What is this weird stopper thing in the floor?

1308 Views 42 Replies 3 Participants Last post by skylize, 28 d ago

skylize

Discussion Starter · 1 mo ago

4

Working on fixing a hole in the floor, beneath my glove box. The piece I am repairing has a roughly 2 inch intentional hole that was plugged up by a piece of black plastic with a stiff white gasket around it, which I will refer to as simply "the stopper" until someone can give me a more accurate name for it.

The gasket on the stopper is quite warped now, and I expect I will not be able to reuse it. I tried digging through diagrams on Honda parts websites, but can't find anything that looks even vaguely like a match for the stopper or its gasket. Assuming this is actually an Accord/Crosstour part, what is the purpose of this hole and the stopper, and what is the name and part number to replace it?

This same spot in the floor has clearly been patched up before. So I could certainly imagine the patch came from some entirely different car model, and just brought this stopper along with it. So, "that's definitely not from a Crosstour" would certainly still be a helpful answer. In that case, I can just patch over where the stopper was, and move on without worry. (Though I would still be curious about what's its purpose is, if anyone can guess where the patch came from.)

Images show:
1. The hole in the floor and the passenger door speaker for perspective, with the stopper (hard to see) sitting where it would be installed.
2. Close-up of the stopper sitting where it would be installed. (I might have the stopper facing backward? I removed it in the dark while quickly hammering the damaged floor down enough to at least cover the hole with the carpet.)
3. The hole the stopper would fill, with the stopper removed.
4. The opposite side of the stopper.

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Ang

· #21 · 29 d ago

skylize said:
What is "i4"?

Inline 4 aka 4 cylinder engine. The i4 model only comes in FWD, mine is a V6 with the optional 4WD.

skylize

Discussion Starter · #22 · 29 d ago

skylize said:
What is "i4"?

Okay, a bit of deductive reasoning makes me think this is about being a 4 cylinder. But what does the "i" in that mean?.

(Edit: posted this before your reply came through.)

Ang

· #23 · 29 d ago (Edited)

skylize said:
Okay, a bit of deductive reasoning makes me think this is about being a 4 cylinder. But what does the "i" in that mean?.

(Edit: posted this before your reply came through.)

It means inline. Your engine is 4 cylinders in a line, it's not a v shape such as my V6. Making a v4 would be more complicated and expensive in manufacturing and repairs, and is never done in cars. V6 is sometimes made as an i6, but it's not to common likely because of them being long to fit in some engine bays.

skylize

Discussion Starter · #24 · 29 d ago

Ang said:
I mean inline.

Yep. Got that from your earlier reply. That's why added the "(Edit: ...)" to my post.

Ang said:
Making a v4 would be more complicated and expensive in manufacturing and repairs, and is never done in cars.

Would there be any benefit to using a V shape for a 4 cylinder? Somehow, it sounds silly to even suggest a V4.

Ang

· #25 · 29 d ago

skylize said:
Yep. Got that from your earlier reply. That's why added the "(Edit: ...)" to my post.

Would there be any benefit to using a V shape for a 4 cylinder? Somehow, it sounds silly to even suggest a V4.

Not that I can think of. It just makes everything more expensive to make and repair. Two valve covers, two valve cover gaskets to leak e.t.c

Packernan120203

· #26 · 28 d ago

skylize said:
Having trouble squaring up your picture with reality of the underside of my car. What spot(s) would you feel comfortable lifting from here?

Yellow: Front edge of the spare tire rack (for reference).

Blue: Pretty sure I can reach here fairly cleanly from behind the left tire, by carefully aligning parallel to the exhaust pipe that would otherwise be in the way (the same way the blue arrow is pointing). But the stability looks a bit questionable without knowing more about how it's built and connected. When you talk about the bad idea of lifting "from the rear differential", are you referring to this stretch of steel?

Green: I can get here either from the back or behind the left tire. There's no space to properly lift the jack's lever to pump it. But if I'm willing to spend a while doing a ton of micropumps to get it off the ground, I think it should be manageable.

Purple: Unbearably curious wtf is this seemingly random bit of steel shaped like a hose nozzle supposed to be for.

Lift from the blue arrow but slide the jack from the rear of the car, like how i have in my picture, your purple arrow looks like an unused exhaust hanger

Packernan120203

· #27 · 28 d ago

Ang said:
I didn't notice that your crosstour is an i4 FWD, So the back is very different from mine. I honestly would not lift the car from either of your two points shown (Blue Or Green), but being it looks like a rear subframe, it's likely strong enough to handle it. To get it high enough to go on a jack stand, I wouldn't trust it to be stable enough. I find center jacking sketchy even if it's done on a jack point, but maybe my skinny jack just sucks too, who knows. The back of mine is very different as ifs a 4WD model, if I had no choice but to lift it from the back due to some major problem, I would probably lift it by the Rear differential, though I'd still need to talk to other people about that to determine if it would damage the vehicle in any way. It's stupid that they didn't stick on some kind of rear jack point/tow loop like the accords have.

