Rep Power: 256

ive been reading/hearing a lot lately about people blowing the d17's at unusually low mileages. lowest i think i heard was a buddy of mine had an '04 em2 and his blew at 62k. ive got an '05 em2 and i just hit 30k and i dont want the motor to blow. what is the weak link in the d17a1 and is it just the a1 motor or does the a2 have the same problems? i know that the lead-foot had a big role in this, but i want to find out what piece of hondas excellent engineering in the d17 seems to fail prematurely. im thinking of rebuilding mine using oem internals at about 45-50k miles just to be safe. ive been modifying this car since day 1 at my shop, i motorsports, but in the end, its still a daily driver and i dont want to ever see her on the back of a tow truck. thanks for any input.

 
Rep Power: 0

That seems a little early for a rebuild, but i too blew my motor at 77,000. I have a d17a2 and that did seem alot earlier than i expected. I dont feel i drive it very hard ethier. I rarely take it past 5000 rpms.

 
Rep Power: 256

i drive way hard. im over 5000 rpm all the time. thats makes me feel great

 
Rep Power: 0

Blown '01 d17a1 at 70k. Connecting rod end cap bolt came out (not broke) and threw the rod through the side of the block. I replaced the engine with a 25k version and I am now at 120k (car miles not engine) and have pulled the engine due to a suspicious noise and the need for timing belt replacement. Although I think it may be the knock sensor that has gone out, I have a considerable amount of play in the connecting rod for the no. 1 cylinder. I have to say, I am getting a little disgusted with these engines. I am feeling as though my driving style may not be compatable with the d17a1.

 
Rep Power: 299

I ran mine up to 6800 rpms daily and I never had a prob. got rid of it at ~70k tho.

 
Rep Power: 256

im about to do a vtec head on my a1 and im going to sleeve the block and completely rebuild the motor before anything bad happens. it might be an early rebuild but its better than blowin the motor. im a hair over 33k now and im starting to gather the parts for the build. im also planning a turbo as soon as the rebuild is finished so i think ill be better in the long run to just get the build over with now.

 
Rep Power: 282

damn...and i just hit 60k on my 04....

 
Rep Power: 256

yeah i do a lot of driving for work. ive got the mileage of a 2 year old car.

 
Rep Power: 299

Honestly I dont think there is anything wrong with the D17A1 or A2. I would bet money that everyone who has blown an engine has done something dumb at sometime in its life. Just like with the F20C in the s2k if you mechanically over rev it there is a good chance that many miles from when you did you will have a valve drop into the cylender and kiss your engine goodbye. The bottom line is dont miss a shift and dont beat the **** out of it all day every day and it will go 200K+ no prob.

 
Rep Power: 256

i think a lot of people adding intakes and exhausts with no fuel management is the problem. its basically leaning the car out on a small scale. youre cramming more air but not adding any more fuel. the d17 isnt a bad motor. ive got an a1 and ive won my fair share of races with it.

 
Rep Power: 453

I agree. I have 121,800 miles on my 02 with no problems. either people are beating the **** out of there engines or not changing the oil frequently or what, but these engines are very decent IMO.

that has nothing to do with it. An intake and exhaust doesnt add but a few HP if even that to these cars. and the added air coming in isnt that much. More than anything you just get added sound. Besides with the few extra amount of air coming in, the ECU will compensate for it. It will just increase the PWM of the injectors. now it would be different if you added a huge dry kit of nitrous.

 
Rep Power: 0

My piston split in half like a oreo, and the rod started spinning around a basically sawed my block in half. Once we pulled off the head the block was in two pieces. I dont have the block anymore (of course) but i saved the piston and parts of the rod. I will take pics in a couple of weeks when i get my camera. But seriously i dont beat my car, when it happened i was driving up a slight hill at about 65mph(or 3000rpms??) and snap and i could hear the rod smacking around and saw the strip of oil in my rearview. This happened about 1-2 miles after leaving my apartment. Everyone was shocked when they saw my block and piston, they thought i was joking around when i called them to bring out the trailer.

 
Rep Power: 256

ive heard of tons of people blowin motors climing hills. i climb a mountain every day. sometimes multiple times in a day. not good news. every day i think this early build sounds better and better.

 
Rep Power: 812

the ecu runs pig rich from the factory. even with considerable bolton mods, your a/f will be fine.

 
Rep Power: 0

I rarely beat on my car i have a talon and mustang for that.. My civic was my daily driver.. 80k miles and the timing belt jumped quite a few teeth.. Just driving down the road and heard ticking and got louder... Valves nailed the pistons

 
Rep Power: 246

You are aware that the d17a2 vtec head is VTEC-E right? You will basically engage at 2500rpms and go from 12 valve economy mode to regular 16 valve mode. Just a heads up to not promote the head like it is vtec before you find out yourself. No high rpm vtec and no 3 lobe cam, VTEC-E. Hey but you still get 35+ mpg!!!

 
Rep Power: 256

im doin a head swap from the a2. it will be just like the d17a2.

 
Rep Power: 0

seems like you guys are just running it to hard or something, i have a 02 lx and have about 124k on mines only problem i had with it was a blown transmission
(first gear wasnt working anymore) but thats from driving threw 9 states 3 times up and down snowy mountains as well.

 
Rep Power: 256

a lot of people dont change their oil. im an oil change *****. i think i change mine too much.

 
Rep Power: 289

wow u guys must be mis-shifting like crazy, I had my civic for like 3 years and beat the hell out of it every day of its life....

First I added a wet 80 shot of nitrous for about 8 10lb bottle fill-ups then I slapped on a sf turbo kit for about 5k miles then I removed it to sell it, then added another turbo kit down the road for 10 k miles then removed then and sold the car at like 105k miles never replaced engine or never had any problems..

 
Rep Power: 282

that's a funny avatar...

 
Rep Power: 281

Owner is the one who blows the engine.
I have mine turbocharged for about 10k now (50k total), not even a single problem with a car or engine (excluding squeaking clutch pedal).
And I dont drive like a grandma either.

 
Rep Power: 256

i got the squeaky cluth pedal. **** is annoying. i just turn the radio up until i get time to fix it.

 
Rep Power: 300

one of you that has blown your a2 head let me have the vtec selonoid.

ok back on topic....

 
Rep Power: 256

some dude is selling a solenoid in the for sale forum. i think it was 50 bucks or something like that for the solenoid and screen. it might be less than 50

 
Rep Power: 0

i got 105.000 and i have not had any thing blow but the battery...It,s an a1
and just changed the sparkplugs but did not need to yet..
I have ticking nose but it is comeing from front wright weel..?

 
Rep Power: 294

Mine blew up at such a young age....only 22000 miles....

 
Rep Power: 256

holy ****. 22k??? did you ever get an oil change? thoughts of a k swap entered my head for a while but now i think im back to the d17 rebuild followed by a dezod turbo kit.

 
Rep Power: 256

holy ****. 22k??? did you ever get an oil change? thoughts of a k swap entered my head for a while but now i think im back to the d17 rebuild followed by a dezod turbo kit.

 
Rep Power: 360

My 01 lx coupe manual is at 87,000 with no problems (knock on wood).

I drive mostly on the freeway to work and back. Round trip about 60 miles.