I have a 92' Civic four door with a D15B7 block that has a D16Y8 head on it. The guy who built it supposedly said its a high compression build because he also put in ZC pistons and timing has been advanced (not sure how much).

My question is that every time I start it up, the head ticks like the valves needs adjustment or something. When its warmed up, the ticking isn't as loud but still noticable. Is this normal with a MiniME build or should I re-adjust the valves?

Also, with a 'high compression' build, do you HAVE to use 91 octane gas? When I drive it, at higher RPMs (over 3500), there's knocks and pings. I know this isn't normal.

The car is also an AUTOmatic so I barely ever take it over 3000 revs. I want to make sure everything is running how it's supposed to first before I rev it higher.

I'm new to MiniME's so anything and everything is appreciated!

 

I would re-adjust the valve lash and maybe you need to either retard the timing by twisting the distributor clockwise and also you might run 100octane to get it to stop pinging . It sounds like you might have a 12.0:1 compression motor or higher somebody correct me if i'm wrong.

 

bump

 

like he said retard the timing some and always run good gas... cheap gas + advanced timing + high compression = boom! detonation...

 

This sounds like a good diagnosis.

 

The compression ratio isn't that high. The D15b7 block with a Y8 head will net you a ~10.6:1 CR. If he used ZC pistons (P29 or PM7) you are sitting very close to 11:1. If he used a two layer headgasket, you could be as high as 11.3:1. You should retard timing a couple degrees and increase fuel pressure just a tab to stop from pinging. And yes, run the highest octane you can, 93 should be good enough. I would definitely recommend you to chip your ecu and get it tuned. Do a 5 speed swap and you'll really appreciate that build! Good start though!

 

WHen i start up my 99 Ej8 (I have a D16y8 btw) i can hear tick, tick, tick, tick rapidly then it stops, also my motor idles high at swtart up (around 1500rpms) ... It only happens after i rev it then ticking slows... Is this valve knock? idk whats wrong, my head is completly stock, I have a Skunk2 Intake manifold with the 68mm TB with an AEM SR intake, my exhaust is a full Skunk2 cat back with a DC sport 4-2-1... I really dont want to blow the motor... HELP PLEASE!!!