chrisguilday

So I just bought this car from my buddy two weeks ago. It's a civic ex 1998 manual 5 speed with 154k on it. My buddy told me he did a oil change the day he gave it to me so I wasn't too worried.

Well tonight I revved it to like 6k and I noticed it acted very hesitant to climb RPM's above about 5500.

Few minutes after that I'm cruising and its not getting any power. I give it more gas and nothing. It starts slowing down so I put the clutch in and the engine shut off and I coasted to a stop. Pulled the dipstick and it was dry. Put 3 QT's of oil in it and it's full now.

While I was cruising I was at 3400 RPM in 5th and it didn't make any noise except for if I were to let off the gas and re-apply. When I re-applied the gas I could hear a little slap noise. But then once the gas was steady it was silent.

Any way, after putting oil in it I drove away and it makes a clack noise in neutral at 1800 RPM. First gear at 2k rpm. In 2nd gear at 2500 RPM. In 3rd gear at 3100 RPM. and who the hell knows in 4th or 5th cause I didn't rev it that high.

Time for a new engine? Could it be a valve issue? The noise is like a repeated thud. Feels like if I were to keep revving it a piston is going to fly out of the engine. And if I need a new engine, which one? There's a lot on ebay for around $800.

ezone

Time for a new engine.

And, um, learn to check oil frequently. You never know how rapidly an engine can consume oil.

An exact match is easiest.

Anything different takes more time, more parts, and more money.

I don't think I'd go for ebay myself. We sure can't do that for customers at work.

Check your local auto recyclers first, try to get an engine with some sort of warranty. Sometimes you can hear it run before it comes out of the car.

Reputable large recyclers are at the top of the list too, places like LKQ have been good to us. Warranty, price, nationwide, and delivery right to our shop, etc.



There's www.car-part.com

Whatever you decide to get, it's a good idea to freshen it up while it's out of the car and easy. Timing belt, head gasket, whatever.

HTH

chrisguilday

How long can I drive the car without it blowing up?

After further testing, the knock noise gets louder and worst in neutral when you rev it up. But stays relatively the same in gear.

The car also stalls some times when I put the clutch in.

I drove it about 10 miles today, hasn't blown yet lmao

ezone

It's already a goner.

If it seizes up or a rod breaks and goes through the side of the block, that will be anyones guess.
Don't put it in a situation where you depend on the car.. you may need a tow truck to get it home or to a shop.

Then you are just adding a tow bill to the cost of engine replacement.