I purchased a 93 honda civic del sol si last month. It was kind of a mess when i got it, but ive been fixing it up. I fixed the trunk cylinder that was broken, put washers under the targa top mounts to seal the top better(havnt noticed any leaks yet), replaced a missing marker light and ash tray, and put some awesome coverking seat covers in it.

Anyhow, when i got it it ran somewhat decent, just smoked a little bit, had a surging idle and the transmission sometimes popped out of first and grinded in gear. It had the d16z6 in it. I took the engine and trans out when i had some free time and looked at the trans. The input shaft was wobbly, so i took it apart and replaced two worn out bearings and filled it up with 10w40, its nice and smooth now. I found a working used IAC valve from a seller on ebay and it idles good now. I've seen a ton of threads on that issue and if you cover the top hole in the throttle body and the idle calms down, thats probably your issue.

Anyways, getting to the point, I bought a "low mileage" jdm d15b replacement engine for that worn out d16. After i got it in there it smoked right off the bat. I figured the engines sit for a while so i kept driving it in hopes the rings arn't set in yet. I've been keeping an eye on it and driving it. Ive driven it about 750 miles total. At this point it doesnt smoke as bad, but it has a haze in the muffler all the time and it has a decent amount initially at higher rpms. The smoke is blue and it burned 1.5 qts since i got it. I checked the compression and got about 120psi straight across and 140psi with a cap of oil in the cylinders. The engine is worn out, I've got to let the seller know and hope he honors the 6 month warranty. The only thing im happy about is i chipped the ecu to run the p08 basemap on the p28 and got 39 mpg(+1 qt of oil) on a road trip last weekend.

My question is, how often are these engines no good right off the bat?
Should i try to get another long block under warranty, or fix this one(hone, rings and/or valves)? or
rebuild the d16z6 and put the jdm d15b head on it, cause it has a better vtec/ cam ?

 

stuck oil rings probably, throw a bottle of Marvel Mystery oil in there and let it run its course.

 

Did the seller guarantee that the rings were good and that the engine did not burn much oil?

 

The seller has sold a lot of them said he was surprised cause he has only had to warranty of couple of them that were sold to younger guys that could have ran them hard. I thought possibly the rings were stuck and tried letting low d wrench soak in the spark plug holes, didn't have any luck with that. At what point should I pull the engine back out, I need a good running engine to pass smog. Unfortunately, I live in California. The seller said when I'm ready I can bring the begin back and get a replacement. I have heard the engines are usually good. I must have gotten that one bad one

 

Just get a new one. Ask if you can see the compression test done in person. Maybe they will let you pick one yourself.

 

I will have a couple to choose from. They are all the dual solenoid VTEC obd2. There are just two extra sensors on the engine I don't use being obd1. I could only imagine the mpg I'm gonna get with a good running one. I got 39 going 70-75 mph with this messed up engine. Its coming out tomorrow. Imma pull the plugs and see how the cylinders look on the next one. Two of my plugs have a little oil on the threads and the cylinders look glazed with lots of carbon on the pistons

 

Sounds like you put it in yourself. That usually voids the warranty.

 

Not very often. It does occasionally happen, but unless you bought it from Tiger Japanese it's pretty rare.

Ask for another one.

 

If you can prove to them your experience in swaps, they'll know you have experience.

 

I had a D15 && the motor blew up. It was doing the same as yours. Constantly had to keep oil In it. Anyways, my Husband and I bought a D16y7 and rebuilt it. I personally think the 1.5's are crap. I would rebuild your D16 and stick with that plan.

**WORDOFADVICE**

P.S. Don't give up,
Honda's last forever
with a little TLC. (:

 

Before my motor blew up, I only had it 6 months. D15 are crap.

 

Dropped off the engine today to do the warranty and get a replacement. I'm hoping third engine is a charm. I'll post up results once I get it and put it in. Still gotta get that thing smogged too before June, got a brand new Walker(80842) calcat to put on it and complete tune up parts.

 

I got a replacement and put it in. This engine runs better. It does not smoke, I have to drive it a little more and see if it burns oil. I have an appointment to do a practice smog test after work tommorow. It has a good engine now as far as i know, a brand new walker catalytic, complete tune up including o2 sensor and im going to run it hard before i get there. Im hoping for the best. the tolerance for HC's is really low here. I think its something like 90 and 52 PPM on the 15 and 25mph test

 

Results...Almost passed.

15 mph
C02-15.2
O2-0
HC-max71 meas128

 

Post the sheet.

 

 

This is with a new walker 80842 california catalytic converter. It has the p08 basemap on the p28. It has a new oem o2 sensor, oem plugs and wires, new plug wires fuel filter and pcv valve and a beck arnley cap and rotor. timing is 1 degree retard at 15 deg. 87 octane gas. I've got one month till my registration expires and a quart of alcohol waiting to go into a 1/4 tank if i cant get the HC's down soon

 

I finally had a day off after 19 days working straight. The Tps and map sensor are functioning properly. The ignition coil is showing signs of wear and the spring is not fitting well and making good contact with the distributor cap. All the injectors are functioning properly, but the resistance is off significantly between each injector. I am going to get new/rebuilt injectors and a new ignition coil, change the air filter and air tires from 33 to 45 and re-test. I will post the results

 

I tried everything and no luck, hc were brought down to 94 and everything else low. Have had bad luck with hondas, first one overheated once and the head gasket blew this one is more work than its worth and it's hard to pass Cali emmisions. Car for sale to cut my losses short again Done with hondas. Good luck everyone. Sorry, had to vent. - end of thread