Building for the road course...again

I was always skeptical of jb weld. Then I used it one time to fix an outdoor run cutout holiday decoration for my wife. I got a drop on the floor in the basement about the size of a dime I could not for the life of me get it off without taking a chunk of concrete with it. Granted the concrete is porous but I think scuffing the metal accomplished the same thing.

For reference I was using a big masonry chisel and a three pound maul and couldn't get it to break free

 

Why toss when you can get it fixed?

 

These are the JBweld stories we always hear. The stuff really is fantastic.
I did scuff up the aluminum really well. Gave it a good sand. Pressed the putty into it very well. It seemed to take nicely.

our very own johnnytightlips also has many success stories with JBweld being used to fix radiators and whatever else

 

If it holds then it’ll stay on the car. If it starts to leak again then I’m likely to toss it. I’m not overly attached. It came with the car and is a lower end unit as well.


That said, I had no issues with performance. Temps were always no problem

 

Just about time. The nerves are real. After work I’m going to put oil in it and do some priming. Build some oil pressure. After that is first start time but I’ll be waiting on my tuner for first start up.

 

Engine has been primed. Took a few cranks but then it immediately shot up to 48-50psi


Preliminary compression test showed nice even numbers across all 4. Just wanted to make sure things were happy. Given no break in yet and the profile of this cam, things are good!

 

cars looking complete! Too bad the ecu is broken…


After I primed the engine the other night I went to load the new map. Flashpro couldn’t communicate with the ecu. Hmmm. Never had that before

Thought maybe my obd2 connector had moved out of the mount and the flashpro wasn’t plugged in all the way. That wasn’t the case.

I realized my coolant gauge on the dash wasn’t working, my tach wasn’t moving while I was cranking either. My aim dash was also getting no coolant temp or rpm. CAN issue.


Did a bunch of investigating. Checked wiring. Grounds. Plugs. Measured can high/low voltage and it was fine. Checked for resistance across can high/low and it was also as expected. No issues.

After more searching around it seems like my ecu may have just died. No idea why or how but it just happens apparently.

A junk yard ecu is about $100. Then I’d need a dealer to reprogram it to the car for the immobilizer. Then my flashpro is locked to the dead ecu so I would need to figure that out. What a pain…

 

God-damned Honda junk

 

I say that as an owner of Honda junk

 

It’s a bummer for sure lol. Fucking thing

 

Well….cars fixed. Super dumb.

There’s a 15amp fuse under the dash which I always pull to kill the fuel pump so I can prime the engine. Done it plenty of times. I googled it back when I bought the car in 2021 and Google told me that’s the fuel pump fuse. So to me, that’s been the fuel pump fuse. Simple.

That fuse is apparently ignition/12V to the ecu. Basically I killed ecu power LOL.

My shop found it this morning. I had mentioned I checked all fuses. They checked them all again but…they noticed the missing 15amp ignition fuse

Ecu is fine. Monday I’m going to load my base map to get the car started. Bleed coolant. I believe we’ll be doing idle tuning Monday or Tuesday as well. Then onto the dyno.

What a ride. I have no problem accepting this is my bad LOL. Oops

 

Honestly I prefer to have fucked up than a car start having electrical issues

 

Hey fucking up is the best way to learn, you'll never forget. That's something nobody ever wants to admit to.

 

Yea total dumb thing but I didn’t know any better right? It happens. I can admit it’s my lack of knowing any better.

Now to move forward as planned

 

I've got a post around here from about 3-4 years ago trying to figure out all kinds of crazy gremlins or so I believed.

I had cleaned my intake valves about a week prior to all the shenanigans. Car ended up at the dealer because it was still my DD and I was at my wits end.
The master Mazda tech took a day and a half to basically figure out that the ground on the coil pack harness was not quite tight enough. I felt pretty dumb but I also didn't know what I do now. Expensive lesson for sure!

 

Shit like that definitely happens. Part of the experience I guess lol. I’m OK with it honestly. I’ll take the embarrassment cause it’s not so bad.


Now I’m just excited for the next phases here. Had to get past this to move on right?

 

It’s going down on Friday. Idle tuning/break in/dyno. Much excitement

 

All that extra work for 1 horse torque lol. Good luck with it. Are you going to get any seat time this season?

 

This is the years time attack schedule. The car has been built to the letter of the law for my class. I am all but 2 points away from the next higher class.


Competition days will of course be supplemented with lapping/practice days. I intend to get out as much as possible. Currently budget is non existing but I’ll do what I can

 

Aug Mosport weekend is in my calendar now. My son & I might come be spectator for a bit.