I fired up my civic, with some help from the ether bunny, and I have a LOUD tap from the top end. It does run and idle just fine, but I think what I am hearing is the valves slamming into the top of the pistons. I would think that the timing belt/chain slipped a tooth and that that would need replacement. I would also suspect that the pistons are a little screwed up and that the valves are slammed and bent. I have a video of the car starting and running, with audio, if that will help anyone help me diagnose.
I am wondering if the dohc head will fit on the sohc motor and what things I would have to do to change it around. It is essentially the same motor right? I also could use some advice on where to start and things to keep in mind as I normally work on trucks and recently I have been doing a lot of 7.3 powerstroke diesel work. I have never owned a civic, but I got this one for $75 while I was junking cars and couldn't let this baby go to waste. The previous owner had a denso throttle body, an itp fuel rail, and cold air intake put on it. I am sure that he has other stuff done, other than the 17" rims with brand new tires.
Anyways, I could definitely use some advice on this thing as I don't really work on these...ever. Thanks in advance for the help.

 

try the search button at the top of the page...it works wonders

 

Stop. Slow down.

First thing you should do is make sure the engine is in time. If it is, then yank the head and see what you're dealing with. If it's pistons and valves, then you replace them or just throw in another stock motor, they can be had for about the same amount of $$$.

What motor is it? You can't put a DOHC head on a SOHC block (well, easily anyways ). You can see the block code near the front of the engine where the block and trans. mate (should be D15B2, D15B8, D16A6, etc).

 

theres no such thing as bad head unless there is a lot of teeth involved.

 

what ur probably hearing is piston slap. and not the valves at all. and if its outta time the car wont idle properly or start properly for that matter. and no a dohc head will not fit on a sohc block, their to wide. but just in case check the valve clearence and retime it just to make sure. so jsut keep me posted on wha tu find.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SFlCrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">theres no such thing as bad head unless there is a lot of teeth involved.</TD></TR></TABLE>

*thud*

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SFlCrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">theres no such thing as bad head unless there is a lot of teeth involved.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Or not enough throat...

 

Valves way out of adjustment? Before you go pulling the head off, just yank off the valve cover and see what you've got going on in there. I don't know the clearances off hand, but get some feeler gauges and check it out.

And invest in a repair manual.

 

intake .007-.009
exhaust .008-.0010
i think are the specs. might be vice versa.

or not enough tonge

 

thanks fellas. I do appreciate the colorful responses. I will definitely check out the clearances. It doesn't really make sense for it to be timing since it is running and idling fine, which I think was a good point. I'll have to check the clearances and see where I can go from there. As far as the head, I'd have to agree...teeth are bad.