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Hi! I bought a 94 SI hatch for my daughter, and was told the engine was from a '99 Civic along with the wiring/ecu. I have not looked for the OBDII plug yet.

I have figured out there are problems. Oil pan gasket installed with about two tubes of orange RTV and overtorqued, massive oil leak. Took the pan with to the store, engine seems to be from a Del Sol or Integra. Previous owner won't return a text.....

Then one of the engine mount bolts sheared off, found the bottom one missing. Luckily I was able to use a chisel and get the broken off stub out after pulling the mount off.

The car has an intercooler in the nose, he said he "blew his turbo motor up" and built the current motor and that it has high compression pistons. At this point, we have oil leaks and it appears the dang head gasket is leaking. Another local Honda guy says that if you build a performance mill and use higher compression pistons with a stock head gasket, it will leak.

I do know it spark knocks a bit. And wondering what nightmare I have gotten myself in to!

The stamping on the block reads B16A, below it is "LH" and below the number 1023552, the question the guy at the parts store had was weather it is a A2 or A3.


A little about me, I am a 25 plus year marine diesel tech, and used to be in to aircooled VW's, built several VW aircooleds in the day, messed with a Rabbit and a Sirocco, and have built a small block Chevy and swapped it in a '91 S10, so I am no stranger to a wrench.

 
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sounds like a pretty damn big one!

 
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Welcome!


Sure sounds like you bought a nightmare.
Did you know all this stuff was wrong before you bought it?
I hope it was cheap!

I'm not any sort of expert on swaps here.
I deal with mostly stock stuff.
But you need to figure out where all your major parts came from!

You might take a wire brush and some rust buster and see if there is a number after the A in the engine code.

Wiki the engine code to see what it came out of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_B_engine

OBD2 computer in that car? Seriously doubt it, but it's possible.
I'd guess there may be a boatload of codes for equipment that is nonexistent in the car, if it is an OBD2 unit..

Does the check engine light even work at all?
Does it have codes stored?

What is the part number on the PCM? Maybe we can see what car that actually came out of.
High compression pistons might cause this..... But the knock sensor (if equipped) should substantially reduce or completely eliminate this.
Incorrect ignition and/or Camshaft timing could cause this too.
I suppose it has aftermarket adjustable cam gears?

If it really leaks oil that bad, I'd hope this isn't a rod knock.

For as long as your list of OMGWHOTFDIDTHIS is, I'd bet it may not really have high compression pistons, and the spark knock is caused by something else.
Done a compression test? Got well above 220 PSI?

*sigh*
If you are a pro in the trade, I bet you already assessed the same things I'm thinking about the last people that touched it . And you gotta wonder just how many people have had their 'fingers' in it (OMGWHOTFDIDTHIS).



This sounds familiar LOL

My first car was a 63 Bug. I did the Baja kit on it. 3 engines and transmissions...Car could fly, but the landing was a little rough.

My first real wrench job was at a shop that had 50% air cooled business. I built a dozen or so engines, and a few rolling chassis for kit cars, and the shop assembled a '37 Jag SS-100 kit car body on one of my roller chassis with an auto-stick trans.

400 SBC swap into a 65 Nissan Patrol at the same shop. That one is STILL alive almost 30 years later! Same owner! Now has a 350 though.
My second car was a 79 Rabbit.
My next job was a brief stint in a Honda/VW dealer. I think I was about age 20 at that point.

 
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Honda is very specific about stamping their engines....if you don't see a '1' or '2' or '3' after the B16A then it's probably a B16A

Read the link ezone posted to wiki B series engines

http://asia.vtec.net/topics/enginecode.html

It sounds to me like you could spend a ton of time and money working on what is probably a half cooked engine from somebody running the hell out of it with a turbo on it. They probably sold the turbo to somebody and you got what was left. Sorry to tell you that. On the bright side you're no stranger to turning wrenches and Honda's are super easy to work on. You would probably be so much further ahead of the game just to swap another engine in. I know, doesn't sound like the easy solution but you can get good used engines for $500 and up. For someone who knows what they are doing....maybe 2 - 7 days to install it depending on how many new gaskets you want to put in the engine before you install it. Then you'll have a headache free, reliable peace of mind car for your daughter.

 
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technically, it could have been the CRX/Del Sol or civic:
B16A Honda Civic SiR (JDM) 1989-1991

B16A Honda Civic (EDM) 1992-1995

B16A Honda Civic VTi 1996-2000

B16A Honda Del Sol/CRX SiR 1992-1996

B16A Honda Civic SiR (JDM-Hatch) 1989-1992

specs are as follows - curious, i did not see the US specs...
B16A 1.6 16V DOHC VTEC PGM-FI 1595 160hp@7800rpm 111tq@7300rpm '89-'91 Civic SiR (JDM)
B16A 1.6 16V DOHC VTEC PGM-FI 1595 170hp@7800rpm 116tq@7300rpm '92-'95 Civic (EUR)

if truly a B16A, you could look for the parts for these cars. JDM - Japanese market EDM - Europe market, so best bet is this: B16A Honda Del Sol/CRX SiR 1992-1996. COMPARE parts before purchasing!!!

 
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Thank you for the responses. So far, it seems to be running pretty good, and the oil leak from the valve cover/oil distribution block seems to have abated.

