98 Civic Dx

coopertiresrac · 08-09-2009

I have a civic dx and had some heat sheild nosies so deciced to take the falling apart manifold sheild off and found a cracked manifold. So went into the office of my fathers shop and started calling around. List price is $290!!!!! So if im paying that why not some header. Heres the thing all aftermarket parts say ex only!! What does it have to do with headers will they work or does the v tec change how they are made. V tec dosent kick in till your beating the hell out of the poor little rice burner. So any kind of help would be nice.

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bluetwo · 08-09-2009

Welcome coopertiresrac.

First of all, forget about buying a new manifold or even a used one for more than 100 bucks. You should totally be able to find a used replacement for very little, though you may have to go to a junkyard. I'm a junkyard junkie though so I actually like going to fish around from time to time.

Your Civic DX doesn't have a VTEC engine unless someone upgraded it for you already. Your engine block should say D16Y7 and that should be the 107 HP 1.6 liter. In the 6th generation the Civic HX came with a VTEC E (for economy) and the Civic EX came with the 127 HP 1.6 VTEC, none of which are anything to get excited about.

Yes VTEC kicks in at high RPM's but it's hardly even noticable unless you're talking about the B18C5 from the Integra Type R or the K series engines in the newest models, and even those: unless there's a turbo or supercharger involved it's kind of underwhelming.

Any hype you might have heard about Honda's having fast engines.... forget about it.

coopertiresrac · 08-09-2009

I know i dont have a v tec what im asking is will ex headers work on a dx they are the same im just wondering will i loss what little performance my civic allready has lol.

sql_civic · 08-09-2009

This has nothing to do with VTEC. The EX has a different exhaust setup than the DX.

Yes EX headers will work on the DX motor but here's the problem. The DX motor has the catalytic converter built into the exhaust header the EX does not. The EX has a separate catalytic converter located underneath the car and is bolted to the end header. The next problem is that the secondary O2 sensor is located on the DX header after the cat while the secondary O2 sensor for the EX is located after the cat but it's under the car.

So if you want to use an EX header have to buy a cat and extend the wires to the new location of the secondary O2 sensor. You'll also have to have a muffler shop cut your existing exhaust to make room for the cat to be installed between the end of the header and the rest of the exhaust.

My recommendation is to have your cracked header welded for about $50.