Hello All,

Just signed up to this forum as I am getting ready to buy a used Civic. It's a '96 Civic EX Coupe. It's supposed to have a VTEC motor (advertised as such). But some Civics I have looked at had "VTEC" plastered on the valve cover, this motor does not. The reason I am suspect is that the motor was recently rebuilt. I'm wondering if they dropped a non-VTEC head on it to save money. Is that even possible without swapping the whole motor? Could the electronics even be hooked up to a non-VTEC motor? Is there a way to identify a VTEC motor other than raised lettering on the valve cover?

I'm completely new to owning Honda's, so I know next to nothing about them, at least on a more intimate level.

Thanks,

-Victor

 

look for the Vtaaak silinoid (looking at the motor) left of the fuel rail.

 

That car should have D16Y8 stamped on a flat spot on the left side of the engine block about 2-3 inches below the cylinder head. That is the engine code for the SOHC VTEC engine in the 6th gen civic EX.

 

this is most likely what you will see, the huge honda insignia on the valve cover > normal. and if you look at the corner of the valve cover you need to look for the green plugged vetc oil pressure valve (you can see this clearly right??)and along with the vtec solenoid (circle thingy at the top)

all this is behind the distributor as you can see from the photo.

now whether or not you can feel the vtec engage is another story. LOL

 

THANKS! Like they say a picture is worth a 1000 words. Oh, and I will look for the stamp on the block too.

Very informative stuff. Thanks again.

-Victor

 

THE SPARK PLUGS WILL BE CLOSER TO THE FRONT END ON THE VTECH

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civic_22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">THE SPARK PLUGS WILL BE CLOSER TO THE FRONT END ON THE VTEC</TD></TR></TABLE>

not on that year.

on 92-95 this is true.

but on 96 and up they are towards the front.

the best way is look for d16y8 stamped on the block and the vtec solenoid pictured above.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civic_22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">THE SPARK PLUGS WILL BE CLOSER TO THE FRONT END ON THE VTECH</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not true in this case.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civic_22 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">THE SPARK PLUGS WILL BE CLOSER TO THE FRONT END ON THE VTECH</TD></TR></TABLE>

i hear this isn't true..