So Jason L. and I installed the Fujita SRI on my Fit tonight. Installation went smoothly, but there were a couple unresolved questions:

1.) One of the small hose clamps didn't fit over the new piece of hose. We put the new hose on tight, and drove around with it for a little while. Didn't seem to loosen. It's not the coolant hose, it's the air hose that comes off the side of the engine. Is that a bad thing? I was planning on just buying a new clamp in a couple days, so would it be okay to drive around like that until then?

2.) We lost a bit of coolant while pulling the coolant hose (it sprayed out). We put more in the car, and now at idle there's this gurgling sound from the engine. Did we overfill the coolant, or is that normal for a refill?

3.) I read on the interwebs that you should disconnect the battery to allow the engine to recallibrate. Is that true, and if so, how the heck do I disconnect the battery without getting zapped? I don't want to be playing with those metal battery terminal bolts using a metal ratchet....

Thanks in advance for any info!!

 

uh battery wise.
i dont know if its true, but do it anyways. its not hard ya know?

and the air hose. yes i dont even have mine clamped. the only thing i have clamped is from coolant line to the engine. they rest is just slipped on.


mine hasnt come loose yet after 17k miles...so i dont see any worries. the thing is hard core.

ive taken mine off and on, and stil havnt had any problems.


gurgling eh? um....well if you did overfill it would just empty out into the bottle. im pretty sure you need more if anything. that normally happens when your low and your coolant gets super hot. but then again...the coolant in the bottle can get super hot and do that too.

 

When the engine's cool, I'll go out and check the coolant again. Maybe there was air in the hose so the coolant looked more full than it really is. I dunno. My issue with the battery is, I'm kind of worried I'll get electrocuted with those bare bolts holding it on! Looks scary. What's a safe way to take it off?

Oh, and also: I added coolant into the radiator. I just read that you can add it to the expansion tank? I don't really know what an expansion tank is, or where to find it, but could that possibly be the culprit? Or is the radiator effectively running into the expansion tank anyways?

 

i just do it in both. there is a fill line in the expansion tank. it should be to the right of the radiator fill. you cant miss it man. a little down below. or it is to the left. im pretty sure its to the right.

yeah..there is a minimum line and a max line. pour it to the middle of it.


i hope your only using honda fluids. they for some reason imo have the best coolant.


works for me at least.


anywho hope it works out .

if you have trouble finding it.. i will go down to my car and take a picture of it and show you.

 

dont worry about your battery man. just take a 10mm and take the negative line off and then put it back on. your radio code is on your manual cover holder thingy.


you will need it haha.


yup....dont be scared just DO IT.

 

Thanks! Useful info, I did find the tank and it the coolant is just barely above "low" so I'll fill it up once I find a long enough hose + funnel to get past the big SRI air filter.

Another QUICK question--I am a total douche and put a small amount of car wash soap in the radiator. My dad was yelling at me and I just got distracted and grabbed the wrong blue bottle, so a small (maybe 1/2 fluid ounce) got in. It's probably a pretty unique problem, but any ideas? I think the dealer will just tell me to get a flush, but I don't think such a small amount of noncorrosive fluid would cause any issues. But you never know.....

 

that i have no idea man....

i would say flush that crap asap. but then again i dont know. to be on the safe side i would flush it. i mean its CAR soap. that stuff BUBBLES ya know? and it goes through your engine and stuff.


idk....i would flush it. but its really your car. i would pray for the best heh.


you should yell back at your dad for yelling at you, so you got scared and grabbed the wrong bottle haha

 

i cant believe once again im the only one helping another member out. PSSH FOOLS someone chime in please haha.


rep me son.....

 

Thanks! Repped you. I'll drive my dad's car to work tomorrow and do a flush when I get home. My dad is nuts, he was going on about how touching the fluid was gonna give me cancer, blah, blah, blah.

 

Hmm didn't catch this thread yesterday, then again I wasn't home much. As far as the gurgling sound, just fill the coolant up a bit and you'll have to give it a few days. Pretty much what happened is that some air got in the lines and it just needs to be pushed out. It lasted a few days in mine.

I had the same problem with one of my clamps, however I think I either had one left over or one that was bigger than it needed to be on something else and I just switched them around. I'll check it out with you later today if you haven't fixed it.

You won't get shocked on the battery as long as you only touch one of the terminals, the circuit won't complete. I don't remember disconnecting the battery for it anyways though. The ECU should be smart enough to learn it, it's not a huge change in air like a turbo or something. The MAF should be able to keep up with it and let the ECU adjust fuel accordingly.

About the soap... the coolant lines never run through the combustion chamber or anything so you should be safe. However if you've got the extra money to spend you might wanna consider just flushing it out to be on the safe side.

 

if you want .....you can try getting the air out by taking off the radiator cap after the car cools down and let the car run for a bit with the cap off and you will see the bubbles come up. if there is enough air in there it could make your car over heat.


with the battery if you want to disconnect the negative cable leave it off for a little bit and you wont get zapped unelss you touch your tools with the positive side of the terminal.


as stated above after a little bit of driving the ecu should adjust and everything will be A O K

 

If the car wash soap causes bubbles, the water pump will make the water turn to a froth and that may cause harm to the water pump (the term is "cavitation"), and since there is lubrication in the coolant for the water pump bearing, the soap may reduce the lubricant's ability to work properly on the bearing. My suggestion is to flush the system and refill with new coolant and water.

 

I did a full flush and refill with Honda coolant yesterday, just to be safe. It was a good learning experience anyways, thanks for all the suggestions! Still got a little bit of gurgling, but I'll give it some time to go away.

Oh, and the SRI sounds AWESOME! Thanks for all the help!

 

glad you got the flush. coolant is designed with anti-foaming agents to prevent over-heating. soap is designed TO foam.