Dxciv97

When driving my 1997 Honda civic dx (d16y7) with 206k on it, it suddenly lost power and started to sputter but not die completely and the check engine light came on after turning around heading for home the engine light then started flashing which ik is not good at all the codes it read off when I got it home were p1399 and p0304 it has a newer distributor and wires fresh plugs put in 2 weeks prior to this and newer o2 sensor compression was at 145 give or take a few in all cylinders and no apparent valve tick it does burn a little oil and a constant light smoke comes from it but its been Doing that for the past 10k miles that I've owned it it seems to just sputter at higher rpms only in 3-5 gears I replaced fuel filter also and ran some cleaner through it with no improvement any ideas on what this could be?

Joshka89

Get this thing off road immediately. The flashing CEL means that you have a catalytic converter damaging problem and you don't want to have to replace that.
These codes mean misfire as I'm sure you know.

Check your EGR
Check your timing
Make sure that all sparks are sparking and in the right order
If you're burning oil you must have a seal leak. Make sure there's no oil leaking into your sparkplugs (i've seen this a lot)
Is it making any noise?
Check your throttle as well to make sure it isn't malfunctioning.

kyden

what plugs did you use?

Dxciv97

I used auto lite plugs and I don't think dx models have an egr valve and I'm trying to get one of my friends who are able to time it, it seems to have a backfire when revving it up and taking your foot off the gas

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

NGK plugs. Get some.

Joshka89

Agreed, they aren't even that expensive because you can use copper tips.
A set of these will cost like $12

Dxciv97

I'm also thinking about just swapping the motors as this one uses a quart of oil every 4-500 miles I could pick up a d16y8 for cheap, which is a vtec I think, it has around 250k on it is there anything I would need to switch like wireing harness or other parts? And should I do any maintenance on it before I put it in the car like new head gasket and timing belt/water pump like I plan to do if I buy it

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Sounds like you're swapping out one POS engine for another one? 250k? Pass.

Dxciv97

What do you suggest that I wouldn't need to swap a different transmission in also

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

A dependable Y7. Like for like. Plug n play.

Joshka89

If I'm not mistaken you can also swap a dependable D16Y8 as long as you have a VTEC capable ECU (P28) and a harness to fit it.
Don't swap a motor with more than 150K on it