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I'm lookin into a 98 Civic EX. Thats the d16 engine right? Single cam 1.6 litre right?

Is this a decent engine? Manufacture claims 120 at crank. I'm not lookin to make all out power. Just your regular intake, header, exhaust, maybe a cam.

For a DD what'ya say? Dealer wants 5k. My friend is a salesman for them and says I can probably grab it for 2500-3k. Is that a good deal?



Heres a link to the actual car.

whatya think?

 
Rep Power: 218

As long as it runs good, shifts good, and has no frame damage, 2 or 3 grand isn't too bad, however it looks to have been owned by a ricer and was probably driven hard. Could always get a beat one for less and make a project car, motor, tranny, new everything.

 
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well its at a very respectable dealership. So if anything went wrong its under warranty. Which right now is really what I need.

I do my own work, but the down time involved, isn't worth it anymore.

 
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Looks in good shape, you have rims on it and as the other member said it was definetely owned by a ricer and yes it was probably driven hard so if you're gonna buy it make sure you do some good check on the engine, compression test and all that...

 
Rep Power: 811

x3 thats a total ricer car. it was modded and who knows what sort of problems there may be with wiring, sensors, etc. alot of us (myself included) are not professional mechanics and just try stuff on our own, alot of times either not caring about details or just being lazy. there could be alot of "quirks" that the owner knew about that you now have no idea about. like if something stops working, is it because of the ground wire that was taped to the frame and the tape fell off.

 
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Ah. goodthinking. Could I make the dealership do a compression test and all that stuff before I buy it?

Give them the reasons you just gave me? the dealership has a very good reputation so i doubt they would over look a ducttaped ground and a ziptied starter, but those more technical things they might miss.

It has the D16 is that a good engine? I'm an avid neon motorist and I know that my semi-built neon waxes the integras (those use b16 er b18 right?)

I want this d16 to be as fast as my neon is now.

My neon (sohc) has a magnum head(stronger springs and bigger ports) comp 400 cam, pacesetter header, borla exhaust, safc-2, and an afx udp.-----it runs a high-mid 14 sec quarter

What would I need to do this d16 to make it accomplish that feat. all motor of course.

 
Rep Power: 811

they do not have to do anything really. its your responsibility to have the car checked. i would pass and look for a different car thats stock. d16 is not the greatest engine either. you should check around for a 99-00 civic si with the b18 160hp motor and build that with a supercharger.

 
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I'm kinda on a low budget. It has to be from a dealership (local) for the warranty. And the warranty has to be useful, those little dealerships that do that measley 10% parts 10% labor. that aint gonna cut it.

I think I'll go ahead and get it. Unless I can find something better for 2500 bucks that has a killer warranty. This'll be my new DD. after my neon gets finished w/ its 2.4 swap and is reliable. Then I'll start hoppin up the civic.

 
Rep Power: 811

well just make sure and really check it over everywhere esp under the hood for "hacks" and other weird stuff. i would still take it to mechanic that you trust and have them do a safety check on everything, and def do a compression check at least you know the motor is okay that way

 
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gotcha. any idea how much that costs, the compression test? I'm pretty auto savy so I'm sure I can check the obvious stuff.

I'm askin all this cause I've never really looked into hondas. I know they are good cars. But as far as specific things to check. idk.

 
Rep Power: 811

well you can buy the tester for $40 at the auto store and do it yourself, but i doubt a shop would charge more than an hour of labor. it only takes maybe 10 mins to hook up and test. you just wanna make sure the psi readings are the same or very close for each cylinder. i think the normal reading is roughly 135 psi. all you do is take out the spark plugs, screw the compression tester gently but firmly into cylinder 1, unplug the injectors, go in the car and floor the gas pedal, then crank the motor 8-10 times and stop. the gauge on the tester should have read and held a peak psi reading. write it down and press the release on the tester to vent the pressure. then unscrew and repeat for cylinders 2, 3, and 4. plug back injectors, replace spark plugs, and thats it. note: make sure the spark plug adapter fitting is securely tightened to the tester BEFORE screwing it into the engine. otherwise you could end up having the adapter stuck in the engine and then youre effed.

