Hello friends, I posted a thread a little while back looking for feed back about taking my acty on the highway. I was curious is running my 4speed at 100kmph in 4th gear was bad for the engine or transmission. After the comments from everyone, I felt pretty confident traveling at this speed wouldn’t hurt anything. So I took the acty on the highway a handful of times over the past few weeks. Well this past Sunday I took the acty on the highway and I saw my speed slowly decelerating. Dropping lower and lower and lower until the acty died on the highway. I pushed the acty a little bit and once I was off the highway I decided to try and start her back up. It actually started up fine. I went through 1st gear, 2nd gear, even 3rd gear, but once I get to 4th gear it seems to just start losing power. Any ideas or similar experiences? I havnt changed the gear box oil since I’ve had the acty so I figured I would change it and see what happens.
Could be some causes. Did the battery light come on or dim when that happened? If so, something wrong with the alternator. Fuel pump maybe out? Soemtimes happens that they die slowly, or immy. Here another case https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/1989-honda-acty-crank-no-start.17790/ crankshaft sensor? http://www.fixya.com/cars/t11327857-mini_truck_honda_acty_3tr_660cc_engine https://www.justanswer.com/honda/155wv-replace-crankshaft-sensor-1996.html check the distributor check for broken vacuum hoses https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/acty-fuel-filter-pics-attached.10108/ I would first start with the fuel pump checking https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/honda-ha7-fuel-pump-pressure.4065/
Thank you for your thoughtful input shogun. Is there any easy ways to check if the transmission is shot? I’m not very savvy when it comes to mechanical things. I’m kind of worried about buying a new fuel pump if the transmission is shot. Do you know if it is common for the transmission to work in all other gears except one? My parents told me usually if your transmission is shot, none of your gears will work.
Is that a manual gear or automatic transmission? I have no detailed drawing of the Acty automatic transmission, but I have worked on many ZF transmissions to overhaul the valve body. From this I know that there are (depending on the transmission) 4-5 clutch packs for forward gears and one for reverse. Here for example I have listed a troubleshooting for the ZF 5HP18 http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/1214743/ In my opinion the problem is not the transmission (does not matter if manual gear or automatic) , even with a defective transmission the engine should run. That is a engine problem. Either electric or some other items. Some info on transmission https://europeanexchange.com/car-transmissions-model-det.asp?brand=Honda&model=ACTY TRUCK Acty transmission fluids, dipstick location etc https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/1993-honda-acty-gearbox-oil-type-help.14054/ Maybe you call Ben from HoustonMiniTrucks and talk with him, describe the problem in detail, he probably can help you. http://www.houstonminitrucks.com/
It is a manual transmission, I’m starting to think you may be right about the fuel pump. I need to test drive it again and really get a understanding of what is going on. The engine is fine and runs, it’s just once I get to the 4th gear, at a certain speed the car just won’t go. I recently ordered something from ben so once I get that in the mail, I will contact him about this issue and maybe order a fuel pump from him. I’m hoping It’s not a transmission issue as that would be very expensive.
Spoke to Ben from Houston Mini Trucks and learned that the fuel pump will pump a constant amount of fuel and reroutes the excess to the gas tank. So this issue is probably not pump related. Just thought I would share that fuel pump info.