View attachment 10228

Right behind the rear diff, that piece of the frame coming down, is where mine is lifted from, absolutely dont lift from the diff, its aluminum and it wont be good for it.

skylize

Discussion Starter · #28 · 28 d ago

Packernan120203 said:
Lift from the blue arrow but slide the jack from the rear of the car

Not possible. The top of the exhaust pipe is aligned with that beam, i.e. most of the pipe extends below the lift point. Considering that, the proximity of the pipe is much too close. The pipe would be almost completely crushed before making solid contact with the subframe. (If I somehow already had the car lifted pretty high, I probably would have no problem sliding in from the back to use the jack as an extra stand, but that's definitely not the issue here.)

Only way to lift from that spot is to come in at an angle from the side, as shown by the direction I drew the blue arrow. Even then, I need to do some wiggling around as the jack height approaches contact, to avoid catching the side of the jack on the pipe.

Packernan120203

· #29 · 28 d ago

2

skylize said:
Not possible. The top of the exhaust pipe is aligned with that beam, i.e. most of the pipe extends below the lift point. Considering that, the proximity of the pipe is much too close. The pipe would be almost completely crushed before making solid contact with the subframe. (If I somehow already had the car lifted pretty high, I probably would have no problem sliding in from the back to use the jack as an extra stand, but that's definitely not the issue here.)

Only way to lift from that spot is to come in at an angle from the side, as shown by the direction I drew the blue arrow. Even then, I need to do some wiggling around as the jack height approaches contact, to avoid catching the side of the jack on the pipe.

Theres no way your jack would have trouble reaching it like that and if it somehow does, the surface youre lifting from is flat enough to use a piece of 2x4.

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skylize

Discussion Starter · #30 · 28 d ago

Packernan120203 said:
your purple arrow looks like an unused exhaust hanger

Thanks. Sounds like an excellent guess, especially considering the existence of products that look like this one. (Sold on Walmart's website as an "Exhaust System Hanger).

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skylize

Discussion Starter · #31 · 28 d ago

Packernan120203 said:
Theres no way your jack would have trouble reaching it like that

I stuck the jack in from several angles attempting to make contact with the Blue and Green points (but without actually lifting) before I even posted that photo. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that it absolutely will not reach unassisted from the back without crushing the exhaust pipe.

Packernan120203 said:
and if it somehow does, the surface youre lifting from is flat enough to use a piece of 2x4.

A 2x4 would not help here, but a 4x4 might work. 🤔
Edit: Maybe a 2x4 would be barely enough? But I doubt it.

Packernan120203

· #32 · 28 d ago

skylize said:
I stuck the jack in from several angles attempting to make contact with the Blue and Green points (but without actually lifting) before I even posted that photo. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that it absolutely will not reach unassisted from the back without crushing the exhaust pipe.

How low is the exhaust then? Cause mine, although out of the way of that point, is tucked up there pretty good
I actually forgot I took this video of me putting in the sway bar so here's a screenshot of where I had it lifted from.

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Ang

· #33 · 28 d ago

skylize said:
I stuck the jack in from several angles attempting to make contact with the Blue and Green points (but without actually lifting) before I even posted that photo. And I can tell you with 100% certainty that it absolutely will not reach unassisted from the back without crushing the exhaust pipe.

A 2x4 would not help here, but a 4x4 might work. 🤔
Edit: Maybe a 2x4 would be barely enough? But I doubt it.

I have some shitty big red jack, it has a like 4" extension bar that would help you reach a spot like that around the exhaust.

skylize

Discussion Starter · #34 · 28 d ago

2

Packernan120203 said:
How low is the exhaust then? Cause mine, although out of the way of that point, is tucked up there pretty good

Mine has a fake dual exhaust. A single exhaust pipe runs a few inches right of center. It splits underneath the beam you are proposing to lift from. The left pipe initially runs parallel to that subframe beam, just barely (maybe not even quite) behind the beam, about 2" below the beam, and maybe 5" or so in front of the tire rack. Then the pipe cuts about 15° backward, which is where I get the space to bring the jack in from behind the left wheel, at that same 15° angle.

I don't have the nice big open gap between the left and right exhaust pipes like your real dual exhaust has.

Blue and purple arrows each pointing to the same spot on both images:

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Packernan120203

· #35 · 28 d ago

skylize said:
Mine has a fake dual exhaust. A single exhaust pipe runs a few inches right of center. It splits underneath the beam you are proposing to lift from. The left pipe initially runs parallel to that subframe beam, just barely (maybe not even quite) behind the beam, about 2" below the beam, and maybe 5" or so in front of the tire rack. Then the pipe cuts about 15° backward, which is where I get the space to bring the jack in from behind the left wheel, at that same 15° angle.

I don't have the nice big open gap between the left and right exhaust pipes like your real dual exhaust has.

