New to Passport, have some questions

[lxndr]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum, but I have been here on the AF for several years.

About 2 weeks ago I picked up a 1995.5 Honda Passport EX 4wd 3.2L automatic for $750 (not a typo). It's dark grey, has always been maintained, and the body and interior are in excellent condition!


I'll give you guys the story first:

I bought the Passport form someone who was having mechanical issues with it. Water was seeping onto the floor so he took it to his local mechanic who told him it was a bad head gasket. This didn't make any sense to him so he took it to his local Honda dealership for a second opinion. The dealership said it was in fact a bad head gasket so he gave them the go-ahead to fix it.

Well, when they removed the heads they managed to snap off one of the head bolts in the block. They called up the previous owner and and said it would cost $,$$$ to fix, that this repair was not considered part of replacing the headgasket, and that he could now be looking at a complete motor rebuild.

The previous owner decided that $,$$$ (I don't know the actual number) was more than the car was worth so he put a for sale ad up on Craigslist for $750 since that's what he still owed on it. I called him moments after his ad was posted, I've been looking for a Passport/Rodeo for a while and just happened to be looking at Craigslist at the right time.

Anyway, I went to check it out at the dealership the next day without the owner. When I asked the service rep if I could check out the car, she walked me up to what I thought was a new car, jiggled the handle then went back for the key. At this time I thought to myself "SOLD".

I later talked with the previous owner to make arrangements for the sale and he had mentioned that he thought the problem was the heater core (which made sense to me), but two mechanics convinced him it was the head gasket.

I towed it home and it took me about 10 minutes to get the snapped off bolt out of the block with an EZ-out. I saw no signs of a bad head gasket and the heads and block were still flat so I ordered a complete gasket set (with head bolts) and I'm currently putting the motor back together.

The previous owner also mentioned thet he had just had a new windshield installed. With all the rain we've been having lately here in Seattle, I found the source of the water on the floor!


Here are my questions:

1) I can't seem to find the wiring connnector that goes the the O2 sensor. Can someone clue me in to it's where abouts? I have the O2 sensor with about 8" of wire, but I can't seem to find the connector on the wiring harness to plug it in. I've been under the car numerous times trying to find the connector, all of the connectors are spoken for and there are no cut wires. I found that my Haynes manual is useless for anything other than torque specs.

2) There is a small 1/8" fitting on front/underside of the green tube that leads to the upper radiator hose. Where does this go? After mocking up my hoses and tubes, I found that this leads to a "T" that sits right under the thermostat housing but I have nothing to connect to the T. Is there a tube that runs around the fuel rail to keep it from freezing up? Again, my manual is useless here.

Thanks for your help! I'm an AF regular so I'm sure you guys will hear from me again.

[amigo-2k]

Great story! I don't know much abour your gen of truck, but I'm sure someone will chime in.

[anthonyn]

1) I can't seem to find the wiring connnector that goes the the O2 sensor.
Thanks for your help! I'm an AF regular so I'm sure you guys will hear from me again.

Black connector with red wire in following photo:

2) There is a small 1/8" fitting on front/underside of the green tube that leads to the upper radiator hose. Where does this go? After mocking up my hoses and tubes, I found that this leads to a "T" that sits right under the thermostat housing but I have nothing to connect to the T. Is there a tube that runs around the fuel rail to keep it from freezing up? Again, my manual is useless here.

Not sure we're talking about the same thing, but see if you can follow my description. There is a smaller tube coming out of the underside of the upper radiator hose. This smaller tube ends up near the thermostat housing where it branches out (using a T connector). Each 'branch' utilizes a short hose (4 -5") that goes around the timing belt cover and connects to a fitting on each of the two banks of cylinder heads. To see the fitting, look over the coil packs and down onto the engine.

[lxndr]

Thanks for the replies!

Now I remember seeing a fitting on each cylinder head when I cleaned them up and bolted them back on. I forgot all about these fittings when I was mocking up the hoses.

I'll take another look for the O2 sensor lead, from the pic it looks like it's located behind a metal cover. Since I didn't take the motor apart, I have no clue where some of these things are located.

BTW, when I picked up the Passport, the Honda mechanic handed me a Taco Bell bag full of bolts. After doing a mock up, I seem to have 2 extra bolts!

[anthonyn]

Originally Posted by lxndr

BTW, when I picked up the Passport, the Honda mechanic handed me a Taco Bell bag full of bolts. After doing a mock up, I seem to have 2 extra bolts!

