dave343

I'm looking to get a 1996 Civic Si with the JDM D15B engine, but since the car has high mileage, I wanted to find out what if any common issues they have. The car currently has over 400'000KM on it... but, apparently the engine has far less km as the JDM D15B was dropped in more recently. (I'm guessing it never came with that model of engine) The seller mentioned it's his daily driver right now. The engine bay looks clean, along with the rest of the car, and I just need it to get me from work and home. 50km round trip. Asking is $500.
Before it's mentioned, I know I can't expect much from a $500 car, with 400k km but if I can squeeze a year out of the car I'll be more then happy. (btw the seller seems forth coming with the work that he's put into it)
Currently my main car is a 2007 Montana Van, which I recently purchased used too for $3000 and dropped another $4500 into it. (Has 120'000km.) Problem with the van is it has a 3.9L extremely non-efficient engine which is costing me $15+/Day in gas. About $80-90/week, and thats just to get me to work. If the wife drives... $120+.

I have had a few buddies that buy used/auction honda's for a few hundred and drive them for a year, sometimes more and do nothing to the car. That's basically what I'm hoping for. Oil changes, brakes, etc I know that needs to be done.

So are these cars pretty reliable, and what if anything would be most common to look out for? Thanks in advance. Oh and btw the car is manual A sigh of relief as I hate driving the family van.

RIPSAW

Test it out. Drive it 50 miles. If it makes it, it may go a year for $500. I would make sure the fluids are correct level as you go but with that mileage, maintenance would be of little concern to me.

dave343

I picked up the civic tonight and for what it is, and the cost it actually drives pretty nice. There are 2 immediate issues however that I'd like to tackle. First is that the car pulls to the left. 2nd issue is that the gas pedal is fairly stiff. Works good, but you definately need some force to press down.
The guy I bought it off was very open about any issues, and what work he's put into it. It was recently taken on a cross country trip. He had a list, which I'm trying to find, but he gave me a list of the stuff he's changed over the last 2 years. Bearings, Ball joints, Sway bar links etc... He bought new tires which I can tell this summer before his trip, and at the time he did an allignment.I'd have to post the list, but from what was changed, and the fact an allignment was done, I'm puzzled why the call would pull. I know a little, but I'm no mechanic so if anyone has any idea's it'd be much appreciated.
Thanks,

ezone

I'd guess it needs a throttle cable for the stiff gas pedal.


Swap the front tires side to side and see if the pull goes the opposite way.

dave343

Got the car back from my mechanic, thankfully the front end is tight and all it needed was breaks, which resolved the vibration. Stiff pedal was also fixed.
I do have a few questions about the Engine and ECU hopefully you all can help me out with , thanks in advance. I don't know much about cars, but this car seems like a good starting place, so hopefully I can learn a lot working on it.

Also, the guy I bought it from said it passed emissions last year for him, but failed this year. He mentioned it might have failed because he was running advanced timing with high-octane 94, as well he was using different spark plugs and recommended I change them. My mechanic checked everything out and the car is sound... so if I take the car and it fails... is there anything I should be checking off the bat? Muffler/ Cat Converter is 10/10, Oil change was done, and I'm using regular gas. In Ontario, Canada the new emission test just hooks up to the ECU and checks for sensor errors or check engine light but it's only good on new cars, if you have a 1997 or older car, they still hook up to your tail pipe.

The engine, I was told is a JDM D15B Vtec. In this first pic is this the right number to verifiy I have the JDM engine?



As for the ECU, it looks like it's stock, and checking the screws and plastic tabs it seems as if noone has ever messed with it. From what I've been reading, if I do infact have the JDM D15B I should be running a P08 or P28 Chip/ECU? Correct me if I'm wrong. Would I benefit at all from flashing the stock EUC with custom .bin, can I even? And or, would it be worth it to replace the current EUC with one more appropriate for the engine?

ezone

Said.

So it failed testing but he has no clue what the exact failure was, in black and white?

Got any test results that tell what failed?

Has the timing been set back to spec and still failed the test?


That's a D15B block as stamped. You tell us if it's got VTEC on it.

Google/Wiki D15B for more info.


That ECM appears to be stock for the car.


It's anyones guess if the JDM ECM will pass emissions testing or not.
I've heard they can run richer in some other markets due to less stringent emissions regs, but IDK.

Another difference might be that the original ECM will look for an oil pressure switch on the VTEC when it engages, but the JDM unit may not. (I've seen this on JDM D17x engines posted in this forum)


I don't deal with emissions testing or failures myself, we don't have testing in my area.

Stock 99

You might want to give this a read......

http://redliners.ca/forums/showthrea...ive-clean-chat