Blue and purple arrows each pointing to the same spot on both images:
View attachment 10235 View attachment 10234

I would think the exhaust should have enough movement with a jack just pushing it out of the way, I doubt it would crush it, especially with a piece of wood on it for more clearance. Exhausts are supposed to move around a little bit, thats what the hangers are for. You could probably push it around a bit yourself

And even our “real” duals still come from a single flex pipe and splits right in the middle of the car, i feel like i send this picture a lot but its a very good insight

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Ang

· #36 · 28 d ago

skylize said:
Mine has a fake dual exhaust. A single exhaust pipe runs a few inches right of center. It splits underneath the beam you are proposing to lift from. The left pipe initially runs parallel to that subframe beam, just barely (maybe not even quite) behind the beam, about 2" below the beam, and maybe 5" or so in front of the tire rack. Then the pipe cuts about 15° backward, which is where I get the space to bring the jack in from behind the left wheel, at that same 15° angle.

I don't have the nice big open gap between the left and right exhaust pipes like your real dual exhaust has.

Blue and purple arrows each pointing to the same spot on both images:
View attachment 10235 View attachment 10234

The i4 accord has 1 exhaust tip, the crosstour got a fake second one to look more premium, the V6 has the real dual exhaust. Honestly you just shouldn't really be jacking from there. Buy some ramps.

Ang

· #37 · 28 d ago

Packernan120203 said:
I would think the exhaust should have enough movement with a jack just pushing it out of the way, I doubt it would crush it, especially with a piece of wood on it for more clearance. Exhausts are supposed to move around a little bit, thats what the hangers are for. You could probably push it around a bit yourself

And even our “real” duals still come from a single flex pipe and splits right in the middle of the car, i feel like i send this picture a lot but its a very good insight
View attachment 10236

They are vibration dampers, they are not for pushing the exhaust around. It's not a jacking point, you really should just be using ramps for the back.

skylize

Discussion Starter · #38 · 28 d ago

Sorry if this reads as if I am angry or fighting with you. I am only trying to explain my viewpoint in some detail.

Packernan120203 said:
And even our “real” duals still come from a single flex pipe and splits right in the middle of the car

I wasn't trying to make any claims or implications that dual exhaust somehow means there is no pipe split somewhere. I was just pointing out that the design of the fake dual puts the split almost exactly where you want me to lift from, while the real dual has a big gap there between 2 already separated pipes. Makes for a totally different situation in this context.

Packernan120203 said:
I would think the exhaust should have enough movement with a jack just pushing it out of the way ... You could probably push it around a bit yourself

It really does not move around at all. I'll have to look closer sometime at how it's kept in place.

If the pipe doesn't simply force the top of the jack past the contact point and up into squishy parts of the car, and if I am lucky enough that the pipe doesn't crush, then I predict it still puts a nice big dent in the pipe before snapping whatever is keeping the the pipe stable.

I can imagine there is likely some easy-ish way to disconnect the pipe so it can move around freely as you suggest. But how would you propose disconnecting it before I lift the car to get a good view of any mount points?

Maybe I can get my hands on a nice piece of 4x6 to use as an extension. Maybe I'll decide to shell out for the $69 crossbeam extension from Harbor Freight if it adds enough height. Maybe I can come in from the side, as I proposed previously but neither of you seem to support. Maybe I can come in from the back to the more forward point (marked green in my original photo) and just spend several minutes micro-pumping the lever.

But at present, I am definitely not going to push a bare jack in from the back to try lifting at the point you suggest, no matter how well it works on your model.

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skylize

Discussion Starter · #39 · 28 d ago

Ang said:
Honestly you just shouldn't really be jacking from there.

I hear you... but I'm probably going to ignore you. 😉

Ang

· #40 · 28 d ago

skylize said:
Sorry if this reads as if I am angry or fighting with you. I am only trying to explain my viewpoint in some detail.

I wasn't trying to make any claims or implications that dual exhaust somehow means there is no pipe split somewhere. I was just pointing out that the design of the fake dual puts the split almost exactly where you want me to lift from, while the real dual has a big gap there between 2 already separated pipes. Makes for a totally different situation in this context.

It really does not move around at all. I'll have to look closer sometime at how it's kept in place.

If the pipe doesn't simply force the top of the jack past the contact point and up into squishy parts of the car, and if I am lucky enough that the pipe doesn't crush, then I predict it still puts a nice big dent in the pipe before snapping whatever is keeping the the pipe stable.

I can imagine there is likely some easy-ish way to disconnect the pipe so it can move around freely as you suggest. But how would you propose disconnecting it before I lift the car to get a good view of any mount points?

Maybe I can get my hands on a nice piece of 4x6 to use as an extension. Maybe I'll decide to shell out for the $69 crossbeam extension from Harbor Freight if it adds enough height. Maybe I can come in from the side, as I proposed previously but neither of you seem to support. Maybe I can come in from the back to the more forward point (marked green in my original photo) and just spend several minutes micro-pumping the lever.

But at present, I am definitely not going to push a bare jack in from the back to try lifting at the point you suggest, no matter how well it works on your model.

I definitely wouldn't recommend lifting the back center of the vehicle from the side, that's just another unsafe option. We already know how unsafe options goes where you end up going through the floor. I will never try jacking the car from that point but if you want to try then I would only suggest doing it from the back in the middle for the most stability. Obviously you would only use that to put it onto jack stands and not to keep the car lifted so you can work under it. If you take the exhaust off of the multiple mounting hooks then it's possible to move it around a little bit but you can't flex it too far.

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