A Beater of an Insight

[Danronian]

Wow. Sounds like a steal!

[brucepick]

Yeah - about half the cost of an HX and nearly double the mpg!
I think I'm starting to turn green...

[GasSavers_bobski]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

check for clearance every 30 or 60K miles - shim as necessary

No need for shims. With the exception of 1st gen Legends (which had hydraulic lifters), every Honda/Acura I've looked at has a threaded valve tappet and locknut to adjust. Just loosen the locknut, stick the appropriate feeler gauge between the end of the valve stem and the tappet, turn the tappet with a screwdriver until it makes contact with the gauge, then tighten the locknut with a box-end wrench while holding the tappet in position.

[brucepick]

That's different from the setup with rear drive Volvos. You measure and insert shims; it's a PITA.

The good news is, you don't mess with it till it starts tapping, probably around 500K miles. Which means usually you don't end up adjusting valves unless you change the cam for a performance one. Been driving these beasts since '95, always bought used, never had a mechanic suggest adjusting them and never had a valve tap issue! To be fair though, these cars do have other things that need fixing periodically. Just not valve adjustment.

[kamesama980]

my 7m uses shim adjusted lifters and at almost 170k I'd put money that they're original and I don't have any valve noise. plenty of other noises but no valve noise.

[BumblingB]

It WILL get an easy 60mpg with no assist from the battery pack. Actually, when you drive it you want to drive with as little assist as possible. The problem is power won't be there when you need it without a battery pack. If you didn't already, pull fuse #18? maybe 14? - I can check for the right number if you haven't already reset the BCM. As already mentioned, keep checking the wrecking yards. If you can get a VIN from a wrecked car and a nice service manager at Honda you can find out if the wrecked car had the warranty work done.

The car will run without the battery pack. Also it WILL go in EV mode at about 2 miles an hour for a VERY short distance. Never tried it myself - heard of people that ran out of gas. You'll find it'll be a game to see if you can break 800 miles on a tank of gas. You have a 10.6 gallon tank.

The trannies are a weak point on the Insight. When I had mine I made sure I kept the fluid changed. Think the last time I changed it, I put Royal Purple in it though the OEM Honda Fluid is most heavily recommended from other Insight owners.

The window motor is another weak point. You need to keep the window channels lubed up properly and that should help prolong the motor's life.

If you have any other questions, shoot - I had an Insight for a long time and loved it and miss it dearly (hope that didn't sound gay but who cares if it did). I recommend getting a shop manual too. Not sure if I have a spare shop manual - I used to have an extra, also think I have an extra owner's manual somewhere.

Oh, forgot to mention - ticking is the norm for the Insight. You'll know if you're having battery problems. Do a search on "recal" on the evil Insight website. Most of the time when you ask a question they would rather spend the time yelling at you for not using the "search" function than giving you an answer over the same amount of space. I made it a point not to ask questions there as it seemed they did that to everyone.

[s2man]

Originally Posted by Wazabi Owner

The car will run without the battery pack.

Nice to know that's possible. I've often mulled over the idea of finding an Insight in need of a new battery pack. But instead of replacing it, just tossing it and running on IC only. I understand the acceleration penalty, but where else will I find a 1L vehicle in the U.S.? It would probably be more cost effective to get something with the Suzuki 3-cyl, but the idea keeps cropping up, none the less.

[BumblingB]

Without the pack it is MUCH slower than a Metro. With the Insight you have lean-burn though PLUS you have the nifty gas-mileage-o-momiter where you can actually see when you go into lean-burn mode. I believe my sweet spot on my old Insight was about 48 MPH.

The only reason I got rid of my Insight was I live a couple of miles back on a dirt road and it was beating the car to death. It was sort of a "If you love something set it free" thing. I've got a Smart car on reservation but the car will be "once in a while" car when I finally get it which will probably be about a year! I'll remain driving the diesel VWs even after I get the Smart. Oh - it is a 3cyl you can buy new in America at the moment just the waiting list is stupid long.

[BumblingB]

What's the latest info? Has it been running OK? Also, forgot to ask - what type of tires does it have as that WILL MAKE A H-U-G-E difference.

[GasSavers_Red]

Thanks for the tips all Sorry about the lack of updates, haven't been able to do much.

So far been a rather frustrating week, and the weather hasn't helped much at all. Been raining like dooms day since Friday, a small break is predicted for Monday, so I'm hoping to get some things done. The rest of the week was consumed between work, and giving my sister a ride so she resupply before she goes back to UCLA.

So far its been sitting in my driveway with the busted window taped up with a bag. I did attempt to drive it but I barely made half a mile before a fairly nice police officer pulled me over for driving without plates and a complete registration (Paper work is still in processing) I got a warning and he followed me home. A perk of living less than a mile from the station. Been itching to take it for a spin since I towed it home.

Anyhoo, in that short drive it seemed fine. It drove kinda like the Heep, slow and steady, nothing really peppy. Not like my friends Civic which has a strange amount of get go for an automatic sedan. Didn't really get a chance to warm it up all the way and push it a bit. Engine did load up maybe 5 seconds after starting it. The SOC gauge was at zero. Went up one bar in my little one mile "joy" ride. Clutch engages low on the pedal. Heep has a hydrulic clutch system, along with a 6 month old clutch and it engages high up so I'm thinking that Rommie is gonna need a new clutch in the future. Only made it to 3rd (top speed was 30mph) and it shifted fine. A little stiff but fine.

12 volt is shot gonna pull it later and attempt to revive it. If its dead dead I'll replace it. I doubt there is an Optima that is small enough to fit into its little battery box, the Heep's red top looks to be 1/3 too big all around to go in there.

Tires are Bridgestone Protenza RE92, the smallest tire I have ever seen. The tread blocks are so close together it looks weird. Still has got a fair amount of life left in them. A pretty hard rubber.