i just recently acquired a 1990 crx hf, if you guys didn't know. however, it does not have a front-end, which is what my first purchase for the car will be. of course, it doesn't come with a motor either. but for $250, i just couldn't resist.

anyways, i've already decided on the jdm front-end, since i figure all the oem replacement could possible run around the same amount. which leaves me with the motor issue. since i'm still on a budget (being a college student, and still paying car notes for my accord), i figure i would try to pick up a d16y7 motor from my friend for dirt cheap. the motor does have 150,xxx miles on it however. but in time, i would probably go with my original plan, which is the d16y8 motor. but i need the car to run now.

i figure if i mate the y7 with the crx si tranny and axles, i could easily switch in the y8 motor later when money starts flowing again. anyways, this leads me to my question. with this type of set-up (d16y7 motor, crx si tranny & axles), what ecu could i temporary use for the mean time? would the wiring be too difficult that it would just be a waste of time?

i did a search, and read on a thread in the archives that the d16y7 and d16y8 have the identical bottom-end. so would you guys suggest that i just work with this motor, and add the y8 head later on instead of swapping the entire motor out? it does worry me a little that the motor has 150K miles on the motor though. any suggestions?

thanks guys.

 

Alright, something I actually know about!

Your first question was what ECU should you use for the Y7 motor? The easiest would be throwing in a Si (PM6) ECU.... Maybe....Now I'm not sure if there are any wiring differences in that area, but the HF & Si wiring are very very similar... But if you plan to use the actual Y8 ECU when you get the Y8 motor, you might as well wire it all up to accept the OBD-2 (Y7) ECU.

I probably didn't help at all on that question... sorry.

Next question - 150k miles on the block. I ran into the same issue, which is why I'm doing my current swap, instead of using my old A6 motor.

Do a compression test on the Y7 motor. If the numbers are relatively good (above 170 psi) then you might as well stick with the Y7 bottom end, then just throw in a new Y8 head. If the compression is low, then you're probably better off using the full Y8 motor...

Hope this helps!

 

what should i do to try to milk all the life of what's left in this motor? replace the gaskets and seals?

i mean i got a super great deal on the motor, so that's why i'm heading towards this way for now. i rather focus on trying to fix the front-end and painting the car first, before i try to get that y8 motor.

any help?