So before i ask im brand new here so forgive me if i screw up posting a thread. lol

i just bought a 91 crx si. the guy i bought it off of said that the car jumped timing and some vavles bent... what are the chances the valves hit the pistons (happened while he was driving) and how much of a pain is it to rebuild a d16a6 head?
also it there anything else i should worry bout with crx's it my first one so i have no idea about these cars.

 

I am preety new here myself. My response would be that hitting the piston is what causes bent valves so if you have bent valves then the chances are 100% that they hit the piston.

 

well this is from what the guy has said to me. i havent towed the car to my house yet to rip the head off. but if it did hit the piston would it be worth rebuilding the a6 or should i go and get a y8. and if i go with a y8 how hard of a swap is it and can i use the same tranny.


sorry for all question just new to the honda game

 

this being your first Honda you will come to realize either you got it or you don't. Honda's are by far the most simple engines and easiest motor to work on. especially these d-series

before you pull the head buy a new belt and reset the timing, and/or get a compression test done, (cant rent a tester from autozone) ive had a belt jump and bend valves and ive had belts break and the valves be fine so check to see that the compression is low (bent valve) before you pull the head.

if you determine it has bent them you have 3 options... and i will list them in order of price

replace valves only (yourself, plenty of how to's and specialty tools are free rental at autozone) -cheapest

buy a new 16valve head (basically the same between the d16a6 head and the d15 heads as long as it is not a 8valve) -middle cost

or the better of the three and also most exspencive, buy a d16z6 or d16y8 head and convert to car to obd1 (also plenty of how to guides for this)

if you chose to do the first or second you will gain valuable knowledge of Honda's and once you can fix one you can fix them all, if the third you will gain the knowledge AND congratulations on having a vtec car!

repairing all comes down to what you prefer, personally i would buy new valves or swap to the vtec and obd1 setup depending on your financial stability.

if you plan on having someone else fix it, unless you have a hookup or family/friend ect. a shop will want way more then it is worth

you mentiond the y8 head, this head is easier to find and around the same price but a z6 tend's to run better and they are both the same as far as swapping.

for a conversion that way you will need a computer, dizzy, jumper harness and misc. connectors from the obd1 vtec harness as well as a 4 wire 02 sensor (you can see why it costs more)

craigslist prices around here run $100-$150 for the head $100-$125 for the computer depending if its chipped or not. dizzy is around $50

you can use your transmission with no problems

 

so say the vavle hit the piston would it be worth rebuilding this motor and throwing a vtec head on it or should i just opt for a motor swap. My main problem is that im stationed in pearl harbor hawaii so alot of places dont ship here

 

if the cars relatively low mileage or don't smoke or anything when running the head swap might be easier, if you feel it NEEDS rebuilt a full swap might be easier. ive never dealt with shipping problems such as that but the only things ive ever had shipped are small things such as bearing and rings, gaskets, ect. never had to have a head or motor shipped.

and buying complete motors you run the risk of buying a rod knocker or something uf you cant hear it before the motor was pulled so a head swap only if almost always safer, and most of the time cheaper. the blocks themselves are the same so only replace your block if you feel it needs to be otherwise a rebuild or just leaving it alone should be fine, if you have to pull the head you can do an "in-car" rebuild and change rod bearing and piston rings as well as a clean hone and new head gasket without pulling the motor out of the car. if you do pull it and don't care to spend a little money new main bearings and water pump oil pump ect.

first thing i would do is check to see if your head is hurt, then go from there

 

look around and just try to get an a6 head. i sold one for like 50$ last fall. non vtec heads around here are very cheep. although idk about shipping like you said.

 

Bent valves on an Si engine can be hit and miss when a timing belt goes....that being said, with my experience, i would say no.

About 10 years ago, i was speeding a little, heading back home from a day trip from the mountains. I was going along at one point about 110mph, then after a few mins, lost all power and drifted to a stop....yup, bust timing belt, and i was really winding that engine out. Threw a new belt on when i got the car home, it never ran better...no bent valves

This was an 89 Civic Si

 

Put a new belt on it and see if it runs. You can do a compression test to ease your concerns. Worst case, the valves were bent and have to undo your work. You won't make it worse by trying. Best case, they weren't bent and you are done.

My wife broke a belt and it was fine.

 

Well Im towing the car this week to my house so Ill def. throw a new belt on and run the compression test... Would a feeler gauge work to see the clearance on the valves if i take the valve cover is off. Would that get me any where?

 

id assume a bent valve will make the arms loose from the valve so that might but if the motor had some seriously ticking valves before it wont tell you much (most Honda's tick a lot lol) if it has good compression across all four theres a good chance its not hurt a valve. if it has personally i would do the whole motor swap and rebuild the new one before putting it in unless its out of your budget. there really isn't a wrong answer it all depends on your finances