I-DSI Engine Overhaul (City 2006) Experience shared

[mkashifafzal]

Aslam O Alikum, I have got a 2006 City manual, and i bought it second hand in 2012. About an year after or so i noticed that the engine oil was being consumed at the rate of about half a liter in every 3000km.

The reducing engine oil was not an issue for me as the milage i got from my car was around 14 and 15km/liter (i try hypermiling), and there was indeed NO smoke from the exhaust, the only thing that troubled (and the big thing) was the response on low rpm and the need to get the spark plugs changed or cleaned every 6,000 to 10,000 km. The No. 2 (from left ) cylinder was getting the plug messy.

I read through different threads at Pakwheels and noticed that no body, and no body at all encouraged the idea of getting the idsi engine overhauled and everyone was of the opinion to get the engine swapped.

The trouble with engine swap was that there was no reliable thing available in the bilal ganj market, not reliable from the looks of it, i went through the market and the engine/assemblies available there were placed like pieces of junk, and even if they looked clean there was no guarantee that their internal condition was not worst than the engine already in my car.

So i decided to get it overhauled from the dealership.

The major surgery was conducted during the first week of september 2015, just before the eid vacations and i got my car done at the estimated cost of around 70,000/- PKR. I also got my clutch plates, pressure plate and bearing replaced for another 30,000/- Pkr.

My experience so far, almost one and a half month and almost 3,000 km is fine, no issue with the engine, smooth sound, no smoke, fine pick and response specially with a mix of 1:2 of hiOctange: regular, and no reduction of engine oil and better fuel average somewhere around 14 to 16km/l with AC in city. Al Hamdu Lillah.

I would recommend everyone with engine issues to get them overhauled from the honda dealerships (or someone really expert in the work and with the genuine parts) to do the work.

And I request every one reading this to pray for my car to continue working fine, i mean after how much time shall i expect the overhaul to fail eventually?

[ghayyour1]

looking forward to more details , glad to know all workedd out for u Masha'Allah

[saboor73]

I hope work was done with torque wrench and tty bolts were replaced and not reused

[hash4u]

idsi engine overhaul is something new on this blog
so total bill paid to dealership was 1lac rupees?

how is the low end torque now ?
very easy to find out if the experiment passed or failed. compression test.....khair if ur happy no need to check anything.

p.s what was the mileage when it went for overhaul ?

There are people here with idsi's who have done 2-3 lac km's on original engines

[mkashifafzal]

Yes, around 100,000/- was the total bill. And with my car at the workshop there was another idsi 2005 being overhauled. So for me, it was like something being done regularly at the workshop.

Compression test, hummm.. . that too, i read that there are no workshops who do compression test, reliably. So before the decision for overhaul i was thinking about confirmation of engine failure, but from pakwheel forum i was reluctant to ask for it, where can i get this test done?

With regular fuel low rpm response is better than pre overhaul and i am now mixing hioctane and with it i feel it is much better, without throttle just let the clutch go and the car moves if this is what you have asked.

Before overhaul the milage was 105000ish. People who get to 2 to 3 lac km are those who kept the car from day one with regular oil changes, never getting it overheated, mine actually got overheated and engine died several times in a day before i noticed what actually is happening, the reason was that i got my AC serviced from a stupid mechanic who failed to fix the radiator pipes and the water drained out leaving me unaware.

[mkashifafzal]

I hope work was done with torque wrench and tty bolts were replaced and not reused

I wish, but i have no idea, i will have to check if there is anything named tty bolts in the invoice from the dearlership.

[hash4u]

i personally tell everyone to toss a over heated honda engine in dustbin (condition : - if it started to heat up and u kept on driving till the car actually died, u hv damaged it beyond repair 90% if the times)
aluminium head and all, it never gets back to its shape
any idea if they changed the car's head ?
was it over bored ?
or u never bothred and paid the bill and drove back home ?

sorry no clue of lahore......in isb, pakwheeler Rozzzz has a compression guage in his workshop

[saboor73]

In Lahore sycview (PW member) have compression tester

[saboor73]

I wish, but i have no idea, i will have to check if there is anything named tty bolts in the invoice from the dearlership.

Tty bolts are torque to yelid bolts they are used on head to tighten it with block once tty bolt are came of they become useless

[mkashifafzal]

I got it over heated, the red light was blinking with me having no idea, then the engine died, i pulled over the side, restarted and drove home filled the radiator, and drove again with family, the red light happened again, drove back home and got the pipes checked the next day. I drove another 10,000km after this incident before i took it for the overhaul, but never again let it over heat during those 10k km. (A)

And no, they did not change the head.

