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May the divine powers drop their feces upon Wikipedia:

So I just bought an EJ8 5 speed with the D16Y8 block. Come to find out, the guy I bought from "forgot" to mention that the exhaust manifold was in two pieces. This has lead to a very long week of learning everything I can about the 6th gen Civic under the hood.

Well, in the course of this research, I landed on Wikipedia's page about the D-series Honda engine. It says "1997 civic ex coupes have non vtecs(d16y8), pushing out 127 hp."

I was sorely disappointed when I read that yesterday. Even though I'm not a driver who "needs" VTEC (when will I ever rev at 55 on my way to work or school?), I was still sad. BUT: I was looking on Honda's owner's page tonight, and it says there that it's VTEC. That info was NOT specific to my car, though.

So I've spent the last hour or so trying to verify the Wikipedia statement on Google. So far, I've seen some places say "ALL D16Y8s have VTEC, no exceptions" and others agree with Wikipedia.

So here I am asking the experts. Do I, or do I not, have VTEC?

 
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Edited because I misread:

No yours does not have vtec

 
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Look for the vtec solenoid. It's the rusty looking cylinder near the top of the pic. Those thick grey wires are distributer wires.

 
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you got it out of a 97 ex? if so then no vtec. any other car that this would have came out of would have been a vtec.

 
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Damn.

Is it possible to install VTEC? Say, find a D16Y8 VTEC at pick and pull and pull the top of it off? Or is it more complicated than that..?

And why the ---- would you make an engine missing a component? I cannot fathom why they wouldn't give the engine a different number if it's missing a piece. Shouldn't it be like Y8.1 or Y9 something? [long rant removed for space] Seriously.

 
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im not sure why they did that it may have been to drive down production costs and keep the car cheaper but i dont think there is a way to make a engine a vtec. you could put a new head on it and add some other stuff to make it perform better but it wont technically be a vtec lol

 
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You absolutely sure about that? #10 sure looks like a vtec assembly to me: http://www.bkhondaparts.com/billkay/...itch=&hidIrno=

 
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Kinen,

Look the picture above given by Lazlong and just tell us if you have it or not. If you have, it's a V-TEC engine...
Also, i guess you are misunderstanding... It's not that it's missing a component. It was designed to have it in some models and not have in other models, so they can sell at different prices
You usually pay more for an EX to have the V-tec...

 
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wow uhm idk what that is lol my mom had that car and it did not have a vtec in it but maybe i am wrong. so this kinda confuses me now lol

 
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The d16y8 is a vtec engine, I think all the ex model civics have vtec unless from canada then it will be the si. And if you did not have vtec you can make it vtec, its called a mini me swap. All you do is swap the head on it and have the vtec type ecu.

 
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I thought only the Si had a vtec until 2000 then all civics came with vtec.

 
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you have the block, but YOU need to check the picture and tell us IF you have the V-tec solenoid. We are over the internet and you did not post any pics, so all you will ever get are best guesses, so you get what you paying for, which means nothing .
It could have been fitted with a head that does not have the V-TEC. (this also answer your question about installing heads with or without V-TEC...)
All types of swaps around the country, buddy...

 
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Nope all the civics from 92 up that are ex or si have vtec. The 92-95 ex/si have the d16z6, 96-00 ex has the d16y8 and si has the b16a2.

 
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Well, it may have that cylinder. To be honest, most of my poking around under the hood has been trying to see how much grease got spat into the compartment from the right drive axle, what the fluids looked like, and trying to see the crack in the manifold.

I don't think I've see a cylinder by the distributor, but I'll double check tomorrow. And I'll try to get a pic or two before the sun goes down. You'll get to see the muck-covered fluid cylinders and maybe the weld marks from when the car was repaired after a front-end (exactly what happened to my 92 Accord LX VTEC on the 1st ).

Sounds like you guys are saying that all I need to get VTEC on this car is to swap the ECU and get the cylindersolenoidthing. Is that right, or do I need some heavy duty tools when I go to pick and pull tomorrow? (They just got 2 6th gens in yesterday, so there hopefully hasn't been enough time for them to get picked clean )

Which reminds me, and I'm derailing my own thread, here (*shoots self*): if the blocks at the PnP are y7's or y5's, can I still use the exhaust manifold on my block?

 
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OMG... NO!!! the solenoid will tell you if you have the head with the v-tec.
it is just a clue, not the truth...

 
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I HAVE PICS!

attachments?

There is a solenoid near the distributor on the block that's visible in two of the pics, for sure. Also a pic to prove it's d16y8.

 
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Yupp its vtec, you can see the solenoid in the second and fourth picture. It is located right behind the valve cover on the left looking in from the hood.

 
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Absolutely sure? That would have to mean WP is wrong or my block isn't the original.

Should I take it to the freeway and see if the car jumps a little at 55k?

 
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Hate to burst the bubble but, that's a sticker on the timing cover that's probably from wherever they got the engine. You need to look on the block itself (a metal part) to see what engine it actually is. Or you could get the VIN off the block and go to Honda and have them do a search on the engine VIN.

 
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It needs to be WOT (wide open throttle) AND about 5K rpm. It'll do 35mph in 1st @ around 6K rpm and 55-60 in 2nd @ about the same rpm so you only need about 1/4 mile. The best place is a CLEAR on ramp to the highway. Good luck and be careful, there are a lot of fools on the road already- don't be another one.

 
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Dude it is VTEC so chill out. VTEC isnt that great of a thing. People think of it to much. I went to a car lot that was selling a 94 civic ex with vtec the first words he said was vtec 94 civic. I was like what is vtec and he said that thing that makes you go fast . After that I just walked off laughing .

The vtec in the d series is not as great as the b or k series vtec. Hell the k series vtec beats them all. ivtec is alot better.

 
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Yeah, that VVT is awesome. Another Honda innovation.

 
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engine swaps are commonplace in honda world for decades. That is the reason we asked you to check if you had the solenoid, since you are not the sole owner of the car, anythiung could have been done to it. The presence of the solenoid indicates the possibility that it is equipped with V-TEC if it is connected.
No, it's hard to tell if yours is equipped with a V-TEC, the ones in D-type engines are not that perceptible.
You would need to drive another car without V-TEC and compare, considering similar conditions of the car.
I coulod not tell when mine engages very well, except that i have a CAI it it gets really loud when it comes in. And no, don't come asking if you need a cai to test V-TEC.
Yours V-TEC is made to give better torque in low RPM without compromising the higher RPM. Basically a economic V-TEC, not a performance V-TEC.
Bottomline - get over it and love your car or swap in a B-type motor for 4k.

 
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That wire near the rust cap. Where does it connect to , because im using my stock wires

 
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Unless they did engine swap you can run vin number to see.