Things with this car have tapered off lately. I have almost everything I wanted for the car, with the exception of fog lights and a few odds and ends here and there.
I fixed the oil consumption by changing out the valve cover gasket. I checked the oil the other day and it hasn't burned a drop.
My fuel efficiency recently took a nose dive. I figured it was the old fouled plugs and air filter. When installing the plugs I happened to turn the plug wires over and found they were badly cracked. $75 later I had a new set. The ones I took off were marked '95 (original), so I figured they were about due for retirement. Four new spark plugs and new wires installed, my mileage went even lower. My 120km commute which took 0-1 bars (4th gen people will understand this term) jumped to 3-4 bars. It got to the point where the lude I bought to do this commute would be more expensive to run than the truck I was replacing.
Oil change, good tires, 91 octane, new plugs, new wires, valve adjustment... it should be running better, no?
The only thing I could think of that could trigger something like this around this time of year was the switch from summer to winter gas. Though, I have never seen such an acute impact on fuel economy in the several hundred winters I have been driving. Fortunately, it has bounced back a bit on it's own. I'm guessing the switch, sent the ECU into a frenzy or something. I filled up (right up to the top of the neck) with 91 the other day for $61.00. I got 99kms from the filler neck, before the gauge started to move.
The old H23 intake was a disgrace. The ghetto goofball who owned it before me hacked the end of the intake tube off and stuck some nondescript cone filter on the end. It probably come off the end of of one of his ghetto buddies Civic cold air intake.
I originally thought I would be clever and harvest some 5th gen parts to save the day. I was going to use the top of the 5th gen air box and mate it to the h23 hose. No dice. I learned that the stock (non-type-s) intake tube is bigger than the h23. So the H22 box top wouldn't fit in the end of the H23 hose. Fack!
I started looking at cheap short ram intakes, and K&N cone filters. I wasn't going to start looking around for a stock H23 intake set up.
Then, this happened:
I spotted a Type-S intake with a K&N filter for sale for $160 locally. Someone else was interested, so I gave the guy an extra $20 to tell him to get lost and sell it to me instead. And he did.
I installed it last night, in the dark (you know you spend too much time with one particular type of car when you can install things blind). Here is what I found with the installation:
Type-S intake installation:
Type-S to 5th gen (H22/23) it should bolt up right out of the box. If you H23 comes with the Air boost valve, that wont plug in, because the intake doesn't have a hole for it. It works on my H23 without air boost so don't worry.
Type-S to 4th gen (H22/23): It will fit. it is a tighter fit, but once you get it in there, it will fit. IMPORTANT! You will need the BOTTOM half of the 4th gen air box assembly. The bottom half of the 5th gen air box will NOT fit properly. If you hold a 4th and 5th gen bottom half of the air box up to one another, you will find the 4th gen is shallower. The 5th will fit in there, but won't sit low enough, and your hood will not close. So, if you want to put a Type-S intake into a 4th gen, you will need the bottom half of the air box for it to work properly.
I took the car out last night, and what a difference. It just flies along, and it seems to be a bit more responsive.
You know the fabric cover is missing off the sub grille though, right?