Here are a couple pics. Engine stamping-



What the oil pan looked like when pulled-



The nose of the beast, yes, it is not exactly to my taste but my daughter loves it-



Broken mount bolt after I got the stub mostly out-



My daughter in the boneyard, we pulled the replacement bolts from the Civic to the right of the tipped over Metro. It had a "Yeah, it's got a Hemi" sticker on the back hatch. Must by why someone pulled the powertrain!

 
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wow... am just imagining your face as she says - this is the green car i want!
g'lucky, these "hybrids" are the though ones to handle... no tax savings with these either...
let us know what we can help with if possible.

 
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The orange painted engine code pad, the important broken bolts ("I don't think anyone will notice!") and the orange Cheez-Whizz all over that oil pan....
....Very special.


Daughter willing to scrape knuckles and get dirty? Priceless!




I'm digging the Hello Kitty sticker on the firewall too.

 
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wah.... wha... what?!? bwaaaaaaaahahahaha! I don't... even imagine where the H. you get these pictures!!!!

 
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I replaced the valve cover gasket and eliminated one leak, and put NAPA dye in the oil, then used a black light at night. Yep, leaking head gasket.

Hoping she finds a boyfriend in to Hondas at this point.

Live 'n learn ya know! Guess I will be pulling a B16 head soon. Once I determine the head is flat and the block deck is good, I have to see what type of gasket to use (such as suggested by the Honda enthusiast at the auto parts store who said stock gaskets+high compression are a bad idea) and if I need to use any type of sealer on it.

Many of the Cat engines we work on use a steel shim gasket and require the deck and head be cleaned with lacquer thinner, then a thin coat of hi-tack form in place product from Loctite.

 
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Be careful there. Many will ruin much more than they can fix.
You DO want to keep her mobile, right?

Pull the covers and inspect cam timing first. If it is off a tooth on either cam, that might explain the spark knock and subsequent "high compression pistons" story.


I'd use OE head gasket for whatever engine it really is, but that's just me.

Clean and dry are what Honda says.......

But I've had to throw out the service manual and do other things too, for certain reasons.

On the MLS gaskets I've used Hi-Tack, and I've used Mopars' head gasket spray from all the mid-late 90s Neon head gasket updates. I saw a GM guy swear by Copper Coat, even on Hondas steel head gaskets..

Machine shop does a head resurface and leaves it too rough? It's gonna leak, gotta do something.

 
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i dont mean to be a smarta$$, but for the love of God, why would you buy a car like this when you knew it had been severely tampered with?

i would never consider buying a car like this unless it was given to me for free or maybe a hundred bucks, if you paid a significant amount of money for this car then you only have yourself to blame,








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Don't worry about Mickey, 94SI, We know you bought it to make your daughter happy. She loved it, you bought it for her. Worst case you might have to drop another motor in it. Like Ezone said, A daughter willing to get dirty and spend time with her dad is priceless, don't waste this time have fun with her while you can time will pass fast and she will always remember you for it. Everybody on this forum will help you get it going. Good luck.

Ed

 
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Well, swap time! Spun a rod bearing on #2, cylinder bores look like the engine block sat outside with no head on it for a period of time and it corroded notches in the cylinders from water sitting on the pistons. The oil leak under the head? From use of a buzz wheel on an air grinder to clean up the deck, its more wavy than the ocean....

There was RTV in oil rings, this thing is textbook as to how not to assemble an engine.

By the time I had it bored oversize to clean up the holes, bought oversize pistons and rings, a reground crank etc, I'd have a TON in this short block. The head is in good shape, we are looking at a good used B18 shortblock right now and doing an LS VTEC swap. I will post questions in the appropriate forum.

Mikey1, dude, you don't find a spotless, rust free car with new interior and paint, coilovers, nice rims and tires for "free or nothing" no matter where you are. I don't even find Civics in the you pull around here, lots of Camrys and Accords, nobody fixes them up. Sure, the deal is not as sweet with the problems, but the car makes her happy, and she helped pull and tear down the engine.

 
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Bet this is the "high compression pistons" (spark knock)??


Good luck!

 
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No. I know what spark knock sounds like. Marbles rolling around in the top end. It did it when you released the clutch and it was in lug. A bottom end knock is more of a hammering sound.

I was out of town for it's last days. She called all upset to say the car died and the group she was with said it was locked up. I sort of laughed it off, as my first cooked mill was far more spectacular, rod out the side of the block and anti freeze and oil spewed everywhere from a 283 Chevy.

A member of the car group she was with had a yard near by the meet up spot at the local Sonic drive through, and they towed the car over there with a strap. When I got home a week later, I got the truck and the trailer, and retrieved it.

The car is in the garage and she with some help pulled the head, really stripped it to the short block. I pulled the short block, and disassembled it.

We have a good B18 bottom end in the back of my V8 S10 right now, it will be going in soon.

 
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You seem to be taking everything in stride. Good for you! Sounds like a great way to spend some quality time with your kid.

 
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Thanks, Stock 99! Making a parts list today, I am going to put the B18 short block on the stand and pull the pan off, look at a rod and a main bearing.

Some times I lament having an old wood framed one bay garage with a rough hand troweled concrete floor from the 50's, but then I remember working in the dirt under an oak tree when I was a kid, or in apartment building parking lots hoping I did not get caught by the building manager years ago.... kid's got a decent work space and lighting. Actual jack stands instead of cement blocks and wood!