Honda V6 tapping noise

mbalbritton

mbalbritton

#@$%!
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Orlando, FL
Well, the old reliable ‘09 Accord with 230k miles is having an issue.

Went to the store just now and when I cranked it up, it just sounded different. Like a vibration/moan/droning sound. I gassed the engine a little, brought it up to about 1500rpm and let it settle. The battery light came on.

Grabbed the volt meter and measured 14v at the battery while running. Got back in the car and the light was off and the engine sounded fine. Ok, whatever.

Went to the store and when I got back in the car and cranked it up, the check engine light was on. WTF! Plugged in the reader and got P0430
IMG_1411.png


Also noticed a loud tick coming from the engine now. I can’t isolate where it’s coming from.


Almost sounds like it’s under the intake.

Any thoughts?
 
For Cryin' out loud!!!

so, the Check engine light for the Cat went out, so either it's broke, or the problem healed itself. I'm gonna go with all fixed!

Then this morning, the battery light was on again for a couple of minutes. Makes me think that maybe the battery is on it's last legs and the Cold weather is bringing it down just enough to trigger the light.

Then on the way in this morning I swear I heard a rock or something hit the car somewhere, then at a stop light I see little bits of smoke coming up from the hood. quick glance at the temp gauge tells me that I'm running on the cold side, not the hot side (no numbers, just an idiot gauge with Cold, Normal and Hot. And it's below normal. See some more smoke, so I pull off to inspect. Engine is basically cold after having been on the road for 20 minutes. I can grab the rad hose and lay my hand on the engine. Then I see the smoke coming from unexpected regions. follow it down and seen green and steam bubbling from the AC Condenser. SON OF A BITCH! this is the second time I've caught a rock in the condenser on this car.

So I'm thinking not only do I have a hole in the condenser, but I have a failed Thermostat. Interestingly, I previously theorised on my Truck that a failed T-Stat lead to enriched mixture which led to Cat issues. Wondering if I have the same damn thing happening with the Honda. That's a crazy co-ink-y-dink if it is!

Anyone ever JB Welded a hole in their condenser before? I'm wondering how much pressure that system really builds up.
 
mbalbritton said:
For Cryin' out loud!!!

so, the Check engine light for the Cat went out, so either it's broke, or the problem healed itself. I'm gonna go with all fixed!

Then this morning, the battery light was on again for a couple of minutes. Makes me think that maybe the battery is on it's last legs and the Cold weather is bringing it down just enough to trigger the light.

Then on the way in this morning I swear I heard a rock or something hit the car somewhere, then at a stop light I see little bits of smoke coming up from the hood. quick glance at the temp gauge tells me that I'm running on the cold side, not the hot side (no numbers, just an idiot gauge with Cold, Normal and Hot. And it's below normal. See some more smoke, so I pull off to inspect. Engine is basically cold after having been on the road for 20 minutes. I can grab the rad hose and lay my hand on the engine. Then I see the smoke coming from unexpected regions. follow it down and seen green and steam bubbling from the AC Condenser. SON OF A BITCH! this is the second time I've caught a rock in the condenser on this car.

So I'm thinking not only do I have a hole in the condenser, but I have a failed Thermostat. Interestingly, I previously theorised on my Truck that a failed T-Stat lead to enriched mixture which led to Cat issues. Wondering if I have the same damn thing happening with the Honda. That's a crazy co-ink-y-dink if it is!

Anyone ever JB Welded a hole in their condenser before? I'm wondering how much pressure that system really builds up.
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If I'm thinking right, the condenser is on the high pressure side and can be north of 300psi. With that said, fixing a pinhole is gonna be about the same level of sealed at 30psi or 300psi, so it really doesn't matter much.
 
Replacing the condenser today and almost back together. Am I better off going to a shop and having them charge it, or can I just get some cans from the store and do it?
 
If you have a vacuum pump, get the cans and go for it. If not, have a shop do it.
 
mbalbritton said:
Replacing the condenser today and almost back together. Am I better off going to a shop and having them charge it, or can I just get some cans from the store and do it?
Click to expand...
Buy an Amazon pump and do it yourself self. Save some coin. And have a new tool. But I’d buy gauges and use real cans. They are only like 10$ a can so the offset will pay for the gauges. Win win
 
Alright, so that’s a rabbit hole I haven’t been down before.

I’m seeing ac gauge sets and AC pump with gauge sets. So, learn me on the process. What’s the pump for, do I need it and any pointers for doing this. Never done it before, but looks like something that’s right up my alley.
 
Set up gauges blue (low side) red (high side) yellow is for the pump. Turn the pump on and open the yellow valve up. Pull vacuum for about 30 minutes shut off the yellow line. Let it sit for about 30 minutes and make sure it doesn’t leak down. Disconnect the pump and hook up the can. If the vehicle has an orfice tube you’ll fill it off what the gauges say. If it has an expansion valve, you have to fill it by weight at operating temp.
 
What he said. You use vacuum to check for leaks and remove moisture that gets all up in there when the system is opened up.

It usually doesn't hurt to add a shot of some oil in there for the compressor while you're at it. Not the full amount like when you replace the compressor, just a little bit.
 
There's probably a sticker under the hood somewhere that tells you how much freon the system holds. It's likely 2lbs or a little less.

Fix, hook up gauges, pull a vacuum, charge, and then test.
 
FYI,

While I had the radiator and condenser out, I thought I’d take a stab at “fixing” the Catalytic converter code on bank 2. Just so happens it’s the front one right behind the cooling fans.

I pulled the O2 sensor and emptied an areal can of Sea Foam into the cat.

Since I had the battery out for a couple of hours, the check engine light was off when I fired it back up. So far so good on the ole P0430 code not showing up in a scan. Hopefully it stays off. If it does, I’m going to pull the Cat Y pipes off the GMC and hose those sumbitches down!
 
So apparently I don’t know the secret hand shake to get into the AC recharge secret society.

Vacuumed the system for 45 min. Let it sit to check for leaks. Swapped to Freon can and purged the yellow line, fired up the engine with AC on, cracked open the blue, the red, the can. Compressor didn’t kick on, so jumped the relay and tried fill the system. Nothing seemed to happen. Never really built any pressure.

Clearly I’m doing something wrong.
 
Compressor won’t kick if there’s not enough pressure in the system. I always have my can upside down (of course we buy the big cans) from Napa. Gotta have a license for that though…
 
skyhighZJ said:
Compressor won’t kick if there’s not enough pressure in the system. I always have my can upside down (of course we buy the big cans) from Napa. Gotta have a license for that though…
Click to expand...
Ok…. So how do I get more pressure?

I thought jumping the relay location and manually kicking the compressor on would do this? Maybe I wasn’t patient enough? How long does it take to suck the juice (giggity) out of the can to help build pressure?
 
The gauges will show you what’s going on. For your application I’m not sure what your numbers should be. Also, I’m very entry level. I fill large equipment at work. CAT, western star, Kenworth, Pete. My PIA is our Volvo commercial stuff because it has expansion/ purge valves.

Did you have the A/C control on BLAST with the recirc. off?
 
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