ssbond008

First off, please forgive me if I have posted in an inappropriate forum for my questions, and for my lack of knowledge. I am brand new here tonight and am trying to learn, about the site and about cars. If anyone could help me I would appreciate it very much.

I am needing my engine replaced in my 2004 Civic LX. There's not a chance of me doing it myself, so I'm going to have to have a mechanic do it. Tonight I found this site as I want to educate myself about some of these things. I'm very scared that I am going to get ripped off, and I wish I knew a lot more than I do about cars. I have to act fast, because I only have one vehicle and work 50 miles from home. I'm in a tough bind.

As I've called around shops I've gotten several quotes, and most of the engines from scrap yards I'm being told have around 100 k miles on them. One shop is telling me they have access to an engine with 25 k on it; but that would mean the car was used very little and I don't know if I should trust the information. Do I even need to concern myself with mileage, or should I look simply at the compression? With compression numbers, I don't know really what I'm looking at. What are good levels? What's the best, or max level? I have learned tonight through researching that the 4 cylinders should have close to the same compression level, with only about 15% difference between highest and lowest... is this accurate. Still, I don't know what good numbers are. Can I even rely on the scrap yards and auto shops to give me honest info about mileage and compression levels?

I thought I'd read that the max compression on the '04 Civic LX engine was something like 185? ... then I read in a thread that a replacement engine the poster was looking at had over 200, and it was also an '04 Civic LX. Can someone help me understand the levels?

Clearly I don't yet know much about cars, but I'm interested in learning. If some of your guys could give me any help with these questions I would appreciate it very much.

Thank you guys for your help and your patience.

lazlong

If the shop won't warranty both the engine and labor then walk away. They should have at least a 7 day warranty. This goes for salvage yards too.

There are several ways to go about it:

1. Have a shop find the engine and do the work. You're looking at $2000-3000.
2. Find your own engine and have a shop do the labor. $300-1000 for the engine and $1500-2000 for the labor.
3. Find one of the local Honda clubs or a fellow forum member that can swap it for you. For example: One of my local speed shops will do a swap for $300 same day service as long as you have the parts on hand. And that's a swap, yours would be child's play. Also try here: http://honda-tech.com/ Maybe you can find somebody local on there that can help you.

An LX engine (D17A1) is running as low as $300 on craigslist or as high as $1000 at the salvage yard. Also, you can look here for nationwide salvage listings: http://www.car-part.com/ They are all salvage yards and should have a warranty. If you have to have it shipped it's about $100 but, if you need it overnight that means air freight, which is about $500.

Regardless of whether it has 25K or 100K on it the engine needs a new timing belt, tensioner, and water pump. If it has 25K on it then it's sat for a long time and if it has 100K then it's past time to do the timing belt package. Also, it will cost you less if they can do it outside of the car. Usually it costs about $500 if it's in the car.

The higher the compression the less used the engine (200psi= newer, 180psi= not as new). The important thing is that the compression across the cylinders should be equal or nearly so. +/-10 percent is the high end of compression difference, if it's more than that there are headgasket issues. Also, whoever you get the engine from should have compression numbers, otherwise walk away.

Hope this helps. Post back with results.

ezone

See my reply to you in the other thread.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/7...ml#post4580630

lazlong

All good advice.