Bubbamosher

Hey everyone,
I purchased my first honda about three weeks ago. I bought it strictly for the purpose of gas mileage seeing as my other ride is a lifted four wheel drive truck. I had a buddy of mine check it out before spurchased it but i guess he didn't check the oil. Now i have a bent rod in the motor and have to replace. It currently has a D16y7 in it but they aren't readily available as I am seeing. My friend suggested a JDM D15b non-VTEC. My question is will this be simply plug and play or will there be alot of excess work involved like rewiring, new ECU, etc.. I need to know before I spend $700 on a JDM motor.
Thanks

iim1rmg

I've done some remove and replace with the same engine and seen a lot of engine swaps which are pretty common in Civics. I'm not sure whether I can help much or not, but I think you might get some better help if you could provide a bit more information:

What year and model Honda Civic?
What transmission?

Some of the honda engines are almost a straight swap out, but some are just different enough to make you really want the swap to put up with the hassle.

I looked into doing a swap once but I wanted to replace a carbureted engine with a fuel injected one, and after some research, I decided it was technically feasible but not worth the effort.

One good source of information is folks who sell engines. Many of the folks who sell the used Japanese engines are very familiar with what will work in what and with how much redesigning, and exactly what you have to buy or do to make it work. That was where I got enough info about what it would take to decide not to do the swap I was considering.

I have found on most Civics, that pulling the engine and transmission out as a unit, then separating them is not that hard, It also makes it pretty easy to change out the drive shaft seals at the tranmission and generally clean everything up.

You might also consider overhauling the engine you have. It might not be that hard, especially if the crank is still good.

Another option is to buy a salvage engine as a core, overhaul or rebuilt to suit, then install.

Bubbamosher

Like I said, I don't know a whole lot about these cars in general, but it is a 97' hatchback, the very basic model. And it has a 5 speed in it but that is about all i know about it. I was looking to go the rebuild route however i thought it might just be better to put a JDM motor in it just because of the low mileage on those engines. Not completely sure yet

iim1rmg

I did a quick google search and it looks like there are quite a few used guaranteed D16y7 engines available, some pretty reasonable even with shipping.

Last time I went the Japanese engine route, I found a couple of distributors within 200 miles (I live in NW Oregon). I selected one South of Seattle and went up there rather than having it shipped. My experience was good, but not everybody has had good luck going this route. It's a good idea to do your own background check on whoever you do buy from especially the BBB online check to see if they have complaints, and whether they were resolved or not.

The used Japanese engines are usually low mileage, but they also often have been sitting a long time. I recommend if you go this route to spend a bit more and replace the main seals, pan gasket, water-pump, timing belt, and valve cover gasket and cam seal. You also want to install a new clutch kit while the engine is out, and you might consider a reconditioned flywheel, although I usually just check the one that's there and use some 100 grit sandpaper to clean up the mating surface. Most places will stand behind the engine - but not the labor to pull it back out, so try to get one that they have actually run and have done a compression check on.
This is also a good time for all new belts and hoses unless yours are relatively new and in good shape

Whether you overhaul yours or put in a used engine, when you are done, if you take care of all the gaskets, seals, etc. you should have something good for a lot of miles.

I don't know enough about the JDM D15B to say whether it is drop in or not, or whether it is a good idea to change or not, but the folks that sell the used engines can tell you what it takes to swap it in. I usually tend to try to use the same thing that came out just because all the tuning, specs, and parts are easy to look up and keep track of that way.

Good luck with whatever way you decide to go.