Ok, I have a 1997 Accord with the SOHC non-vtec 2.2L (F22b2 i think) and an automatic transmission with 214,000 miles. I just recently took it on a roadtrip that all in all was 1400 miles in 3 days. When I got home I noticed a slight knocking sound from under the hood. So I popped open the hood and gave it some throttle and a distinct knocking sound was coming from the engine block. It only seemed to happen when I gave it gas. From what I heard it seemed to be around the 3000rpm mark. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but the transmission has been flaring out from 2-3 and 3-4 since I have owned the car (it was a gift) and I have put 63,000 miles on it. My thinking is maybe the flaring out has put un-needed stress on the crankshaft. But since I have no idea I could be way wrong. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Most likely, the transmission was not a contributing factor.

There are several things which can cause engine knock/tick noises, all under different conditions.
Crankshaft Connecting Rod Bearings
Piston Wrist Pins
Piston Skirts
Crankshaft Main Bearings
Crankshaft Thrust Bearing
Valve lash adjustment

You have several options available to you.
1) Repair the transmission & Engine and spend more money than the car's worth.
2) Sell it as is (with disclosure but no warranty) or
3) Keep the maintaince up and run it. Put what money you would have spent and put it towards your next ride.

P

 

That was along the lines of what I was afraid of. But lets say I decide to replace the rod bearings and the main bearings myself. Is it really that hard to drop the crank out of the bottom of the motor? I understand that the belt pulley will need to come off and the transmission seperated from the engine. Is there anything that I should look out for? Any tricks?

 

Well its not really that simple man, and plus if its something more than just the bearings, u are going to waste all that time on getting the crank out, then u put it back together and it still knocks....that would suck..Plus if it has a knock, chances are something is beaten up inside. Also remember that unless you have done honda bearings before, you shouldn't do them the first time without some advice/help from a good builder, they have to be to the most accurate clearances...

With 214k, even though these motors usually last till 300, if I were u I would spend the 300-500 bucks on a used f22b2(remember no vtec, cuz putting in a vtec motor in a non-vtec chassis would cause u more headache) long block and swap it in there, SOHC's are a breeze to pull out. That would be much less work that trying to change bearings or pistons from under the car. In the long run you will probably spend less money doing a whole motor swap than fixing your problem. Good luck man!

 

I would agree with Tampa94lstg if you're insisting on repairing it.
I'd go furthur to offer that it would be near impossible to do the bearing job upside-down correctly.
Honda's idea of bearing fit and selection is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not as cut & dry as your buddies' Chevy 350 small block.
If I were to go that route, the engine would come out and be mounted on an engine stand.
The quickest route would be as suggested earlier. Pick up a low milage F22B2 from someone like Woodfin's (with a warranty) and do the plug & play routine.
If you want to refreshen or liven up your old F22, you can do it at your liesure.

P

 

First off, I thank both of you for your help and knowledge. The problem now is that I am terrified to yank the motor out of my car. I am knowledgable with cars and such but swapping motors sounds out of my league, but I'm to cheap to pay to have it done. Like I said before I have a Helm INC shop manual for my car, but are there any tricks or helpful tips for this process?
Another note, my mom has a 92 Prelude SI with the H23 motor that she said she would give me. Her motor has roughly 170,000, but she has owned it since it had 40,000 and she was friends with the previous owner (who bought it brand new) so we know the motor has been well taken care of. Should I consider this as an option or would the work be too much and / or complicated?

 

The first thing you'll most likely have to do is query the state insoection and DOT rules on engine replacement. The H23 out of the '92 Prelude domor is an OBD1 series engine and the recipiant '97 Accord is a OBD2 series vehicle. Some states (California in particular) will not allow this.

There is (however) this. The H23 will bolt up. There may be an issue with one of the motor mounts, but if you could mount all the appropriate sensors and such off the F22 onto the H23, it would be do-able.

Here is a thread which discribes a swap of an H22A into a 5th Gen Accord
read up:
http://www.accordinglydone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29

P