So a couple weeks ago my 91 civic blew a rod bearing in the first cylinder now im going through a painful process on what do i do! Iv talked to many experts and read many threads and still dont know what quite to do. some people say i have to buy a whole new engine AGAIN to fix it otherwise the problem will continue to happen. This is the first time this has happened so its not a repeat problem. iv been told i could emery cloth the shaft till there are no more score marks but that wont solve the problem forever. this engine is a new factory engine and block with only 20000 on it so id hate to go to the junk yard and buy some used piece of junk. iv been told that i could get a new rod shaft but that could still not fix the problem. So what im asking here is what is the best rout to take? do i drop my tranny and replace the rod shaft with one from a junk yard, do i get it machined down the the next downsize and get a new bearing set and go that rout or do i HAVE to buy a new engine again. this honda has been nothing but bad luck with me and just a money sucker so i really want to sell it. was going to have it sold the day the rod bearing blew until the bearing blew out....

 

new/used crank within spec, new rods, rebuild make sure everything is within the right clearances and don't beat on it.

 

all new rods!?!? they are all new rods its a factory motor that i paid 2000 dollars to get put in. why dont i get the one rod that blew the bearing? i think it blew because the bolts on the oil pan where nearly finger tight so when i put oil in it would slowly leak it out till the oil was at the top of the pan. would getting only 1 rod mess up all the others or something? the rods in there now dont even have sludge build up on them yet thats how new it is.

 

bump?

 

I think you can get a machine shop to measure the rods but you can probably expect more problems if the car ran with low oil.

 

bump. anymore suggestions?

 

get a new motor D series are a dime a dozen

 

yeah new motor is out of the question. thats that im not dropping another 2000 dollars when im going to turn around and sell it for the same exact price pretty much. then i lose over 2000 dollars worth in parts...

 

if i was going to drop any engine in it would be a dohc vtech engine and tranny but even so i could not get the value of what iv put into the car back out of it so it a lost cause anyways. Im looking for the cheapest and best way to fix this thing up so i can sell it. im tired of dropping more and more money into the bitch. Loved hondas up till this car... kinda depressing really.

 

I'm thinking the reason it cost you so much is because a shop did all of the labour. If you really want to save money on it, you gotta pull the engine yourself. Take the block to a machine shop to check over. At the very least drop the oil pan and crank yourself and keep the engine in the bay. A set of rods is only a couple hundred bucks.

 

yeah im definatlly doing the work by myself now since i know a whole lot more about cars then i did then. but i still am not trying to get a new block or head or any of that its all brand new. all the cylinders look great just the crank needs some work. would putting in a new crank that meets the specs and just 1 new rod (the one with the spun bearing) work fine? i dont see why buying all new rods when there is already new rods in the car makes any sense to me. seems like a waste of money that does not need to be wasted.