I got 95 EX coupe that someone has done a swap on. It has a D16y5 block with a D16y8 head, a D16Z6 Intake Manifold and a NON-VTEC distributor running on the 95's OBD1 harness and P28. My question is that I don't feel or hear the VTEC switch over. There are no CEL's and it seems to run good but the power seems a little light and I can't tell if the VTEC is engaging. Would the Non-VTEC dizzy be an issue?

 

With an otherwise stock SOHC VTEC engine such as a D16Y8 in my experience the audible VTEC crossover is faint. If the distributor was giving you any issue's you'd see a CEL for it. As far as power being a little light my guess is that it may have something to do with the resulting compression ratio of the existing piston volume vs combustion chamber volume.

 

Did a compression test on my D16y5 with y8 head. At WOT and the engine warm here are the readings:
#1 = 175
#2 = 150
#3 = 175
#4 = 180
Is the fact that #2 is significantly lower than the rest going to be an issue? Does this mean a rebuild is in the near future? Or should I just keep running it...

 

Follow up with a wet test, and see if/how the numbers change.

 

Wet compression test showed 210 psi in #2 so it looks like its the piston rings huh? Now with it being 150 psi in #2 when the rest of the cylinders are at 175-180, do I need to worry about this right now and do a rebuild or is the difference not enough of a concern at this point. I'm sure this drop in #2 is causing a small loss in power though.

Also after wet test was done, I ran the car and as to be expected the oil I put in #2 to perform the test is causing a bad burning/smoking issue out the exhaust. Should I just let it run to burn all it out?

 

Yes can take a few minutes to burn it all out depending on how much you poured in.

I think I billowed plumes of thick white smoke for a good 2 minutes when I did a wet test in all 4.

 

Yep, your rings are starting to show signs of age. You can do a rebuild now, or wait until it gives out to rebuild or replace it.

 

Most likely.