Yes, that is normal, a fuel pump always pumps the same amount of fuel and the excess is re-routed back to the gas tank, on engines with fuel pressure regulator the pressure reglulator operates by vacuum the flow, so if more fuel is needed, the fuel pressure regulator opens the way to the fuel injector or carb more and the rest goes back to the gas tank. With this system there can be in general 2 faults: the fuel pressure regulator diaphram breaks and the control is no longer given. Or the fuel pump is too weak, had some cases where the fuel pump was humming, but it could not deliver enough volume and pressure. Or the vacuum hoses controlling the fuel pressure regulator are broken. Fuel pressure regulators come in various shapes and sizes but their purpose is the same- to hold the fuel pressure at a certain differential above the intake manifold pressure. The inner mechanism usually consists of a sealed diaphram chamber, a spring, a diaphram, bypass valve and a manifold pressure reference port. The valve is connected to the diaphram and the spring pushes against the diaphram from the manifold pressure side. The spring pressure determines the static fuel pressure. If there is vacuum on the port, say at idle, this reduces the effective spring pressure acting on the diaphram and reduces the fuel pressure under vacuum conditions. If there is pressure on the port, such as under boost, this effectively increases the spring pressure, thus fuel pressure. Just to make sure, test the fuel pump. For example on my BMW E32 750 the 2 fuel pumps have following specs: operating pressure is 3 bar, conveying capcity at 12 V 1.9 liter/minute, conveying capacity against counterpressure 875 ccm/30 seconds. This just as example, the Acty pump will be much less in capacity and pressure. A easy test for the fuel pump is shown here on a BMW website, use a PET bottle and start the fuel pump, also this is just an example how it is possible to test a fuel pump http://bmwe32.masscom.net/sean750/fuel_pressure_regulators/FuelPressureRegulators.htm Also another test if the fuel pump is delivering: What is the condition of the spark plugs? Wet? Dry? As your car is a manual gear, my personal opinion is that the problem is not the transmission as the car runs in all other gears. In fourth gear at high speed/full throttle it needs a lot of fuel and this is maybe not enough what the pump delivers. Or a solenoid proplen at the car where they control the air/fuel ratio. A good challenge for you to find out, good luck, keep us informed.
Shogun, Thank you for all your resources and information that you provided. Yes, it seems like a challenged to find out what the issue is but you’ve given me hope that it potentially could not be the transmission! Those other issues, thougj challenging, are less daunting than a transmission problem. I will update as I troubleshoot each potential issue.
UPDATE: I changed my plugs and wires a couple of weeks back and noticed they didn’t fully snap onto the plug. Even after pushing them down as much as I could they still didn’t snap onto the plug. After driving my van around for the next couple of weeks my van died on the highway. I pulled the plugs this morning and they were completely destroyed. I’m pretty sure it’s from the wires not snapping onto the plugs the photos below show the destroyed plug and the new plug wire on the left and the original plug wire on the right with the plugs fully snapped in. The new wires are much shorter than the originals as shown in the photos. I’m going to replace the plugs and put the original wires back onto my acty and see if that fixes my problem.
as for ignition wires, maybe you also contact https://www.kingsbornewires.com/Sea...its+Honda+Kingsborne+Spark+Plug+Wires&show=20 tell them what exact length you need and they can check which one will fit 1786 La Costa Meadows Drive Suite 102/103 San Marcos CA 92078 Tel: (800) 643-0375 Fax: (760) 736-4022 sales@kingsborne.com
The plug pics show the result of detonation. Are you sure that the temp was OK or that the correct heat range plugs were in it? Possible carbon buildup. Fred
I assumed the plugs and plug wires were the correct ones as I ordered them from a well known Minitrucks website that had them listed for the HH3 model which I have. The plugs are the correct plugs, but I think it may be a plug wire issue as the wire didn’t seem to snap onto the plug. The wires were much shorter than the originals. The cluster never showed the van as overheating though
Sorry for that, just to check a bit more, are you sure you mounted the ignition lead plugs on the distributor correct? There are the numbers in a circle 1-2-3 for the cylinders on the distributor cap and that should then fit to cylinders 1,2,3. If wrong installed, that could maybe explain that they are too short? Here we talked about firing order https://minitrucktalk.com/threads/1...-and-3-start-counting-from-the-distrub.15756/
plug wires not on would give you issues at the wire to plug connection, would not melt your plug tips. You have a lean condition, timing issue, overheating, detonation, firing order, too hot a plug, something like that. if wire to plug wasn't making solid contact it would melt the wire at the top of the plug or just not spark.
I replaced the plugs this morning and put on the old plugs, and the van has the power in 4th again. I am sure the order of the plugs are in the correct position. The short piece isn’t the length of the wire but the length of the part of the wire that goes down the cylinder and onto the plug. I’m going to drive the van for a while and see if the plugs explode again. If they do I will rule out the wires. It could be a lean condition. I will update. As for now, the van is running again like new. Feels like it has a lot more power Also this link provided by shogun shows this could result from electrical induction between spark plug wires