Oh I forgot to mention. All 1st gen honda passports come with two extra bolts in reserve after honda engineers found that the _________* component tends to wiggle loose at freeway speeds.

*After component falls out, fill in blank with: powersteering pump, alternator, brake master cylinder, timing belt tensioner, crankshaft pulley....as appropriate.

[lxndr]

Originally Posted by anthonyn

Oh I forgot to mention. All 1st gen honda passports come with two extra bolts in reserve after honda engineers found that the _________* component tends to wiggle loose at freeway speeds.

*After component falls out, fill in blank with: powersteering pump, alternator, brake master cylinder, timing belt tensioner, crankshaft pulley....as appropriate.

Thanks!

I'll keep them in the glove box along with a ratchet, a series of 6"-24" extensions, numerous U-joints, and a 12 mm socket!

So far I've found that there is no easy access to any of the bolts on the motor. It seems that every bolt is covered by some kind of bracket, cover, belt, or the passenger side wheel. This explains why the motor was taken down so far when I picked the car up. When I was looking at my bucket-O-parts I wondered why the Honda mechanic took every bracket, bolt and shield off the car just to replace the head gaskets. I later realized that there is a precise order of assembly/disassembly that must strictly be followed just to remove radiator cap.

[Gizmo42]

Any time you plan to do any repairs plan on removing 3 other things minimum to get to it. Not the most repair freindly vehicle I've ever worked on. Who ever designed the layout for some of this stuff would have been fired on the spot after seeing the drawings if I was in charge.

That being said, I love my rodeo

[lxndr]

Got it running!

I found out what the problem was to begin with; the water pump was bad. Since I didn't know exactly what was wrong with the Passport, I decided to fill it up with water before I started bolting on the accessories and timing belt cover just to see if I had any leaks. I noticed a small trickle of water coming from under the motor and upon closer inspection I found that it was coming from the weep hole in the water pump.

With the cost of the new water pump, genuine Honda/Isuzu gaskets (discounted through a friend who works at a Honda dealership), new belts and spark plugs etc, towing, and the actual cost of the vehicle, I've got about $1,500 invested. Woohoo!

If anyone is interested, I'll see if I can post some pics.

[Ramblin Fever]

Originally Posted by lxndr

If anyone is interested, I'll see if I can post some pics.

You bet! I love those 1st gen. rigs - kinda partial to them myself, owned two, and still greatly miss the one I traded.

[lxndr]

I'm thinking I need to adjust the valves on my Passport since it almost sounds like a diesel (but less noisy), and the noise is definitely coming from the left valve cover (cylinders 2,4 and 6). I called my Honda mechanic friend and he said it is a serious PITA, I also searched this topic on the AF and everything I found confirmed that this procedure is in fact a PITA.

The motor has 135K on it, what are the chances that it really needs a valve adjustment, or is this a normal sound for the 3.2 V6? My friend says I need a special tool to get the shims out (or I might be able to get them out with a standard screwdriver), can I order this tool at any autoparts store or should I get one through the Honda dealer?

Again, the noise is not too loud, but I think I pissed off the guy at the Jack In the Box drive through because he couldn't hear what I was saying!

[Gizmo42]

Your 3.2 doesnt have the shim and bucket valves. Only 98+ has them (at least for rodeo/passport). Yours has hydraulic lash adjusters, which are always noisey. My mitsu pickup had them, I just got used to the noise. If it got worse and wouldnt quiet down then I knew I was a quart low on oil.

You can try using sea foam or auto rx and see if it will clean them enough to quiet down. There are posts on here and planetisuzoo.com of different ways to get them quiet but it always comes back. If you really feel like it you can remove them and clean them out, I was never that ambitious.

Oh yea, they cant be adjusted. The depend on oil pressure and if they stick or the oil hole gets clogged they cant pressurise. Also if your oil is low the pressure will drop and they will be noisey. Check the oil pressure to make sure it is ok.

[lxndr]

The oil level is up to the max dot and the stock oil pressure gauge reads at about 40-45 psi. I'll check my manual to find out if the oil pressure is normal, I wasn't worried because most cars I've had run at around 40 psi. I'll try the "engine cleaner" at the next oil change.

Thanks for the tip, I feel a little better now.

[lxndr]

I checked out www.planetisuzoo.com, lots of good info! It was also nice to see some honest testimonials about Auto RX, I'll give it a try.

Thanks again!