[usama1]

By the way Honda engines are damn reliable..i and my cousin both have 2005 idsi...164k and 206k km driven...neither they consume a single drop of oil nor we have poured a single drop of water/coolent since 2005.MashaAllah.

[hash4u]

right after the overheating incident did you get the head gasket changed?
or just fixed the hose pipes/leaks n drove another 10k km's ?

[danial0047]

Good to listen your experience. Goodluck with your engine with new life, i hope it works better.
I got city idsi 2004 324000 on the ODO still working perfectly. MASHALLAH. Never ever got it heated up or so. Honda is very reliable

[mkashifafzal]

right after the overheating incident did you get the head gasket changed?
or just fixed the hose pipes/leaks n drove another 10k km's ?

Sir I understand the basics design physics, What I believe that the overheat indicator is designed to show overheating conditions not that "gentleman your engine is smoked". It is an indicator and as a safety feature "IT SHOULD" automatically switch off the engine. So this supposed design feature in my head, and no burning smells in my nose at that time, i was not very much worried about the gaskets. I just waited for a few minutes, restarted the car, turned my heater on, fan full and started to home.

Now correct me if I am wrong, these cars do not contain temp guage so the only thing to indicate overheat is the red H indicator, and obviously no one will like to test it go on. But When overheat conditions take place in the engine, the indicator starts blinking, and withing half a minute the engine is turned off automatically to avoid burning. How about that?

[uiv]

Aslam O Alikum, I have got a 2006 City manual, and i bought it second hand in 2012. About an year after or so i noticed that the engine oil was being consumed at the rate of about half a liter in every 3000km.

The reducing engine oil was not an issue for me as the milage i got from my car was around 14 and 15km/liter (i try hypermiling), and there was indeed NO smoke from the exhaust, the only thing that troubled (and the big thing) was the response on low rpm and the need to get the spark plugs changed or cleaned every 6,000 to 10,000 km. The No. 2 (from left ) cylinder was getting the plug messy.

I read through different threads at Pakwheels and noticed that no body, and no body at all encouraged the idea of getting the idsi engine overhauled and everyone was of the opinion to get the engine swapped.

The trouble with engine swap was that there was no reliable thing available in the bilal ganj market, not reliable from the looks of it, i went through the market and the engine/assemblies available there were placed like pieces of junk, and even if they looked clean there was no guarantee that their internal condition was not worst than the engine already in my car.

You, Sir, probably spent 1lac on some bad valve seals!
What's the purpose of these web forums and motoring communities- Hypermiling?- when you'd end up getting ripped off by dealerships and greedy mechanics? Now please do not try to hypermile this little mouse of an engine anymore, or the next thing you'll need would be a complete transmission overhaul for 2lacs!

3/4th of Bilal Gunj iDSI engines are good as your overhauled one, if you know what you're looking at. And one of those would've cost you 15-18k... 25k max, including labour and all.

P.S. Get the compression tested by your dealership. They MUST have the gauge.

[mkashifafzal]

Ohooo.. hold it dear

I have like memorized some threads and thing about valve seals, but no one ever listened to me at any workshop in Lahore, they did not think it was valve seal issue. what could i do?

Threads here tell me that if there is no smoke, no smoke coming out from the dip stick orifice from a heated engine, good mileage, smooth sound then engine is fine it is just the valve seal issue, yes i remember, but no one listened to my logic.

I am going back to my original question " for how long do i know my overhaul is fine? or is it a slowly degrading thing and i will know in an year or so that the overhaul failed.

I have held this thread since the day i got my car done from the workshop, i was waiting for 3000km mark for things to turn out fine, and it did so far.

[Tabish1]

Once I Did overhaul of ALTO engine in 2012 , Car still Run w/o oil COnsuming, but I notice My Car Is slow as compare to other Non-0verhauled Alto.
P.s I sold that car last week,,

[hash4u]

If its ok with 2 engine oil changes u r good to go

If i wr u.wld hv added after market temperature gauge inside

[saboor73]

Once I Did overhaul of ALTO engine in 2012 , Car still Run w/o oil COnsuming, but I notice My Car Is slow as compare to other Non-0verhauled Alto.
P.s I sold that car last week,,

What was done in that overhaul what was changed ?

[mkashifafzal]

If its ok with 2 engine oil changes u r good to go

If i wr u.wld hv added after market temperature gauge inside

Sir by this you mean 10,000km? or do you actually mean two engine oil changes, because i would do two changes in two days. (kidding).
I have had one change after 500km, i think this is to be ignored, next oil change was advised at 5000km, but i will do at 3000, which is about to be due. the next i will do at 3000 again.
This is my total bill that includes clutch replacement and some small jobs too.