JWMB6

So I picked up a UK Honda Civic Vti-s with the B18C4 engine. Previous owner 'says' he always looked after it with decent oil etc etc but when driving it yesterday, it died at the lights, started right back up but now has a horrid knocking, pulled up again and it died again but started fine. Pulled over to find there was little to no oil in it part rookie mistake and part annoyance at the previous owner? The knocking is only there on light throttle and isn't there on idle or if you floor it which is odd. Engine dies every time at the lights and just as the idle drops really low there's a faint flicker from the oil light. The only time it doesn't die is when started up again. Is the bottom end knackered or is it possibly a bearing? (someone from work suggested it) I've uploaded a video to hopefully pinpoint the problem, the noise seems to be coming from the bottom left (possibly rear) of the engine if you're looking at it from the front of the car. Any help appreciated folks.

p.s. I have not driven it since limping it home (after adding oil of course)

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Sounds like your engine is done. Pull the oil pan.

Pimptegr4

Drain the oil thru a strainer if you see shaving of metal in it theres a good chance its rod bearing or main. If you remove the pan and its a rod bearing you can usually find the bad rod by grabing the bottom and move it (up and down)see its loose, just do it one by one on each rods. But if it keep dying and the oil light didnt come up sound like it could be a bad distributor, I fried one so bad once it wouldnt even turn by hand anymore.

JWMB6

Ok thanks for the help, will do that as soon as I can, if it's a bearing am I better off replacing the whole engine or can I just do the bearing(s)? Also I wouldn't have thought a bad dizzy would make that noise?

B_Swapped93

if it's the bearing(most likely) ditch the block... the cost isn't worth it if you're asking questions like this rebuilding it on your own is above you, and paying for engine assembly isn't "cheap".

JWMB6

So my options at this stage are get a complete c4 engine to drop in or buy a complete c4 bottom end and have someone fit it? Another alternative I was looking at was getting all the parts together for a 'poor mans type-r' but could I strip the block down on the c4 and use that for it? I'm not a spanner when it comes to engines so I'm always willing to learn especially if I end up with the current B18C4 engine sat in my shed

Pimptegr4

I would start by the begining and inspect what you have, if you have scoring on the crank journal and the rod (spun rod bearing) then yeah it would be cheaper to get another crank and rod, I dont know about poor man type r since you have to uprade a number of thing to make it realiable, using LS crank/rods would be cheaper in your current block. Well obviously if its a dizzy the sound wouldnt come from the bottom, but yeah mine started to make funny noise before it died on me and since it was my beater at the time I didnt care much, just carried a spare one in the car.

My bad just noticed you said using the block...

JWMB6

So folks, as luck would have it, I have sourced a complete B18C4 engine local to me just trying to see what price the seller wants. Question is, if I bought the engine could I just drag the old one out and drop the new one in with my current ECU, keys etc? Or would I need the ECU and keys etc from the new engine? Sorry for asking I'm not sure what the rule is when it comes to ECU's and engine changes on Honda, I know on VW's you need the ECU, clocks, keys and locks :/

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Just the engine. Like for like.