Travisf1590

I have two options the car has 246000 miles, I can get a refurbished head with a warranty for a year or get a used motor that has a 3 month warranty with 108,000 miles do you think if I put a new head on my motor it will last ? Or should I get the motor it's a 100 mile drive and he wants 800 for it

drhawkinz

What's the current condition of the existing motor? Are you having problems, burning oil, or is it running fine?

With mileage that high I would imagine the piston rings are starting to stick. Replacing the head and still having stuck piston rings, you'll still have compression loss and most likely burning oil. If you take the head off then you can theoretically replace the piston rings at the same time while taking the bottom half of the engine apart and taking the pistons out. So just replacing the head and head gasket might not be enough if you're looking to rebuild your existing engine.

With a slightly used engine you could possibly get another 150-200K out of it without having to do a lot of internal work. But that depends on the condition of the used engine of course. You don't know the service history, oil change interval, etc. If possible I'd try to get some compression numbers for both wet and dry tests. That would give you some idea of the internals of the engine. But if it's for sale then it's probably out of the car. At 108K it's recommended to replace the timing belt, was that done by any chance?

Would you be rebuilding/installing the engine or having a shop do it?

Travisf1590

The guy doesn't know of the timing belt has been changed or not the motor in my car was leaking oil but not burning oil I already have the head off so I could put rings in it I have rebuild a few motors and I can't imagine it being to change rings

ezone

If you already have it apart and you know what you're doing, I think it would be pretty easy to just put a set of rings in it and go another 200k+.....if the rest of the car holds up

(In the rust belt you gotta mile them out before they rot away to nothing)

Travisf1590

(In the rust belt you gotta mile them out before they rot away to nothing)[/QUOTE]


The car come from Virgina a year ago so it's seen one winter in PA it's in pretty good shape besides some dings here and there

Travisf1590

I found a motor 131,000 miles for 550 I figured that would be the best bet VA replacing the head and everything my question is when I pull the motor do I need to pull the motor and trans or can I separate it first and pull the motor I already have it down to pretty much the block any advice or a link to another form would be great thanks

ezone

I guess it depends on the situation and your equipment.

With automatic trans it needs about an inch of room to clear the flexplate and stuff in the bellhousing area....some people might remove the crank pulley and take the engine out the top. (don't screw up that big AC pipe that runs over the engine)

A manual trans requires a whole lot more room to get the engine and trans separated, one might pull the trans away from the block then yank the engine out the top...

Or I might drop the entire drivetrain out the bottom as a unit then separate the engine and trans on my hydraulic table.

Travisf1590

Alright so another question I have a friend with a vtec motor from an 03 that he will give me could I put that in my car since its a no vtec and just not hook up the vtec solenoid ? Would it run okay idc if I have vtec or not it's not that big of an increase in power to really worry about

ezone

AFAIK people have done that swap and it runs fine........ then later on you could get a standalone controller to run the VTEC or connect it to a toggle switch for full manual control LOL

Travisf1590

What's AFAIK? and would it matter on the years it's a 03 motor and my car is an 04? Would that matter

drhawkinz

I know the 04,05 have different O2 sensors/system and the ECM is different between the 03 and 04 but I'm not sure if that makes a difference when swapping the motor. I wouldn't think it would, but if you're going from a 04 non v-tec to an 03 v-tech it might be an issue.

Travisf1590

Well from everything I read it should matter if it's a vtec as long as I leave it unhooked it will act like it was never there

jdmshawn

jdmshawn

Travisf1590

So would that be pretty much the same as swapping a d17a2 for my d17a1 ? It's an automatic transmission it should bolt right up

jdmshawn

Yes it will get you a JDM d17a with SLXA auto transmission off ebay for about 7-800 shipped to you cannot go wrong with that at all.

ezone

LOL click this link: http://bfy.tw/4Z7i


You're really only swapping to get a good block and head, you can swap all the manifolds and EGR and other stuff if they don't match exactly.

And what Hawkinz says here too:
Use the O2 sensors and exhaust manifold/cat from your original engine.

Compression in the VTEC engine is a little higher too.
Aluminum oil pan on the VTEC engine may or may not work right, I think the dude posting videos has one where he figured that part out and has some info about it
Correct AFAIK.

Travisf1590

So the egr system may be different ? I know exhaust manifold is I was out looking at the motor today

ezone

Some engines are equipped with EGR, some are not.


EGR is not in the exhaust manifold.

Travisf1590

I know it's not but I didn't know some Honda motor didn't have EGR systems I thought all motors did

ezone

Oh ok LOL. Yeah some have it, some don't.
I don't bother to remember which versions do or don't, I only pay attention when there are problems.

Travisf1590

Alright well I guess I'll find that out soon should have the engine by the weekend hopefully

7TH Gen JDM

I told my nephew we should take off the crank pulley! He said "Nooo. It'll come out." And that's with the A/C compressor & lines, Power steering lines, throttle body & cables still on the car.
It came out, about had to stand it on end. dropping the trans below the sub frame to get it out. Had an inch clearance total.
When it came time to drop the new motor in, he's nowhere to be found! Had to do it myself. And Heck! I don't know anything except what I see on You Tube!
But I did it. Took a while and a half! After it's in I'm hooking up this-n-that and wonder "Where's the power steering reservoir bracket?" He'd taken that off and didn't tell me. Had to take the power steering pump back off to get that 10mm bolt in.
I wished I'd taken it out the bottom!
So, you're supposed to get it aligned after removing the sub frame? I just spray the head of the bolt and surrounding sub frame with white paint and put it back exactly where it was.
I've done them both ways, and for me in the future if it's automatic it's going out and back in from the bottom! Engines with manual trans come out of the top OK.

ezone

Sounds like you won't need to. I just set up the two guide bolts and it's usually fine when I'm done.

If the steering wheel ends up crooked while driving straight, then I'd say align it.

Travisf1590

got the motor in changed timing belt water pump and everything when it was out got the oil in it and the coolant and started right up now to remember how all the belt driven accs go on also im having trouble with my air filter box fitting on this motor does anyone know if its any different from 03 to 04 or different from the non vetec to a vetec motor ? i dont have much to go hoping to finish it tonight after work

ezone

AFAIK they are all the same. Loosen the clamp, turn and reinstall the rubber sleeve into the correct position (you may need to spend a few minutes to figure this out LOL) before trying to shove it onto the throttle body, and it seems to help if you lube up the rubber with a little gasoline or carb&throttle cleaner first.
The bolts and holes on the passengers side should be self explanatory.