how reliable is your B16 swap?

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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 06:36 PM
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Default how reliable is your B16 swap?

like it asks. i use my HB for everyday travel and 70 more HP would be nice. i want to do the swap, but need it not to let me down on the hwy. my D15 runs like a top.
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 07:14 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (91H4hatch)

if there is nothing wrong with the motor, don't mess with it. i did my swap...if done right it's a sweet deal...but if your motor is top notch....wait until it wants to give out...then do it.....you'll thank yourself for not "destroying" your mode of transportation......i was out 4 months...
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 07:21 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (Burlyirishdude)

If you have all the stuff and someone whos done it before.

It can be done in a weekend without working too hard.

B swaps are very reliable.
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 07:43 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (WayFastWhitie)

rear main seal, crank seal, valve cover gasket, head gasket, oil pan gasket, spark plug gaskets, water pump, timing belt, tensonor........all very easy to do when the engine is out and will make it last just as long as your stock engine would. do it right and only do it once.
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 07:47 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (bernie'sb16crx)

You can always buy a low mileage JDM swap, I'm sure it will be as reliable as your current engine, if not more reliable considering the mileage.
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 07:52 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (LSVTEC 91 Civic)

Got the b16 in oct 03. I towed it home once so far. Turned out to be some loose spade connectors on the ignitor. Other than that the motor has been very reliable.
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 08:41 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (eda6)

Its reliable for me as well
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 08:51 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (91H4hatch)

5 yrs and counting and its never left me. Ive driven back and forth from MD to IL many times. Maintain it and its like any other Honda.
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 10:05 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (Cory man)

what these guys said. its a honda motor. it will last you.

do as much rubber as you can while the engine is out of the car, dont be an ******* like me and get stuck with a leak and no hoist

also if yo have a place to store your stock motor keep it with the mounts. you never know. or even sell it. just some thoughts...
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Old Dec 3, 2004 | 11:01 PM
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Default

B series engines are truely one of the best built 4 cylinders in the world! As long as you give regular maintence like oil changes, ect, and change the timing belt every 60,000 miles, you should be very happy in the long term.

Proper install is important, as well as not giving into abuse such as driving a cold engine hard or leaving the engine to idle for extended peroids of time.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 03:14 AM
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Default Re: (Deetz)

When used in an ED/EF Civic/CRX, B-series engines like the B16A tend to be very overbuilt. They can take ALOT of abuse and come out smelling like a rose. This has been not only my finding, but the finding of alot of people here. The only 'unknown' is the quality of the install - wiring included. 99.99999% of problems that people are going to have with swaps is directly related to the quality of the install. So yes, a B16A swap is going to be reliable - provided the swap is done well.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 04:10 AM
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Default .

The engine itself is very reliable. Mine is a daily driver which also sees track time at HPDE events.
The OBD0 distributors are probably the most common failure. I use a '90 Integra distributor with one of the legs hacked off for a spare.
The cooling system did fine for me until I added A/C (using the HASport A/C bracket). At this point, a bigger capacity radiator became necessary.

As mentioned above, I would run the stock motor until it dies, or keep it just in case.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 05:35 AM
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thanks for the info fellas. since my motor runs so well now, i will wait to do the swap. never thought id be excited for my motor to blow up.....knock on wood!
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 09:49 AM
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Default Re: (91H4hatch)

when it does get pics of the motor....hehehe....when i pulled my 266,000 Hf motor out....the whole inside looked wonderful....i was so impressed i wanted to go buy another hf and cram the old engine back into that one.....

i miss my little annoying shift light...hehehe....hondas run forever....
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 10:01 AM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (WayFastWhitie)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WayFastWhitie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you have all the stuff and someone whos done it before.

It can be done in a weekend without working too hard.

B swaps are very reliable.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If its done right I think a weekend is stretching it. I can pull an engine out and have a new engine sitting in there in a day but if you do it right and replace all the seals, gaskets and all the other little things, its gonna take more then 2 days.

As for how reliable a b16 swap is, its very very reliable, if done right more reliable then some of the new Honda's out there. Make sure you get the engine from a good source, Steve at Hmotors has not let me down with any of the engines I have ordered from him, I have ordered more then 3 and all of them were strong and running like champs. I pulled compression on all of them and they were all over 200 and with in specs.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 10:37 AM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (90blackcrx)

ive had mine for over 2 years without any problems at all, swap had a bum distributor when i got it, replaced it and every thing is fine, ran it for almost 2 months now with revhard turbo kit, no problems with that either.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 11:07 AM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (slowpokesi)

90% of the time if the swap is cherry (i have seen some that had bent rods when disassembled!)
u will have many many years of 8000rpm

the b16 i have now has seen 12,000rpm on the stock bottom end, and then got pulled out and sat for 8 months, and now is doing daily duties for me once again.

not one failure yet that wasnt of my own stupidity

BTW- the motor has low compression in a cylinder :/ so i will be doing rings on it soon. i kinda miss the fast rev's it once had
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 12:44 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (johnzm)

