New here. Hello everyone. Not to get too fast to the point but I need help. My brother in law has a 97 accord he overheated badly and has oil in the coolant. He had the head done before I presume machined down .020" and new head gasket blurp kaChing $1300 dings.... And sure enough it began overheating again.

He's as "not" mechanical as anyone you could imagine. He could not source the problem with the continued overheating and continued to drive it and fill up the water and this and that. Finally he overheated it but good and now oil in the water again. He doesn't want to go back and deal with the mechanic but he needs transportation.

He did not talk to me before working on the aluminum head or I would have warned him as I have been there with an 86 civic.

Did I mention that he is poor so thems of us surrounding him will need be swapping in another engine????

You can't choose your family members boyz.... LOL

Anyways...

I did search the forum and found this post:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-accord-1990-2002-2/help-f22-swap-2594514/

According to this at least, you can switch a later model F22 engine into an earlier model f22 accord and this will work fine with just slight differences in the wiring which it sounds can be just ignored without issue.

So the question is this... I am not trying to make a spaceship here. I just want a good replacement engine for this car and I see various available accord Vtecs but I wouldn't want to buy a non compatible engine and make for myself a nightblare... LOL

Anyone?

btw... I have a 92 integraRS myself which is going on rusted out with western NY snowy weather and sporting 220K miles without issue fwiw. Love that car but she's on her way out sadly.... Darn rust!

 

Any 96/97 accord with the same motor you have, F22b1 or f22b2 will be a clean transplant. There are plenty of them out there, i would just stick with that instead of going with older engines to keep myself from having to modify anything of the wiring.

 

That's about what I figured. I was just wishing the older engines would work out fine to make my "options" more many. I was also wondering if there are differences with the transmission hookups?? For example.. this one is the EX of course with the automatic tranny. What if I find an engine meant for a standard tranny? Same just change housing from old engine to new or no?

Thanks for your help. Much MUCH appreciate...

 

just pick up a jdm f22b engine from a reputable dealer and drop it in. As long as you're not in cali you can pretty much do anything you want.

 

All transmission bellhousing from all F/H series FWD engine are the same. Only thing you would need to do is swap out the flywheel for a torque converter and flexplate at the big end of the crank. Then your transmission will bolt right up.

 

He is not into that, he just wants the car back to its "stock" reliability without having to do much other than putting a new motor in.

 

It seems to me he is saying just buy a stock like mine but japanese market F22 engine and drop it in there. I assume from what I have learned that these are low mileage engines and usually in good shape. I was just hoping to get an engine a bit cheaper but seems through JDM that you can get one for about $500 plus shipping so probably $750 or so seem right?

Lets say I did find an earlier engine from 94-95 Vtec accord... Would it be a problem to put it in and run it or would I get error codes cause some of the sensors are not there from the later 96-97 engines. Just wondering. NYS inspection needs to be passed and I'm wondering if emissions would be a problem if some sensors aren't hooked up.

 

It's not a 97.

It's a 99 2.3L 4cyl Vtec ulev engine.....

So that makes it a E23 I guess.

So the guy up the road at the junkyard has one he wants $500. I wanted to do compression checks on the cylinders but he refuses to let me do so. Claiming the starter is not in place to spin the motor, and that the motor has been on the shelf for at least a year so he says the compression readings will not be accurate because the engine oil was drained and the oil will have drained from the cylinder rings. Which I respectfully disagree.

My mechanic says that if the engine sits the oil drains out of the rings and indeed makes doing a compression test unreliable so maybe I am wrong but seems to me that if the rings are healthy and the cylinders tight the compressions will be good. I see no harm in doing the tests anyways just to see. Cause my mechanic wants $700 to remove the old motor and install the new and if the engines not good that would be a waste.

The junkyard guy is holding the line pretty hard here and not only is he not cooperating on the compression testing but he is insisting that I pay $100 more for the distributor setup. It was my understanding from the mechanic that special equipment is required to reinstall the distributor and get the the timing right if you remove same. Therefore... I was hoping for an engine with an untouched distributor/timing. That way I could just replace the timing belt and water pump, leave the distributor alone and go.

