I just swapped an h23 bluetop (50,000 miles) into my 5 gen Prelude and had it out for the first time today. I accidentally misshifted from 3rd to 2nd at about 7300-7600, it continues to run full power. When I came to a stop light, the car shut off and wouldnt start without the accelerator depressed to bring it to a 3k idle. Doesnt sound like anything is wrong, no hesitation above 3k. What could be wrong? Timing jump? Ive accidentally misshifted engines that were pounded into the ground before without anything happening, and this engine only has 50k on it

 

99% chance you have bent valves, sir.

 

+1 on this. Good luck with the repair.

 

How can I know for sure without tearing it apart? Theres no coolant or oil loss, no valve remnants in the intake manifold, no metal in oil, no signs of anything. Should I attempt to send it back for another engine? When I got it the water pump was cracked so I had to replace that.

 

Hell yeah I would attempt to send it back if you can do that still, but just know its going to cost a bit in freight to send it back wherever you got it from. To me you sound like you want to have the EXACT answer for you on what happened to your engine. We in fact have no idea at this point since none of us are there in person to diagnose your motor. If you do tear it down at-least you would know if you had bent valves or not.... Keep us updated on what you decide to do.

 

I contacted the importer to see if they will take a return. Shouldnt have been racing, Im not gonna say I was racing but I will clarify that I accidentally misshifted. I have my old h22 I could pull valves from, worst case scenario. What all needs done (machine work) to replace the bent valves if they wont return the engine?

 

We all make stupid mistakes man, nothing to beat yourself over. Just last week I misshifted trying to go from second to third and revvd it to 8100 rpm thank god I have a euro-r h22 that wont blow up instantly.
Hopefully the importer takes the engine back and you don't have to tear apart anything, but worst case you will have to put new valves or transfer them from your old h22, and yes get the head machined and pray to God that nothing else was damaged.

 

Pisses me off, none the less. Some stupid kid in his Jetta egging me on. Looked over at his car when I went to shift, and misshifted. Still torched him by cars upon cars though haha.I dont think I ever misshifted with a b series utilizing shift linkage, it seems the h series cables have a totally different feel.
Definitely hoping they take the return without any cost to me. Not afraid to tear the engine apart but, it seems like whenever you mess with a stock engine and take it apart the Honda "reliable fairies" fly out of the engine. Just doesnt seem like it will be as reliable as a stock, untouched engine. Now the question is, am I in the wrong to ask them to replace it since it was my fault? My beat h22 never reacted badly on a misshift, though.

 

It is what it is, now you have to move forward with this engine issue. If the importer doesn't take the engine back, then see how much it would cost to get another one if you really want an untouched stock engine ( I know what you mean by untouched stock engine). If you take it apart I think you will find some messed up valves and that should be it. You are not in the wrong to ask them to replace it since it practically a new engine, the only thing is that you told them it was a misshift on your part, so they could easily tell you your stuck with what you have. Just wait and see what happens with the answer you get from the importer. Also there should have been at-least a 1 month warranty on your JDM engine, so hopefully they honor it.

 

I didnt tell them that I misshifted, yet. Thanks for the advice.

 

karma is a bitch. so basically you plan on lying in an attempt to get yourself out of a hole YOU dug. lol. wow.

 

No sir, I hadn't told them at that point but I have informed them. I'm probably just gonna repair it myself even if it's warranted

 

they arent going to warranty anything if you told them the truth.

 

How about this, do a compression test on the engine and see what kind of shape it is actually in.

Once you find that it is messed up, pull the head, and either swap the other h22 head on, or pull the valves from that one and get them installed and lapped in to this head, and re-install with a new gasket.

Obviously check for any piston damage or hurt cylinder liners while the head is off as well.

We all have to learn from our mistakes, I damaged some valves in my race engine this year, and it was due to something I knew better than to do, and it bit me even though I wasn't drivng the car hard. Oh well I will have a better head once done, and another lesson learned!

 

Sorry bout the luck, but serves you right for street racing....

 

This..

Doubt they'll take return .. This is just me but I would fix my mistake instead of passing it on..

 

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Getting the car towed home soon, will let you all know what I find wrong.

 

Oh, please. Like you've never taken a quick highway jaunt at night when theres no other cars.

 

So the jetta was just in your imagination?

My op still applies

 

A-lot of good feedback in this thread....and if it were me I would definitely not return the engine because of a lie needing to be told to the importer and the damn expensive freight charges to ship it back. By the time you returned it you could have your head off and machined plus had valves installed and bam put it back together your done for awhile....unless you misshift again then there's just a driver issue here.

 

Remember earlier when you said this...?

 

How close should the numbers be on a compression test? (Between each cylinder)

 

IIRC anything over 20psi between the highest and lowest means doo doo

 

The most desirable situation is that all cylinders give the same or close to the same reading, and that reading is above 135 PSI. Uneven readings are not uncommon on worn engines, and as long as the difference between the highest and lowest readings are no more than 21 PSI and the lowest reading is 100 PSI or better, then the engine is acceptable. Greater differences between cylinders indicate worn or broken rings, leaky or sticky valves or a combination of all.

 

heres a video of the compression test before I put the engine in