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Thanks for reading.

Ok, so I have a 2003 Honda civic Si. Around a week ago I began to misfire, I drove it to a Honda dealership, where they told me that my first cylinder only had 12% compression, and I would need to replace my entire engine. They said the reason behind this, is that if I fix the cylinder it will cause the oil pan to blow out the bottom of my car.

They stated that its an "import" issue.

This is my first civic so I don't know anything about the cars, but this does not seem possible. Surly I can just add new seals to my cylinder and new plugs.

It you have had this issue, or know a cheer, less invasive way to repair my car, let me know thanks.

 
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I would say the dealer is lying. If you have a misfire there is a few things you can check at no cost.

1. Take a long flat head screwdriver and place it on each injector and place your ear on the handle end. You should hear a ticking sound and if not then you have a injector issue not firing.

2. Pull your spark plugs out and inspect them for white powdery residue and inspect the plug cables as well for crack or breaks where a arc could be grounding the wire.

If you ultimately have a bad piston, then you would need to replace compression rings and while you are at it, replace all the rings on the piston. It sounds to me that the dealer see's that you are a noob about Honda's and wouldn't mind getting that K20 from you for dirt cheap so they can easily resolve the issue and fill their pockets full of loot. a bore scope would be great to use at this point to see what really is going on in the piston chamber. How you can get this fixed in a better way rather than doing a whole engine swap.

 
Rep Power: 519

I kinda hope you misunderstood what was said.
If this is what was actually stated, then it's a bunch of hogwash or you are dealing with someone who knows nothing of how engines work.

(HINT: you were talking to a service advisor, not a tech. Compression test are never given in percentages.)

Maybe they just don't have anyone capable of fixing it, so they want to replace the whole engine. There's a dealer an hour away from me that tries to sell engine replacement jobs when the head gasket blows on these.

BTW Honda does not sell complete engines. They will sell a short block, and they will sell a cylinder head separately.
Other businesses sell complete engines.
IF someone stuffs a used engine in it, it may suffer all the typical problems these engines are known for....leading to even more expense.




Visit a different establishment, second opinions can be valuable.


Or
Do a compression test yourself.
Verify valve clearances.
Recheck compression if any valves were tight
Leakdown test, figure out where the compression loss is going

Then figure out what to do about it.

 
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there are some things that were mentioned for you to check if you have
not already done so..?

before assumming You need an engine. get a second opinion would be
a wise decision to do.