
Gave her a good wash and vacuum today and also tightened up my shifter since it was rattling. It continues to run well. Idle is a little shaky at times but no more major issues.


4829791192f53fbfa75ac5452cfea54d.jpg


Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
 
Well, I blew up my diff the other day. This is something I really didn't want to happen but at 246k on the car, I can't say I'm surprised. I've already sourced a replacement diff from Brian of Signature Products. He'll be welding it for reinforcement as well. Has anybody replaced their diff before? I looked at the thread on how to do it and its kind of overwhelming.
8bd5cdaf203b670f66da2a23768d13b9.jpg
c7988fb8d95058089eaf81123359d62c.jpg


Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
 
Back