TOPIC: manufacturer warranty

2013 Honda CRV need a Vic actuator. Will the groove and pcv mode void the warranty?
Thanks

Verify first that the car is still under warranty, factory or extended; if so, determine when that will no longer be the case before making any modifications. A warranty will only be honoured on a stock vehicle.

6yr old car has to be close to exiting warranty coverage if it hasn’t already. Go straight to Honda on this, because that’s who your dealer will go to for final say.

This has never been an issue with The Groove, Todd. In order for them to make the claim The Groove voided the warranty, they would first have to admit that it DOES SOMETHING!

This, they will never do.

As to the PCV mod, the way I recommend handling that is to plug the original PCV valve with JB-Kwik and, if there's an issue with your engine, simply put a new one into the system before taking it in, that way, they can't say it was modified, and DON'T YOU TELL 'EM, EITHER!!!

Not that it could damage the engine, it's just to avoid a possible long-drawn out argument. If they want to say something about The Groove, I REALLY look forward to getting the PR from THAT debate! I would publish everything they say!

Ron

Hi Ron
For the pcv mode I plugged the intake manifold port and routed the pcv to the tube before the throttle body. Is this the normal way to mode it?
Thanks

That sounds PERFECT.... until you go into emissions testing.

All they can do is LOOK. They CANNOT TOUCH anything. This is why I recommend plugging the PCV valve and relying on the breather hose to vent the blow-by.

Good work!

Hi Ron
I live in Minnesota. We don’t have emissions testing thankfully.

`We DO have smog checks here in Reno NV. Over the years I learned to be "sneaky" about certain mods, such as the PCV cap, plug, or re-route. I advised folks here in the Forum to cap the PCV vacuum source, and do the hose re-routing, for Years..

Once again, Ron is the Smartest Guy on this mod. If ya just fill the dang PCV valve w/ epoxy and stick it back in, well, there ain't nuttin' ta see--Right?? Put in a new stock PCV valve, if ya think you need to just before the Emissions test, then swap back to the epoxied one afterwards.

Before filling w/ epoxy, clean it out w/ brake or carb. cleaner spray, let it dry or blow out w/ compressed air. IF you are Paranoid on this, PCV valves are pretty cheap, go get a new one and epoxy it. You can always spray out the original, and save it to swap in at Smog Test time, if needed.

By filling in the PCV valve, you shouldn't need to mess with any of the hoses, so it looks OK, Stock, because it STILL IS!! Like Ron says, the stock crankcase make-up air Breather hose, will provide passive ventilation/pressure relief of crankcase gasses. Should there be any issues resulting from filling in the PCV valve (unlikely in most cases), we have Remedies for those.

Tracy G

Hi Todd, I've had my camry that way for the last 2 years. However, having that secondary vent on the crankcase I thought was disturbing the airflow when instead I could just block off the PCV valve and have the breather handle all venting. Well, as of yesterday I did this. I'm not sure why, but it fixed all issues with smoothness I had before like slight thumping during idle when in park or neutral, jumpy/hesitation during hard acceleration, and it has overall improved the way the engine runs.

Now, it very well could be that the improvement was due to a possible tiny vacuum leak in the PCV hose connection that I never caught, but unlikely. I think by having all air/vacuum moving in one direction out the crankcase provides a smoother input-output phenomenon... I think of it as smoking a cig while driving. By cracking my one window closest to me, the smoke has the easiest fastest route out... if I crack both front windows, the smoke lingers around more hesitating on which way to go...

Nothing scientific here. Just a thought.

Hi Wes
Thanks for the input from all. I looked at routing my pcv before the throttle body. My Ford has quick connect hoses for vacuum breather and pcv venting. I’m going to unhook the pcv hose and put a cap on pcv and intake and I will be done without routing anything. I’ll add picks Incase anyone else has a similar setup.
Do you know where the best ecu relearn is described?
Thanks once again!!

Wes wrote: I think by having all air/vacuum moving in one direction out the crankcase provides a smoother input-output phenomenon... I think of it as smoking a cig while driving. By cracking my one window closest to me, the smoke has the easiest fastest route out... if I crack both front windows, the smoke lingers around more hesitating on which way to go...

Plus one karma for the awesome analogy!

Todd Gilbertson wrote: Hi Wes
Thanks for the input from all. I looked at routing my pcv before the throttle body. My Ford has quick connect hoses for vacuum breather and pcv venting. I’m going to unhook the pcv hose and put a cap on pcv and intake and I will be done without routing anything. I’ll add picks Incase anyone else has a similar setup.
Do you know where the best ecu relearn is described?
Thanks once again!!

lots of cars in your stable, and you're crossposting various queries for various cars in other threads...I'm a bit confuzzled, Todd-o. Pics with each of these would be amazeballs in awesomesauce, not only for others to reference, but for us to keep your goings-on a bit more straighter.

I've had my best results with letting the car sit overnight (8-12 hrs) without battery connection: any capacative charge in any of the computers will have drained, and the car will be starting from fully cold. These I believe are key points: we are forcing the computer to revert to base factory programming, and as it warms up to hot idle, it re-writes that part of the fuel map. I suspect most people get impatient and don't let their cars get up to full hot idle/closed loop before they do their conditioning drive, but the fuel delivery map depends on that - until closed loop is achieved, the computer isn't listening to the o2 sensor(s) to further tweak fuel delivery as you drive.
Computers are stupid. they only work properly when fed information within parameters they're programmed to understand. If we send them information from the sensors too close to (or beyond) or beyond their limits of understanding, they crash - in our case, thats the dreaded Check engine light/Malfunction Indicator light. we don't control the base programming of the computers in our cars, but we can influence them with sensor tweaks, and then let them learn the "new normal"
Another few tips: Don't touch the brake or gas during the initial start from cold. Those will alter -albeit slightly (or maybe more)- the depth of vacuum and the amount of fuel delivered, so you will likely taint the re-learn process. open the door, reach in and turn the key, and then give it a good 10 minutes to get to closed loop, then turn it off for a minute, and start it up again.. turn it off again for another minute, re-start, put it in gear, ease off the brake and let the car pull you without touching the gas - this is it trimming fuel delivery: when the power drops off, it will have trimmed for idle, so stop and turn it off, then restart and drive the speed ranges as recommended in the manual.
OH! I almost forgot - make sure the alternator sees a good heavy load during that first start from cold: blower fan on high with AC on and rear defroster, 4 ways flashing, wipers on high, power windows/locks moving...this forces the engine to work just enough to turn the alternator to power those things AND the computer you're trying to school. If that's the baseline you teach it, it will forever think that's "normal engine load," but you won't always start up with that all going on, so you'll be SUPER tight on fuel delivery from there forward.

keep us posted on how it goes - and nevermind what your neighbours think of you when they see you doing this.

Sorry all! I'm not versed at the posting etiquette. I thank you all for your input!