Hello EF lovers! I had some problems with two bent valves on my wagon ( One Valve is Bad and There is Not Compression on one Piston ). I was undecided on what to do to fix my wagon: D16Z6 head ($250 installed), D16z6 full engine ($500 installed), and D16Y7 full engine ($600 installed). With the help of some of these forum members, I made up my mind. I decided just to post an ad offering to buy a regular D15 head to be installed in my D15 block.

Last Thursday, a guy called me and told me he had one head that he could also install for me if I wanted ($150 Head & Labor included). I found it to be a great price and I went for it. Having the seller install the head for me would guarantee that the head would be in working condition. I went on Friday night (8:30Pm) for the installation. When I got there, the engine was still on the block. Also, I got surprised because the head was not a D15, it was a D16y7. I pointed to him that the head was not a D15 one but he replied that head would work the same. After taking the head of the d16Y7 block, he installed the head and a new head gasket. He used my wagon DPFI manifold intake, my D15 distributor, and basically everything else besides the head. It was already 12:30Am when he noticed that my D15 timing belt would not fit the D16Y7 head. We needed to get a new timing belt. This was almost impossible due to the time. We continued the installation the next day. He got the timing belt installed and the engine properly running. At the beginning, there was some a little misfire when the gas was pressed hard. He covered/sealed the PCV valve and solved the problem. However, the mechanic suggested me to install a new PCV valve, new spark plugs, spark plug wire, change oil and so on. I happily drove the wagon back home. Everything was going fine with it until I decided to adjust some of the stuff that he did not put in the right way. There was not a hose connecting the head breather hole to the airbox. The accelerator cable was hanging around. There was not an upper timing belt plastic cover due to the difference between the heads. I fixed all these little issues the next day.

After that, my wagon started giving me some problems. The car was failing when I pressed the gas. It started losing power. Sometimes, the engine would just pick up fine but then it would just lose power when the gas is pressed. I have to let the gas pedal go and the press it again in order to make my wagon run normally. The problem feels like when there is a bad spark plug or like if there was not enough fuel being pumped… I do not know. What do you think guys?? Please HELP!!

Updates: I actually installed a full set of brand new NGK spark plugs today. I ordered them for an Y7 vehicle. I also changed the PCV valve. The vehicle actually got better. It made me think for like 20 minutes that I had solved the problem. But when I launched the highway and was ready to take off, the problem started again. After driving it for a minute and take the foot off the pedal, the wagon went back to normal.

 

Anyone???

 

i would just swap out the engine doing head swaps without sending them off to a machine shop to get resurfaced and whatnot almost always will have a sealing problem with the head gasket in some way. dont even waste your time or money on it

 

Yes, I really appreciate the piece of advice. However, it is a little late for me now. I had the new head installed last Friday... I will have to deal with it now....

 

Updates: I actually installed a full set of brand new NGK spark plugs today. I ordered them for an Y7 vehicle. I also changed the PCV valve. The vehicle actually got better. It made me think for like 20 minutes that I had solved the problem. But when I launched the highway and was ready to take off, the problem started again. After driving it for a minute and take the foot off the pedal, the wagon went back to normal.

 

Bad gas? Put fuel injector cleaner also a nice higher grade of gas too. See what's up.

 

the "grade"or octane of the gas has nothing to do with how well or clean it burns. the higher the octane,the less likely to preignite on the compression stroke. high compression engines use higher octane fuel for this reason - boosted engines use high test for this reason.

the b2 was made to run regular, higher grade shouldn't give any advantages.

i had gotten bad gas once in my integra on a drive from mississippi to new york and it acted all weird and was jerky and at times it felt like there was no gas getting to the engine. Kinda like my ef feels like when I run it down to near empty - it... hiccups - burps. My integra never got better, so I parked it and drove something else. When I started the thing back up after sitting for 2 years, all was fine and it became my dd again... don't know what the deal was.

 

Yes, I will def do that... Thanks

 

I actually installed a full set of brand new NGK spark plugs today. I ordered them for an Y7 vehicle. I also changed the PCV valve. The vehicle actually got better. It made me think for like 20 minutes that I had solved the problem. But when I launched the highway and was ready to take off, the problem started again. After driving it for a minute and taking the foot off the pedal, the wagon went back to normal driving.

 

does the car idle right when it's on?
at 700 rpm like it should

 

I think you should just sell me the wagon as-is

 

Could it be the DPFI? Being that head was made to run with MPFI that may be part of the issue? But I couldn't say for sure without experiencing the problem in person. Sorry.

 

Just some times. When the problem starts, the car goes up 900 and down 500 RPMs...

 

LOL... I do not think so... I own a 2006 Civic sedan and I love more this little wagon than anything else!!

 

I was really thinking that it could be a distributor issue since the wagon got better when I put the new spark plugs... The problem is that when I require quick power by pressing the gas pedal hard, it feels like if somebody would have unplugged a spark plug wire... It just loses power...

 

Anyone???

 

im telling you bro swap out that motor it isnt worth tryna get it to run rite. 3 or 400 hundred and u could drop in a whole healthy single cam

 

Yeah man, I am already in the middle of it. I can't go back.

 

Wow, I found out what the problem was. The problem was a bad spark plug wire. I changed them with brand new ones but it seems that one of the wires was defective. Problem fixed! Thanks for your help guys!!

 

so hows it running now?
better than with the old head
does it feel the same
congrats on fixing it ^_^

 

It is running just about the same. Thanks.