Trusted Mechanic San Diego Area

[I am the Liquor]

Hi, Everyone

I need some help finding a trusted Honda mechanic for my Gs-R in the San Diego area. My car began running lean a few months ago after I had my half shaft bolts rattle out on the freeway. Pretty gnarly but I was able to limp it into my work parking lot where it sat for a few days before I could get a tow truck. After remounting the half shaft and torquing the bolts properly I started the car up and began driving it again. I have a AEM AFR gauge and noticed the readings would bounce between 16.5ish to 10ish at cold idle. And then it would calm down when it was warm but still has large variations under throttle. This was a new development as it had never done this before the half shaft incident. I didn’t think much of it right away, I assumed maybe the wiring got torn when the axle popped out and we didn't catch it. Well I had smog due so I took it in and the test showed ridiculous high N0x. Well shit, so I replaced both 02 sensors because they were both seized in the cat. Still wonky AFR. Found what looked like a tiny crack in the OEM exhaust manifold, replaced that. The rubber oem intake hose had a tiny tear might as well replace that. Figured the injectors were old so I got those serviced. Replaced the fuel pump, strainer and filter plus we added a fuel pressure gauge. Found a crack in the thermal gasket on the intake, replaced that. Replaced all the vacuum hoses with silicone. Verified the charcoal canister was mounted properly and replaced the O-Ring. When the motor was rebuilt about two years ago, they painted the block without my consent which really pissed me off. That paint ended up insulating the thermostat ground(whatever wire uses that as a negative) super high resistance from that wire to negative. Scraped off the paint and the resistance went away. Tried a different distributor, plug wires, spark plugs, checked timing, valve lash. Verified the timing belt was tight and didn't skip a tooth. Tested the IACV to make sure it was working as intended. Checked the tps and the majority of the sensors near there ( cant remember off the top of my head). Verified there was no break or abnormally high resistance in the primary o2 sensor and heater circuit. Tried a different ECU. Checked connections to negative as well as positive. Checked compression, getting about 160 (+- )5 on each cylinder. We may have done more but Its been a hassle and I suffer from CRS (cant remember shit). I have exhausted my know how and trouble shooting capabilities and we have found several high priority issues that made no difference. Sorry for the novel, just trying to emphasis the need for a skilled mechanic that doesn’t just do brakes. Need a deep dive diagnosis on this one.
So I figured who else cares about their integra’s as much as I do? The Type R community of course! So I have come to ask if any of you guys have any good recommendations for mechanics/tuners in the San Diego area that can help me with my lean running b18c1. I wanted to take my car to SportCarMotion but they seem to have closed. I am leaning toward Kearny Mesa Acura because they seemed pretty enthusiastic about helping me out. Thanks in advance.

[Outrun]

There's an independent shop near Kearny Mesa Acura on the other side of State Route 163. They sponsor a few SCCA Solo2 Hondas and a bunch of San Diego NSX owners use that shop. It's called Greenlight Autocare. I used them once to remove a seized O2 sensor and replace a radiator in my 1994 Civic back in 2014.
http://www.greenlightautocare.com/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/greenlight-auto-care-san-diego



Another good shop is Trumotive. They are located in Temecula. The owner, Em Tran, owns a 1998 ITR.
https://www.trumotive.net/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/trumotive-murrieta

[coolhandluke]

There's an independent shop near Kearny Mesa Acura on the other side of State Route 163. They sponsor a few SCCA Solo2 Hondas and a bunch of San Diego NSX owners use that shop. It's called Greenlight Autocare. I used them once to remove a seized O2 sensor and replace a radiator in my 1994 Civic back in 2014.
http://www.greenlightautocare.com/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/greenlight-auto-care-san-diego



Another good shop is Trumotive. They are located in Temecula. The owner, Em Tran, owns a 1998 ITR.
https://www.trumotive.net/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/trumotive-murrieta

Thank you for chiming in with your personal experiences.

[I am the Liquor]

Thanks dude, I'm actually right around the corner from greenlight. They didn’t pop up in my google search but I have actually been next door to that place a long time ago and I remember seeing NSX’s outside. Can’t believe I forgot about them. Will give them a call.

[Outrun]

Greenlight helped get my Civic ready before my drive from Cali to Wisconsin for Expo 14 at Road America. They removed a seized O2 sensor and replaced the stock header with a DC 4-1 header and installed a Koyo radiator to replace my leaking stock radiator. Car was perfect going to and from Wisconsin. I think some CV boots were replaced but this was way back in 2014 and I also suffer from CRS. Jerry, the owner, is a cool dude.

Trumotive replaced my D16A with bad compression with a good used D16Z6 in my 1994 Civic coupe back in late 2018. I've gotten alignments there as well.

[Dave7CDMTYPER]

Let us know what you find out OP. I'd be curious.

Are your axles/halfshafts in good shape, considering they came loose?

[I am the Liquor]

Finally got some time to drop the gsr off at greenlight this morning. After having a short conversation with the mechanic about what Ive tried and procuring my smog test results; he came to the conclusion that when I had my seized o2 sensors removed and new bungs brazed in, the primary o2 sensor now sits to far out of the exhaust stream to get a correct reading. So now the plan is to decide whether I try a new CARB cat or try to get someone to fix the messed up bung. I will update when I get this cat sorted and if that has been the issue.

[Dave7CDMTYPER]

In my experience, if an O2 sensor is further away from the exhaust (such as an elbow extension or w/e), then it will read ok because the ecu senses clean Air.

[I am the Liquor]

Yeah i feel like ive read about people doing that for whatever reason. Im just out of ideas. The mechanic also doesnt trust my aem afr gauge. It is post cat but it read normal numbers before this issue started. So Im gonna move the afr sensor to pre cat along with what he recommended.

[I am the Liquor]

Just alittle update, I replaced the cat and the car runs alot smoother but im still failing NO at 15mph. Everything else is below average but NO at 15 is around 1000 which is huge. Gonna try to get some measurements of o2 sensor depths this weekend maybe next.