Bought a 96 civic ex. Couple hundred bucks. It's got a d15b block (non vtec) on it. Why? My guess its because its a rebuilt title, explains why i got it cheap. Never heard of anything but d16's on a 96 ex. Last one i had was a 96 ex with a d16.
Anyway, has anyone heard of this before?
I want to make this into a sleeper project just to have fun in it, no serious racing but i want to make sure im not getting into a trainwreck if a mission unless its worth it. Its got issues now but nothing out of the norm (sensors, tune up,etc)..
Any thought on what if any mods i can expect to get away with or if ill have any major issues and should just ride this thing till the wheels fall off (lol at least theyre LS aluminum wheels though!)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Check what ECU is in the car.

96-00 only had 1.6 liter motors both vtec and non.

92-95 had both 1.5 liter and 1.6 liter.

If your d15b is non vtec, you could have some running issues that a tune up won't fix depending on the ECU.
This is why I suggest identifying your ECU first.

 

Thanks, will do asap. Might explain the ecm code i got back from the scanner.

I was trying to dial in on my idle issues but only had it for a week so didnt want to go off and buy every thing that might be wrong. Appreciate the knowledge.

 

Being you got a code back from the ECU with an OBD2 scanner, I'm pretty confident it's the 96 EX (D16Y8) ECU and not the JDM ecu for the D15B that is in the car.

Since it's a non vtec D15B you can use a conversion harness OBD2A to OBD1 and look for a P06 ecu for the car. This will run the engine correctly. There might be a couple of things you may need to change but I'm not 100% sure exactly what they are. Some situations require changing the IACV from a 3 wire to 2 wire or something of the like but not really sure off the top of my head.

 

If the ECU is storing a VTEC trouble code, the engine may be running on the original P2P ECU. If so, the 96-98 Civic P2E ECU would be the better match for the engine.

 

Im guessing the ecm is not controlling the transmission right it keeps hunting gears, big whoop its auto.. manual conversion with a better tansmision to be done when wifey lets me spend the dough if it makes sense.

But it shifts really rough even after new mount bushings for both engine and trans.
So ecu apart, its now making a mechanical type whirring which is relative to speed, ??should i be worried about the transmission shaving pieces off every time it clanks on the downshift??
I thought of replacing the shift control seloniod but when i tested them off the car they work fine, ports in them are clean and filter looks like new.
Any knowledge is always deeply appreciated since im not an expert but not also completely ignorant, and it is my daily driver for now while i gather for a new car and can really work on this.

 

Post the CEL codes.

We don't even know what ECU is installed yet.

We now know you have an auto transmission, but the ECU may be for a manual.

 

 

P2E

 

Post the CEL codes stored in the ECU.

 

P0135 heated o2 circuit fault
P0122 tps circuit low input

 

Been reading many threads on this. Most say it should run well on the p06 non vtec ecu, unless you think otherwise. When i ran the codes a while back i put a new tps in and calibrated it to .5 closed and 4.5 open throttle. Thing is, three days later it was not reading a constant signal on the dc voltage meter, still has tps code in. O2 sensors came with the car they look to be pretty clean on both ends which makes me think seller replaced before unloading his headache unto some idiot (me).
So ecu not matching being a p2e makes some sense.
Should i happen to be able to sneak a bill from this paycheck ill get one and update you guys, unless someone has a better idea. Thanks for helping a complete stranger i appreciate it.

 

The TPS code will cause harsh shifting. Troubleshoot and fix.

In addition, you'll get much better gas mileage by fixing P0135, which is often caused by a bad primary O2 sensor. However, if fuse 15 is blown, the O2 sensor may be fine. In this case, check for shorted wires in connector C1115.

 

this

 

I just picked up my first ever Honda. Ended up with 1998 Civic LX with a 4-speed automatic. Not knowing anything about these cars and just needing a car for A to B, I picked it up. I paid quite a bit more than you did for yours, so I hope I didn’t **** up. Only 103,000 miles, or so I thought. Body is still on great shape, I think I can make it well worth my investment. But...

Did more research on them, motor isn’t original. Block is stamped D15B (non VTEC as well). P2A-10 head and ECU is P2E. Cars runs great. Drove it 10 miles during the test drive and then 45 miles back home after purchasing it. I’m gonna take some time to look more in-depth into what I’ve gotten, but this my first Honda, if I can keep it on the road for 50k more miles I would be happy.