BUGGA

I think my boy may have just blew up the motor in our 97 civic ex. Ran it down to about a half a quart of oil. Started making noise, so he checked the oil and filled it up. It started running pretty well for about 20-30 minutes and then started making noise again. Press the excelerator and it just wouldn't go. The motor burns(burned) oil(4 to 5 quarts between oil changes,145,000 miles), but never dropped oil.
Anywayz, my question is. what's the cheapest way of going about getting this thing fixed. We're not concerned with mods or getting the most power, etc. I was even told to put a d16y7 motor in because it is cheaper. Will this work? What about this wiring harness or computer that is supposed to match the vtec if i go with the same d16y8? I was told if I put another vtec in, i couldn't use the same one thats in the car because each one has to match the motor it came with!!!!
I saw on some search's i did, that some people say just buy the motor and do it yourself. That's seems pretty complicated. Does it seem worse than it is. I've done a lot of work on motorcycles years ago, but never car motor swaps. I don't want to get in over my head.

thanks for any info you have. As you can tell I'm a newbie so be patient with me.

Bugga

peiku

the same motors use the same harnesses and ecu's. if youre gonna go with the y7 motor (i dont know why you would), you should use the y8 manifold. it flows so much better than a y7.
swapping in the same motor is easy. its like taking a remote control car apart and putting it back together. i meann, none or my r/c cars ever worked again but thats not the point.

civic-4-ges

Sounds like you just need to get a shortblock and throw your existing head on it (depends on if anything happened to it with the starvation of oil).

If you get a y7 shortblock, you will gain a tad bit of compression. Just use all your existing sensors and drivetrain components.

wilsel

You can use your existing ECU with any D16Y8. It should be easy to do with the help of a friend. Take the old motor out, and reverse the process to put the new one in. If you search http://www.hondaswap.com I'm sure some has detail instructions although it should be pretty straight forward.

VRD^don

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civic-4-ges &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sounds like you just need to get a shortblock and throw your existing head on it (depends on if anything happened to it with the starvation of oil).

If you get a y7 shortblock, you will gain a tad bit of compression. Just use all your existing sensors and drivetrain components.</TD></TR></TABLE>

mini-me..hehe..

BUGGA

I've looked at some of the used motors. Are these complete or just the shortblock?
And when you say shortblock. What all comes with that? Also, what does ECU stand for and what exactly does it consist of?

thx,
Bugga

BUGGA

I've been doing a bunch of research and it looks like the easiest thing to do would be to get the shortblock and put my existing head and components on it. Does this sound right? Is it possible that my head is toast , or does a lack of oil usually just smoke the bottom end? Also, I see people talking about a HELMS manual. Would this be a good investment, if I was to do this swap myself?

thx,
Bugga

civic-4-ges

The bottom end would suffer more damage from oil starvation than the top. Definaetly inspect it though to check for scrathes on both the actual cam lobes and bearing surfaces.


Right on with the shortblock thing. My recommendation is a y7 shortblock with your existing head!!