5.0Thunder

Been mulling over the options to decide how I want to handle the inevitable gasket repair on wife's 01 EX.

I have a buddy at a dealership that can do the gasket for $400+ parts (gaskets and fluids) which is reasonable. He said usually customers opt to swap a JDM replacement in instead since we have a lot of JDM engine importers in Houston.

The JDM replacements are $500 and include entire engine, coils, accessories, flywheel, and a few other odds and ends. I'd replace the clutch for $150 while it's apart, then he'd charge $300 labor on that job. They test compression but as we know with these engines, that doesn't mean the head gasket is good. Apparently the JDM engines are much better kept and extremely unlikely to be failed.

Basically, I can have the head gasket fixed on my 150k mile engine for ~$600 (guaranteed to run and fix my current issue) or have a 40k mile engine with new clutch installed for ~$1000. Both jobs will be warrantied by the dealership.

The car is probably worth $2500-3000 if head gasket is fixed with current engine/mileage. Swapping the JDM Engine probably won't increase the value of the car.

What are your opinions? With the prices he's quoting me for the dealership to work on it, I feel it's probably worth it to pay them. I normally do all my engine building and modifying on my own but $300-400 for all that work seems like a great deal.

mikey1

personally i would fix what you have,

you know how your engine has been treated

RIPSAW

Is a JDM a Japan engine from a junked car in Japan or something to do with some type of regulation there that requires them to pull them? Good luck on truly knowing the engine truly has 40K. At 150K, that is a lot of miles to me but I give them off to kids at 100K but take care of them for the kids.

ezone

I'd normally agree, but maybe OP already knows his engine has been rode hard and put away wet....

My source has said it's because of taxes. Tax increases as the car gets older, after some point it makes economic sense to purchase a much newer car.
Old car goes to salvage/recycle yard at some point, just like here.
I'd expect all lies from any seller.
Wait, it can't be a lie if they have no idea what the truth is

The engines are shipped from Japan dozens at a time to the US, in either a 20' or 40' cargo container.
The shops here have absolutely no clue how old any individual engine is unless the parts received are actually labeled.



http://www.autojapan.net/

http://www.japanusedautoparts.com/

RIPSAW

No pun intended! probably wet for sure?
I believe I agree on mikey unless they give you a warranty on the JDM especially if your engine was running strong before the headgasket and you did not overheat it or run it with the oil pan full of water. Either can do a lot of damage on these engine by warping everything and floating the oil above the pick up. Water is a sorry lubricant.

5.0Thunder

It has been pretty good until this gasket, and it still runs fine with no intermixing of liquids but it needs to be fixed one way or another.

I've heard that regulations on older vehicles keeps people from using cars for a long time like we do here and also that they have higher standards in terms of engine condition for inspections. I'm under the impression that most JDM engines are going to be in great condition, almost definitely.


The dealership will warranty the swap so either way, it's warrantied.

The basic issue is whether to spend 600 and keep a 150k engine or spend 1000 on a lesser known 40-50k engine and clutch, then have a bunch of used spares like coils, alt, manifolds, PS pump, etc., knowing that in the end, the value of the car doesn't really increase. As a buyer, I'm skeptical of high mileage cars with swapped engines.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

Always a bet, unfortunately...

Me, I seen to have stuck oil rings, still wondering if I just get a scrapyard engine, refresh it, install in the car and then start prepping the engine that is out of the car?

Wankenstein

Any compression loss?

I'm looking at a '95 Civic EX with a JDM B20B swap and the seller showed me paperwork from the place he purchased it from that guarantees (whatever that means) the engine is between 55-60k miles. He asked them about the process and was told that Japan has very high emissions standards and it's cheaper to purchase a new car every few years rather than get fined with older engine emissions...sounds plausible.

JDM Myth: http://www.superstreetonline.com/how...ed-jdm-motors/

Judging by this: http://jdmorlandoinc.com/warranty/
The only thing that's guaranteed is a slim chance of refund..Lol

5.0Thunder

The JDM myth seems to agree with what Ezone and I have heard. I'm very tempted to at least go check this importers engines out. I can check plugs, oil, and use a USB bore-camera connected to my laptop to check anything hard to access (bottom end, cylinders, valvetrain). I'd almost be willing to keep the car in the family for a while if it's legit.

ezone

I wonder if you guys realize how many threads/posts have been deleted and users banned because they were SPAMming for places that sell the JDM takeouts....

RIPSAW

So it's OK to talk about such, just no web sites to them?

5.0Thunder

Yeah, what's the scoop? Nothing wrong with using them if we aren't peddling their stuff right?

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

the risk is there's a lot of people that thinks JDM engines are the "rave" and so lots of people sees a bunch of sitting ducks, so be careful on looking for "JDM" engines...

tons of scammers there. And the JDM engine for 7th gen is not that good anyway?

ezone

I'm not considering this thread to be spamming for a particular company at all, I was just reading and it reminded me of less than reputable people trying to get peoples hard earned money.

A short while back there was a whole bunch of handles created for the sole purpose of spamming for one particular "company" who must've been using a dozen different websites.

Wankenstein

Sounds comparable to used car buying on craigslist. A lot of small-time dealers and "wholesalers" selling under Owners section. Seems to be few legitimate private sellers that have a decent length of ownership with the car they're selling. The wholesalers and dealers buy junk from auction and dealer trade-ins and have no history or concern for the turd-mobiles they're selling the public. Those shady dealers and wholesalers should be banned from owners section of CL.

The JDM B20B swapped '95 EX coupe I might buy tomorrow is a private seller and owned/built car for past two years.
getting it up on a rack for inspection and leakdown tested before offer of purchase.

RIPSAW

I understand what you are saying...Just making sure I understand the Forum rules.

5.0Thunder

Yeah, I'll have to really pay attention when looking at it or talking to them. A 45k mile stock engine is better than a 150k stock engine that blew a head gasket though in my opinion.

It blows my mind how many small-time junk used dealers there are around my area (houston). Even when you think your buying a car from a private seller/owner, they end up saying "yeah i'll take care of TT&L... blah blah but it's my personal car" and I've already moved on. Then a large number of people try to sell cars "without knowing" that they're rebuilt or salvaged titles.

Wankenstein

Before you install or or do anything to it have it leakdown tested. Ideally engine should be at operating temp but, a cold leakdown with the engine out will tell a lot about it.

I purchased the car I mentioned and leak down test showed a little less than 10% leakage on two cylinders and a bit less than 15% on other two. Dry compression 210, 210, 203, 210.

The little dealers here (Florida) usually say no dealer fee but, tax, tag and title included. I just wish they weren't allowed to post in "owners" section because it distorts real owner-sellers from dealers that should only list in the "dealer" section. Even if you get past the small dealers and rebuilt/salvage title sellers the private sellers tend to over inflate the price because Craigslist is just about the only source for private sellers to list their vehicle for sale.

Back in pre CL days cars were listed in local paper, Auto Trader (all dealers now), and roadside. I never encountered a small dealer back in those days or at least one that stated so.