Hello all im new here. I have a 88 crx with a d16a6. Motor has been on its last leg for awhile. Rings are shot and it uses about two quarts of oil a week. If that wasnt bad enough it finally blew the head gasket a couple months back.

So I finally found a replacement motor. I found a d16a6 from a 1990 civic with only 119k miles on it and could here it run before I bought it. But in the usual fashion the distributor gasket and valve cover gasket are leaking. Other than that seems like a solid motor.

Im a pretty good mechanic but am use to working on fords and chevy. I know my basics and have pulled plenty of motors in the past.

Here the question I need suggestion on what I should replace on the new motor before I put it in the car. Its obviously going to be easier to do the work with the motor on the stand than it will in the car and I want to do this right so I dont have to mess with it for a long time. Im going to definitely replace distributor, valve cover gasket and spark plugs. What else should I replace on a motor with 119k on it? Head gasket, oil pan gasket, timing belt, etc? Let me know what you guys think. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

i would leave the head gasket alone, those dont wear out until heat or detonation gets them usually.
i would do timing belt, water pump, oil pan gasket only if it is leaking. front and rear main seals if they look like they are leaking as well. make sure to swap over your flywheel and clutch from the 88 to the new engine since the 88 is a one year oly transmission clutch combo. might be a good time to replace the clutch as well if it is worn.

 

Thanks for the reply. Ya im swapping over the clutch and flywheel. The motor came out of an automatic so kinda have to anyway lol. Clutch pressure plate and flywheel are only about a year old so I dont think I will need a new one. Oil pan and and front and rear seals dont look like they have been leaking but cant really tell til I clean the gunk off the motor.

 

we usually did the basics: timing belt, water pump, accessory belts, plugs, etc. the other OEM stuff lasts foreeeeeeeever.

 

Ya I was just happy to find a motor with only 119k on it. All the others I found in my area had over 300k on them. I figure there some stuff I dont need to replace but it would be alot easier to do it out of the car rather than after the motors in.

 

Then it comes down to possibly wasting money on stuff you don't need vs having it go wrong later. LOL
I vote for saving some cash and replacing as needed. You won't really know if anything else is wrong until you start her up, anyway.
We used to drop h-motors stuff right in, all the time. After doing the maintenance stuff, of course.

 

Ya I heard it run before it was pulled sounded good but who knows. I will definitely do distributor and valve cover gasket and plugs. Gonna take the bigger intake off old motor and put it on this new one. I guess the rest will be a play it by ear when I get the gunk cleaned off the motor. Im thinking I might rebuild the blown motor from the ground up someday.