I had my b16 for 4 years now, and its still running strong, doesn't burn any oil and doesn't smoke either. I know for a fact that I don't have one of those 30-40K motors that people promise you either, but if you take care of it. Such as oil changes and the regular maintenace it will last. I autox and beat on it daily. Only thing I changed on it was water pump, tensior, and timing belt. I drive the car too and from school which is 100miles each way, doing 80mph at 5000rpm.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 12:50 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (goforbroke)

To add to what I said above, my brother has a 2000 civic si and b16 are notorious for burning a little oil which his does, I have a used b16 from japan that is about 12 to 14 years old and mine does not burn oil at all.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 02:39 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (Burlyirishdude)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Burlyirishdude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if there is nothing wrong with the motor, don't mess with it. i did my swap...if done right it's a sweet deal...but if your motor is top notch....wait until it wants to give out...then do it.....you'll thank yourself for not "destroying" your mode of transportation......i was out 4 months...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Burlyirishdude: I saw your post on your progress. Good job


I do want to say though, having your car out for 4 months is ridiculous.

I did a b16 swap with ALL the goodies including headwork, new valve guides and seals. I also did ALL new suspension, all new poly bushings and a rear disc swap and I did all from start to finish in 2 weeks. The day after I finished I drove the car from SLC, UT to Seattle where afterwards I have been daily driving it for 2.5 years with 3 road trips and 6 track days.

Before I did the swap I did ALL THE NECESSARY research including ALL that could possibly go wrong so that I wouldn't run into ANY unforeseen problems. Then I saved up the money for 8 months and bought the parts here and there and let them sit while I continued the research and organized everything. AFter I had EVERY part that I needed and everything down to a tee, I made sure all the work on the engine was done BEFORE it went into the car. I made sure EVERYTHING was ready before I ever touched the car.

After all the research was done, all the parts together and organized and the engine was finished and assembled then I took 2 weeks off of work and went crazy. Don't piece-meal your car. DO IT ALL AT ONCE. Then it will be reliable, it will be complete, and most of all it will be fun.
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edit: remember that if you buy a 1 gen b16 that OBD0 it is very old and it was probably very well beaten on. When I bought mine from HMO, the valve guides were WAY out of spec, that is why I had all the head work done. YOU NEED TO PLAN AND BUDGET FOR THIS!

ALSO, IF YOU PLAN ON PUTTING IN BIGGER CAMS YOU NEED TO REPLACE THE LMA's or you could run into REAL problems down the line. If you're unsure about what problems 1st gen lma's will cause just ask, I will be happy to fill you in. There's more to doing a b16 swap then just swapping motors. Knowledge is power and it's also reliability.

When I resarched my project I didn't just research how to do it... I mainly researched what could go wrong... then I made sure I didn't make any of those mistakes.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 02:47 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (rice_classic)

I've put about 30k miles within the past year and a half on my b16a swap (much of it track time), and the only thing I've replaced was the distributor. Otherwise I've had zero problems

I love the b16a, but it just doesn't have enough power for me at the moment.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 03:37 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (90blackcrx)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If its done right I think a weekend is stretching it. I can pull an engine out and have a new engine sitting in there in a day but if you do it right and replace all the seals, gaskets and all the other little things, its gonna take more then 2 days.

As for how reliable a b16 swap is, its very very reliable, if done right more reliable then some of the new Honda's out there. Make sure you get the engine from a good source, Steve at Hmotors has not let me down with any of the engines I have ordered from him, I have ordered more then 3 and all of them were strong and running like champs. I pulled compression on all of them and they were all over 200 and with in specs.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was refering to 2 days of downtime for the veichle while preforming the swap. The engine can sit for a month while you change parts before doing the swap.
If you have someone who has done it before helping you it goes quick imo.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 08:36 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (WayFastWhitie)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by WayFastWhitie &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I was refering to 2 days of downtime for the veichle while preforming the swap. The engine can sit for a month while you change parts before doing the swap.
If you have someone who has done it before helping you it goes quick imo.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah it goes quick, I have done about 5 and like I said I can get an engine out in a day and have the new 1 sitting in there that night or the next morning. Usually though the customer will bring his car and have it sit there while he waits for the engine to ship, its not the other way where he would have the engine shipped here and then come with the car.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 08:46 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (90blackcrx)

I dive my Swapped 88 hatch about 200 miles a day, 5 days a week. I spend an hour each way to work at 4500 RPm average, the B16 sees close to 8K RPM many times during the drive. Very well built motors and I agree, maintain it and it tuned....you will have a fairly powerful and dependable motor for many years. I have put about 30K miles on my unknown mileage B16 and no probs so far.
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Old Dec 4, 2004 | 09:13 PM
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Default Re: how reliable is your B16 swap? (rsbad454)

i could drive my track car everyday, if i wanted to swap out the slicks for regular wheels, and i wanted to take off the cut doors and plexi windows for stockers.


im in the process of selling my daily driver (to buy another CRX for a daily)
and in the meantime, might drive my EF hatch drag car to and from work... with stock doors and wheels/tires.

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