Rep Power: 0

I own a 2005 Civic EX with 100 thousand miles. Today I was driving down the highway and all of the sudden the check engine light came on and the car started to slow. I pulled over and towed it to a mechanic and after a few hours he called me to say the engine had seized due to no oil. I was clearly shocked to hear this as I never had had an issue with the oil in the car and in fact I had the oil changed and the 100k service performed at a local Honda dealer a few months ago. He said with out taking the engine apart he could not see how bad it was or see where the oil was coming out from, but from his opinion, it was toast and advised I scrap the car. Trust me as I still am shocked this happened as I never had a car in my life just die like that.

A few of my friends said there was a pretty strong market for Hondas with blown engins as they are great cars to modify. I would like to get it fixed and will be looking into that tomorrow to see what the cost would be.

The car visually and mechanically is great (except for the engine of course, lol). It has every option except for leather and upgraded sounds. Is there a market for my car in its current state if I did not want to invest in a new engine and sell it or should I just bite the bullet and fix it. Any wise words are appreciated.

Thanks!!

Ray

 
Rep Power: 285

Bite the bullet and fix it, you should be able to get a d17 for between $400-700 without much trouble and labour would be between $500-1000. The current engine could probably be sold for $100 on craigslist.

It's an expensive lesson to learn, but in the future you should be checking your oil at least twice a month. A car can loose oil without an obvious leak, which may have been what happened.

 
Rep Power: 257

i bet the mechanic will buy it from you for a good price. is this a honda dealer that said the engine was blown ??

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks for the replys!!

It was not a Honda mechanic that looked at the car and he did not make mention in buying it from me.

And yes a very expensive lesson learned. I guess I will be on a search for a good mechanic and an engine in Chicago tomorrow.

Thanks

 
Rep Power: 235

Usually labor is more like $2000. The mechanic should warranty everything so, it's worth paying the extra to have him find the engine too. Just expect to pay $3000 for the entire thing.

Nationwide salvage listings: http://www.car-part.com/

 
Rep Power: 285

Depends on the shop I think, lots of guys could swap an engine in 8-10 hours, at $80-120 an hour for labour that works out to $640-1200. I could be wrong, changing an engine isn't all that common a procedure.

 
Rep Power: 812

might as well swap in a k20a3 for that price and have a bit more power and potential later.

 
Rep Power: 528

How much are k20a3s going for?

How much trouble is it to install them?

 
Rep Power: 812

prices have come way down, and the a3 is much cheaper than the a2. the engines you will find usually have more miles too, which explains the cost. i would say $3-5k should get you an a3 swap depending on the deals you get. add the hondata ecu flash and you will make decent power. the engine by itself goes for around $1500-2000 max all day on ebay. also depends if you want the rsx or the newer si engine. i still dont think engine swaps in a civic are really worth the trouble and money tho...

 
Rep Power: 285

I don't get the impression that the OP is interested in an engine swap, but..

Bought locally a k20a3 shouldn't be more than $500, add another $500 for a transmission and $2000 for miscellaneous parts and you should have all the parts you need. Labour would probably be $2000-2500 at a tuner shop. For an experienced guy it's not terribly difficult to do the swap, but it's certainly not something for beginners to attempt without help, ordering the wiring harness adapter and eliminating that stumbling point is a big help.

 
Rep Power: 812

come on, i was just humoring the guy lol

 
Rep Power: 285

haha I know Gear and it's true, engine swaps really aren't worthwhile.

Why would I spend $5k to swap an engine into my $5k car, when I could buy a better all around car for $10k..

 
Rep Power: 812

i only mentioned it due to the op not having an engine. might be worth it because the car isnt driveable now and cant really sell for much the way it is.

 
Rep Power: 201

If you lived closer I would toss around buying it for around 2k. I am capable of fixing it myself. There is quite a market for gas savers right now. 2005 even a with a BMXA doesn't carry near the stigma of the older 7th gen autos.

If you could do the work yourself you could make atleast 1500 bucks...

Gearbox is right, why put 5k in a 5k car? That would make no sense.

 
Rep Power: 528

What are the specs on the new Si engines? I don't know anything about any post-7th gen stuff.

 
Rep Power: 285

The 06-11 Si has a k20z3, rated at 197hp and 140tq. Seems like a pretty decent engine with an 8k redline, torque curve stock is decent, only a few horsepower below the 05-06 RSX-S k20z1.

 
Rep Power: 314

Hrm.. K20A3 is generally a huge waste of time and money. The install will be more expensive than you care to know, no matter which way you slice it. The mounts alone are 500+ dollars. Replace the D17 with a D17 and off you go.

 
Rep Power: 367

yup, got a letter from a toyota dealer that says : "concerning your car". I thought: WTF?!? I never had and not likely to have a toyota!
They ran out of civics in their lot and wanted to buy mine for KBB price.
My answer - NFW!!!

 
Rep Power: 235

^^ lol. Get 'em all the time, except I get 'em from the Mitsubishi place

The higher gas prices go the more I get asked to sell or trade mine. When it was $4.50-5.00 a gallon I had somebody ask me dam near every day. I usually just burst out laughing, especially when I see their 4X4.

 
Rep Power: 285

K20a3 could be done for $3k without k-pro, no labour and hunting for deals, but you have the same power as a d17 with a $300 cam lol