ahmadrafiq90

Hello Guys,

This might be a bit verbose so please bear with me on this one and pardon me if I am not using the correct technical jargon.

I have a 2013 Honda Accord 2.4 L DX 5-AT purchased from and used in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The car was a sweetheart. Last week, we had a lot of rain (it rains once every couple of years or so in this part of Saudi Arabia) and while driving through a big puddle (I know, I know) my car got hydrolocked. I took the car to Honda dealership who kept the car for a couple of days and said everything is OK and changed the usual stuff, spark plugs, engine and transmission oil etc. The car ran fine for a few days except that I felt more vibrations on idle than normal. I dismissed it because the car just had been to Honda dealership for $700. Then one day, all of a sudden, engine threw a rod and made a hole in the cylinder block. I took the car back to Honda dealership and the idiots there said that the car was running fine before and there was no way for them to check if something was wrong inside the engine or not. I told them that a simple compression test would have done the job. As it turns out, the $320 test they did on my car did not include the compression test. What a bunch of rip offs. So now they have given me a quote of $5,000 to change the engine lower assembly only (less gearbox, he used the term 'half-engine'). They will be using the head from my car's current engine. I bought this used car for $10,000 so you can understand my reluctance in spending half of that just on a cylinder block.

So I took to streets and found a place where they sell used imported engines. I found a couple of engines from LKQ that are being sold here. The whole engine will cost me around $1,500 including fitting. I ran the VIN numbers from the engines and now I have a couple of questions, before I go through with the deal :-

1. The VIN numbers indicate that the engine is from a 2013 Honda Accord from US but from what I have seen, the spark plugs are in a different location. Mine are on top while in the LKQ engine is a bit lower and towards the back . These engines are being sold as from 2016 Honda Accord. Since the engine head looked 'different' this is what I believed until I ran the VIN numbers. The mechanic told me that he will use the head from my engine and will swap the cylinder block only. Will this work ? Are there going to be any sensor issues etc ? I know it might be a bit hard for you guys to say anything without looking at it, but will appreciate if you can give it a try.

2. Again, from the VIN numbers I found that the engines come from a CVT sedan while mine has a 5 speed AT. Are there going to be compatibility issues ? Is a clean swap possible ? The mechanics here are not that, let's say, tech-savvy. Unless something is a simple swap, there is a good chance that it will end up as a botched up job. I don't want to leave this problem to the guy's genius.

3. The part number that I got from Honda for my engine block assembly is '10002-B0-Y00' while the one I got from the LKQ engines with CVT is '10002-5A2-A01'. I managed to search the American engines with AT but the part number is different from either. This has got me concerned if the CVT engine block can indeed be a clean swap with mine. I searched for my engine part online but could not get a lot of hits except from Indian and Russia so I guess it is just a region specific number or something.

Will appreciate a response. If you guys need the VIN numbers of the engines let me know.