Are special tools required to reinstall a distributor on a 99 vtec ulev E23 engine and if so what can I recon spending with a honda service facility to have the timing set right? Probably an hour labor? I would imagine only they would have the equipment needed or no???

The mechanic claims you can't hook up different blackboxes/computers to different cars and that the information is in there/car specific with regards to airbags, antilock brakes and distributor/engine timing. He says you can transplant another engine with your same computers but you can not go different computers with the same engine.... ??? Which seems to make no sense to me but he is insisting.

The junkyard guy claims his engine person runs the used engines while hooked to a good radiator for several hours and up to temperature to make sure they are running right. He says they don't do compression testing on the motors...only run them to determine fitness for sale. Hmm??? They only give 30 days warranty on these engines and he is basically uncooperative regarding my compression concerns. He says he would rather I have the engine installed and run it up to temperature before doing compression testing. These motors have 100k or more miles and the engine install is quoted at $700 so that leaves me out $700 if at that point I find low compression in a cylinder which of course would leave me in a no win situation as it would cost more to remove it than to just run it to death as it is. Of course he knows that. LOL


Can anyone help here? There's a car with a supposed good motor down the road and I'm told it won't run cause someone removed the computer. So I figured go there with the missing part from my brother in laws accord and plug it in and try to start/run it. The mechanic says that won't work cause the computer out of Jimmy's car will not work in the junkyard car according to him. He also says there's no way to tell the mileage on the junkyard car with the computer removed cause that odometer is electronic and connected to the missing computer....

Confusion confusion. Is any of this relevant or just scads of BS? I worked on some honda civic stuff from 1986 timeframe and this newer stuff is causing me grief. Is the $700 quote reasonable for the work even? I could have him install the engine and then tow it to a Honda dealer to have the timing set right?

Thanks guys... Hope someone can enlighten me.

 

Hey I'm wondering the same thing what other engines would be compatible with just a drop in for a 99 honda accord .

BUMP

 

Hey I'm wondering the same thing what other engines would be compatible with just a drop in for a 99 honda accord .

BUMP

 

Just pick up another Long Block from the JY or if you want you can always get JDM F23A as a replacement too.

 

hey this has nothing to do with your topic but i also need help....

i have a 1997 honda accord special edition (not sure if its lx or ex) non vtec, i put a 2000SOHC jdm f23a accord motor in it but on the motor there's no pressure switch for the vtec. do i have to buy one? or do i need the pressure switch to engage vtec?

my wire harness is usdm an i have the jdm f23a vtec ecu, when i plug in the ecu it wont start my car but when i use the non vtec f22b1 ecu (stock) it will start, is there any difference in the wire? or which ecu can i use.

the car is running fine but i want to connect the vtec because it doesnt pull after certain rpm.

 

I think the ULEV engine is an F23A4. I'm doing an F23A1 swap into my '96 and did some research on 6th gen engines. From what I can tell an F23A1 non-ULEV engine would bolt in but you'd have to use the exhaust manifold/O2 sensor from the A4 and perhaps swap some other sensors over.

Perhaps it depends on the part of the country you're in but around here F23A1 engines are cheap, cheaper than earlier engines with similar miles. I just bought an F231A with 110K for $325 and I don't think I got any great deal.

Will your mechanic source an engine for you?

 

Well the guys that did my swap use my old intake manifold from the f22b1 an it bolted perfect...they used my usdm wire harness on a jdm motor an now they cant get the jdm f23a ecu to start the car...would it be some wries are different? ...the engine is already install an running perfect i just want to connect the vtec but no pressure switch on the engine...

That is cheap i paid $550 with 80km but im happy withthe engine its soft i can tell its a good motor....u will feel a difference when u have it install but not crazy to go take on a rsx (faster car) thats why i want to get my vtec runnin an the proper ecu...maybe im losin power