hey guys -

been probably 5 or 6 years since I touched these threads...

I have a 2000 lude, base, 5spd. Too busy with work to do anything myself - motor fried at 176,XXX miles.

Took it to 3 shops, they said screw it, just swap. I went to the most reputable, and ordered a 'jdm h22a engine only' from jspec auto. Shop got the motor, saw it stamped H23A, we called jspec, and they said it was 'the same motor with exception for the wiring for the crank sensor'.

as I said, it's been years since I've been in the car loop, so I came here looking for info and still doesn't seem like tons of info is out on the blue top h23 vtec.

Picking the car up tomorrow, shop says it is running fine, feels nice and sounds nice - just idling a little high.

Need some tips and help - what is 'safe' with this h23 vtec? What is default VTEC crossover? Is this motor less/more reliable than the standard h22? Are there known issues? I checked the forums and time was running short and I wasn't finding a lot on this 'blue top h23 vtec' so I figured I'd ask directly.

Any and all information will be appreciated, as this is my daily driver for now. Saving money to take advantage of the down housing market for now - so want the car to last at least a couple years.

also -
shop, during the swap, threw on a new radiator, timing belt/water pump, clutch, all for the h22 motor - I assume that is compatible as well?

thanks again for any and all input

 

Man you got one of those. there is a thread here call the Mystery H23a Blue top.

More info will be there. But I think you got the best of both worlds with the H23a. Vtec head and H23 block. OEM designed, cant beat that

 

You've seen the engine with your own two eyes right? So you know for a fact that it's the H23A VTEC and not the H23A non-VTEC?

 

haha, to be sure, I actually just called the shop to reconfirm - it is definitely a stamped H23A DOHC VTEC w/ blue valve cover.

Should be picking the car up soon. Started reading through the mystery blue top thread.

He ran into some issues with some vacuum lines, the crank sensor wiring, the tach wiring, one of the mount holes not lining up properly, and a few other minor issues. I will try to get a detailed list so I can add this to the documented literature.

Kind of exciting, I got out of my prelude-motor-head phase when I got a motorcycle and this has kind of renewed my love for the lude - called some rim repair guys to come out tomorrow, assuming all is well motorwise tomorrow and fix a rim that was bent.

say a prayer, wish me luck. any and all advice on revving would be appreciated!

 

good luck this sounds interesting take lots o pics brother!

 

hey guys -

ok, picking the car up tomorrow AM after my doctors appointment. Guy from the shop wants to take it home with him and mess with the idle and get a good cold crank in and see how she does.

He said it runs fantastic. Said he felt that VTEC was kicking in around 3500RPM. My question with that - that seems unusually early for one. Two, how easily is that fixed? Three, is that harmfull in any way to the motor?

I haven't seen anything in the other threads about idle issues. Anyone familiar with it?

Thanks

 

hey - update.

got the car this afternoon. seems to be running fine. is idling high, but other than that it runs fine. throwing two codes, both of which are related to the sensors that were broken in shipment.

the car sounds pretty good, feels good, and I got a chance to do a 4th gear VTEC run and it kicked in just fine at 5100rpm.

motor runs 5.5 quarts of oil as opposed to the 5 I ran in the h22.

I do have pics - it is stamped H23A and is a DOHV VTEC blue valve cover. hope it continues to do well.