 
Rep Power: 811

specific things, are the tires okay, brakes in good shape and have lot of pad material, are shocks okay (push down hard on the front and rear and it should bouce right back up. if it bounces a few times up and down, shocks are blown). look for rusting areas around the body that could indicate accident damage, look for orange peel (blurry finish) to some painted surface that could indicate accident, inspect the exhaust pipes for rust, open the engine and check the major items like intake, header, ground wires and other harnesses, condition of parts (is it filthy inside?) battery terminal corrosion, turn the car on and make sure all light switches work for brake, turn, park, headlight, hi beam, test drive and make sure the trans shifts smoothly, engine doesnt make any weird noise, hard turns or going over bumps doesnt make crunch or click or metal sounds, go under the car and check the CV axle boots to see if theyre torn, make sure all fluids are full and look good (oil should be dark brown but smooth, test coolant strength with a meter, brake fluid should be clear of contaminants, ps fluid should be yellowish and clean, trans fluid usually is red and should not be very dark. take the oil cap off and look inside, you shouldnt see any type of sludge or black chunks), also when youre driving make sure the brakes work right, if the car vibrates while braking, rotors are warped, drive it 65mph or above and make sure car doesnt shake (wheel balance) or track to one side (alignment issue).

 
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gotcha, yeah I know about the general stuff. I was refering to things more like "watch out" Like 95 neons that still have the stock headgasket. (they blow really fast and easy) and on dohc neons the stock header is bad about cracking (poor design) vehicle specific things like that.

Any little quirks that only civics/hondas have

 
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The windows, the hondas have that known issue that makes windows go off track so make sure they work properly, the compression test is a must before buying any car, so do that too, the airbags you need to check those, They also have a know issue for moist and water getting into the main light housing so make sure they are not cracked or have any moisture inside, another thing that they tend to have is the trunk seals, check that water does not get into the trunk... basically those are the main things i can remember seeing on bunches of hondas from this generation...

 
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ah! thats the kinda info i was lookin for. thanks!!

 
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no problem bro, if i remember other problems with it ill let you know, i cant think of any other main issues right now but ill keep you posted...

 
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thanks!

 
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My civic just did the window throw thing, dont be too concerned with it, for the most part it just goes a little slower and the front drops too fast, but if it should fall off it was only about a 10min fix when i put it back. Like 10 screws and the the two adjustment bolts that hold the window on the control arm, if you know even the slightest about cars and tools (lol) ull be fine. It was just poorly designed is all.

 
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Bro... i own a 98 civic ex.best car ive ever owned. even if its not enough power for you factory, there is so many things you can do with it.

 
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engine mounts prone to going out. i bought a 2000 civic ex 106,000 miles. five speed. clean clean clean. completely stock in every way down to the wheels and air box, for 4k. windows where off track ( as schuy just said they are bad about it, just put it back in and grease up the inside of the rubber runners and the rails and you wont have problems) and my engine mounts where poopy. easy fix. nice car. good price. unmolested.

if you buy that car, please immediately change the tail lights. before anything else. and get rid of the stupid brake handle. yuck

 
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yes and also the d16 is a good platform motor. its a vtec motor that you can get (with a transmission and ecu, usually) for around 600 bucks if you screw the motor up. that motor with intake, exhaust, and a little bit of boost is a beasty lil' critter

but obviously, if you find a b series car for cheap, pick that up for sure if you can manage it.

 
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Not fun getting adapter stuck...got mine stuck and was going "why the F won't this plug go back in"...HUGE pain in the *** to get it out so be carefull!!

 
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another issue is that the steering wheel tends to peel off, make sure you buy some meguiars care kit to appply to your car internals and keep it off the sun so that your steering wheel does not peel.