Swapping transmission this weekend

[gilbertguy]

Originally Posted by 02insight

have you looked at this thread also?:
Reviving a 2000 Honda Insight "beater" - Page 12 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com

That's the one I followed when I had to remove/install my transmission. The tip that helped most was about unbolting the knuckle from the strut when removing the axles, instead of removing the ball joint under the knuckle. There are a few tight spots in the back where its hard to get tools, but overall it wasnt that bad.

02 Insight - nice pictures and instructions on the clutch replacement, I copied it to a word doc and put it in my "How To" file.

Thanks, Gilbert Guy

[retepsnikrep]

Originally Posted by Eli

This also jives well with the high LMPG, as it has been assumed that the thrust loads from regenerative braking are what destroys the ISB.

Where does that info come from? I use very high regen and haven't destroyed an ISB yet? I think they just wear out, and are just a weak point in the design. Just my opinion of course.

[Eli]

Originally Posted by retepsnikrep

Where does that info come from? I use very high regen and haven't destroyed an ISB yet? I think they just wear out, and are just a weak point in the design. Just my opinion of course.

Yeah, that's entirely possible. It seems like I saw that being thrown around here, but maybe I'm remembering incorrectly. Also just an inference I've made based on the admittedly few overall experiences I've had with Insights and their ISB.

Something must cause them to fail, though. Or it's bad quality control with the part, because like I said.. the ISB in Insight #1 failed at 100k, while it appears that the ISB in Insight #2 was still fine after 440k+ miles. That's strange.

[madmanmostafa]

Hmm. If someone would donate a transmission and we All paid toward R&D, I could have some machinists actually look at the parts. To be honest though, I really don't know how much it would cost or the effort it would entail, but I do have the people in my network that are capable of doing such a thing. One machinist does only racing parts and the other is just a general machinist.

[madmanmostafa]

Also looking into it, it looks like gderian is also using Redline. He said he's using the thinnest one, so my guess is the SuperLight weight. Maybe you should ask him on how many miles he's been using it and if it has helped with any grinding issues and what the overall feel has been since the swap.

[Eli]

I think it would be worth it at almost any cost, as long as the difference was significant.

I would totally be willing to drop $1000 into each of our transmissions if I could be fairly certain that they would then last the rest of the life of the car. Like I said though, I don't drive enough anymore to be a very good test candidate. We need someone that drives 40-50k+ or more per year to be doing these tests, or it will just take too long to get data.

[madmanmostafa]

Well I was thinking that we'd just pull apart the parts that commonly break and they just give us some high quality versions of those. They do a metal analysis and see Why they broke and under what conditions and they make new parts that don't do that. Or they just make stronger version of the same parts.

I really don't know anything about metallurgy, so I couldn't tell you what goes on there.

[Eli]

Yes, that would be excellent and I would love to be part of pioneering something like that.

I might be able to get a worn out transmission for less than $200 shipped, so I would be willing to donate that to the cause.

The input shaft bearing should be a pretty easy fix I think. I'm not so sure about the synchros. Using a harder material might help, but I don't know to what extent. It would definitely be interesting though.

[Eli]

Did my MPG writeup help you understand some of the nuances involved with Insight ownership?

Someone really needs to make a comprehensive Buyer's Guide/FAQ. Or maybe there is one, but I haven't ever seen anything like that explained before.