RichardKs wanderings: Insight indexed, inscribed, and in a mood.

[RichardK]

Hello, code... IMA having a sulk after the plugs were changed. Mystery, but I thought perhaps the 12V battery was a bit low as it was below 12V when idling.

But with the little worn out sticker from the long-washed-off supagard paint product removed... it does look tidier at the back.

The battery reminded me I'd planned on fitting Ctek pigtails. Which entails removing the battery terminals.

Which resets the battery management.

Which meant that when I started it after reconnecting the battery, it idled for a few minutes and recalibrated the SoC meter. No IMA error.

We'll see how long it behaves, but it's been fine for ages and it really does sound happier with the new plugs.

Next: rear dampers.

[RichardK]

Warmish weather! Plus wind which is good for drying...

Now I'd actually gone outside to check what bits to order next...

I mean apart from a wire brush and some rust treatment.

The coils look okay but those are old dampers. The bump stops also look reasonably intact.

This is what I wanted to know.

Because now there is a pair of custom Gaz adjustable dampers on the way, two for less than one genuine and NLA part from Japan.

I'll also get a rubber before getting too involved.

[RichardK]

It's warm, it's sunny! It's time to take the Insight's skirts off!

 

[RichardK]

I have to say, I'm a fan of aluminium bodywork...

Drain, then charge...

But, I do wonder - am I missing undertrays?

Even the steering linkages and inner wings clean up well.

[RichardK]

I googled.

There are supposed to be undertrays.

Now I need to find some.

JOY.

[Asimo]

On 22/02/2025 at 18:01, RichardK said:

I have to say, I'm a fan of aluminium bodywork

Yep, owning an Insight spoiled me and I can't bring myself to buy another water-soluble car.

Not whilst living in this salted mud-wallow anyway.

[RichardK]

Apparently the DVLA are awake.

I wonder when the logbook will arrive though...

[RichardK]

Decided to do some Mazda bits. I figure if I remove a piece every so often eventually I'll have got to the thermostat housing and might forget where everything went.

Intercooler out, the degas tank has been given a bath.

Urgh, lots of crud. It will clean up.

This crossbeam will get removed, de-rusted and painted.

I can almost see how to get to it! Perhaps a few more pieces need to be removed first.

We're still a long way from the engine itself.

Speaking of engines, this car visited a specialist in 2008ish for some work because it had lots of misfire/fuelling type issues.

Those are probably not related to the coolant loss that put it off the road, I am waiting to see the paperwork but it had the issues before and after visiting the specialist.

Nearly every hose or pipe I have touched has been strong and alright condition. I've yet to investigate the notoriously awkward solenoid and vacuum hoses, but while working out routes of parts I spotted something.

That is the brake booster. The split is ahead of the one-way valve. Now, yes, this hose could degrade in the time it was in the garage parked up but /nothing else seems to have done so/.

This hose looks absolutely done for and basically crumbled apart. I can easily imagine that in 2008 it may not have looked quite as bad, but was starting to split and perish, and it sure as hell isn't a new part changed around the time of trying to diagnose the running - it would probably be one of my first things to check when diagnosing poor running alongside gaskets and vacuum pipes...

I wonder if I've found the problem it had all those years ago. Either way, it has a new one on the way - once I have the thermostat replaced and have flushed the cooling system out, I'm going to squirt some mineral oil in the plug holes and turn it over by hand, then if that feels like it was smooth, free of anything worrying, I'll see if I can make it run... The problem with this model of RX-7 is that just taking the air cleaner and intake off is a hugely involved load of things to deal with and I suspect trying to start it without those parts is a really dumb idea.

And these arrived:

I should get an air filter too but the genuine one seems expensive, so I'll check what condition it is.

Gutted that the oil is not green.

[Zelandeth]

That hose on the brake booster makes me wonder if the servo has failed.  Brake fluid will *very* quickly attack and cause the vast majority of types of rubber to disintegrate.  The hose on my P4 which had been exposed to it turned essentially to powder within a few months of the brake booster failing and allowing it to be drawn through that hose into the engine.

[RichardK]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

That hose on the brake booster makes me wonder if the servo has failed.  Brake fluid will *very* quickly attack and cause the vast majority of types of rubber to disintegrate.  The hose on my P4 which had been exposed to it turned essentially to powder within a few months of the brake booster failing and allowing it to be drawn through that hose into the engine.

Good point, but the fluid levels seem alright and the metal/painted areas would show more damage I'd have thought? And it's degraded more on the other side of the one-way valve. But I'll check it anyway, the car's going to be fairly comprehensively gone over one way or another.

[Zelandeth]

Odd.  Wonder if someone has fitted a non fuel rated hose there and the petrol vapour has just got to it then.  Or it just happened to be from a batch of more crap rubber than the rest... we'll probably never know!

[RichardK]

1 hour ago, Zelandeth said:

Odd.  Wonder if someone has fitted a non fuel rated hose there and the petrol vapour has just got to it then.  Or it just happened to be from a batch of more crap rubber than the rest... we'll probably never know!

I honestly think it's the original part and was failing when it was 14 years old, which is entirely reasonable, but the specialists never spotted it. The engine hasn't turned over, moved fluids or made vacuum since 2008, after all.

I'm looking forward to putting the new one on!

[RichardK]

Postie has been

Old one off

New one waiting

This also got something

NOS genuine mats. Polishing a turd,  but... it helps.

How do you say Fiat in Hungarian Japanese?

Looking at bits that have to come off to do the clutch if needed

Ah, cable ties. Should the subframe really be like that?

I guess it should!

Sunny day means cleaning and prep for rustproofing as well.

[RichardK]

Two former owners (plus the chap I got it from who had it a month). 98,000 miles. 2009, Four wheel drive.

It's mad that these are worth so little as they're a really clever 4.1m long 4x4. The 1.6 petrol has a timing chain and on mine sounds smooth, the suspension is pretty good for ratty roads, and the visibility isn't bad given the big windows. You sit a bit low.

It is starting to look like a car you wouldn't think twice about replacing a clutch on.

Very pleased to be rid of the old-fashioned, wrong-size wipers. The passenger side is a comedy 13" next to the driver's side 26"

Look at the wheel/wheelarch/window line ratio and proportions and tell me this isn't a better design than the Ford Ecosport or the smaller Hyundai and Kia crossovers...

Of course elsewhere in the world the Sedici and the SX4 were pretty popular.