New Guy from Michigan

[SpeedR]

Hey Everyone,

I just purchased an 01 insight from a member here yesterday. I wanted to introduce myself and start to become part of this community.

Background:

I have a large background in Hondas. Being 28 years old, I was into te "import scene" for about 12 years until I recently moved to Ann Arbor MI and work in Metro Detroit (approx 40 mile drive each way).

I've owned 16 hondas in my lifetime with various engine swaps, etc. My favorite being my 1991 CRX Si with a B20 (non vtec). The car was from AZ (I lived there for a couple years) and was original paint, no rust, no rice.

I currently bought this 01 insight with 213,000 miles. The previous owner seems really cool and the car drives very good. Today the check engine light came on. But with my Scangauge I found it was P0420 and saw its common problem with the sensitivity of these cars. I've since cleared it and will see how things go.

Future plans:

For the Insight? I plan on drivin this thing forever. Since its aluminum, the michigan salt hasnt completely destroyed the body as with most other vehicles. I would like to start with getting a grid charger/balancer and learn how to rebuild the HV battery. My current vehicle dosent need a rebuild, but I would like to buy a used one and practice just for learning sake.

I am in the process of purchasing a house, so when that goes through, I will have updates, etc on the vehicle as I do maint, mods, etc. I would like to find ways in achieving greater FE with this already astonishing car.

Conclusion:

Thanks for having me as part of the site. Hopefully overtime and expirence I can become a valuable member here.

[gilbertguy]

SpeedR,

Welcome to the sight, there are a lot of folks on here with lots of knowledge if you have questions. I've had my used 2000 Insight (246,000 miles) for about 5 months now so still getting used to its qwarks. So far I like it but I haven't lived through a summer with it yet in 115 degree heat?

Gilbert Guy (yes I live in the Phoenix area)

[MN Driver]

Welcome to the site. For the P0420, you should check with Honda to see if the emissions recall was performed on your car or not to reduce that sensitivity, be sure to brings all of your keys with because they either flash or replace(can't remember which for this one, pretty sure they flash it though)the engine control module and need to relearn the chips in the keys when they do it. It's a federal emissions recall and there is no timeout period or mileage, if it hasn't been done you are still eligible. Mine has been done by the previous owner, he forgot to bring one of the keys in so I have 3 keys but 1 can't start the car.

"For the Insight? I plan on drivin this thing forever. Since its aluminum, the michigan salt hasnt completely destroyed the body as with most other vehicles."

I 100% agree, this car is an amazing MPG machine and before the Insight came out I dreamed of cars that won't have their body rust out in 10-15 years. I have a 15 year old car that 4 years ago wasn't too rusty because it came from a non-snow state but a few Minnesota winters and its got rust all over. Glad that I don't have to worry about the Insight getting crusty car leprosy on me, it's too bad that more cars aren't built out of aluminum to prevent it from being an eyesore in salt states after 10 years and completely rotten by 20. I'll hang on to mine as long as I can and I've considered buying a second as a project car to mess around with but I haven't been able to justify that yet, if I had the money around I'd buy one with a bad engine or bad IMA or some other issue like that for cheap and then convert it to a high performance electric, or at least my goal is to have better than stock acceleration, which isn't too bad to begin with IMHO. Not quite the engine swap you've done with your cars before but it's what I'd like to do.

Enjoy your Insight, welcome to the forum!

[SpeedR]

Thanks for the welcome guys:

Gilbert guy:

what color is your car? When I lived in Phoenix my CRX didn't have A/C but it was white so I think in some way that helped a little lol. Since you live there, I would assume your heat tolerance is higer than that of most. You should be ok, just might loose a few pounds of water every day . I always drove with a camel pack full of water because I would drive from Tempe to Peoria for work. Traffic backups on the 202 and 101 in 115 degree heat was no fun during rushhour.

MN driver:
thanks for the info regarding the software update. I will check with honda when I get some time. The code has appeared again and I just keep clearing it for the mean time. The previous owner had the cat converters replaced at 150k so I was hoping the reflash was done then.

As for engine swaps for this car. I havent done the research yet, but has anyone tried swapping the 1.3 4cyl from the civic hybrid into an insight? The insight has some room in the engine bay so I would'nt think it would be a problem to fit. Whenever my motor goes I am thinking of trying this swap. Maybe buy a donor 03 Civic Hybrid and just swap drivetrains, wiring harness, etc.

I am about to drive up north to go snowboarding for new years. should be a 550 mile round trip. Lets see if I can do it in 1 tank (lots of hills).

[gilbertguy]

My 2000 is silver, as far as using the AC from what I did experiance when I first bought it I have to basically drive in a lower gear with AC on to keep the engine RPMs up and it doesn't look like it will run in lean burn with AC on. Next summer is going to KILL my MPG.