Hey Gents. My sister in law's 96 (Correction, it's a 98) Auto Hatch with a d16y7 overheated and warped the head. I acquired a freshly resurfaced head on CL for cheaper than getting it resurfaced. Unfortunately, I just took the guys word for it because it was wrapped by the machine shop and after checking for truness on the mating surface (good) I bought it for $50. However, when I got it home discovered it's a y8 head, I want a y7. Dang. Shortcuts eh?

This car is just a daily driver for her first car as a 17yo. I got it for a deal and drove it to fix it up and we learned about the headgask leak which eventually went. It's all y7 AT stock parts (IM, TB, ECU, Dist) except for the y8 head instead. We don't want vtec, so were not plugging it in. Want to run the stock P2E ECU.

I adjusted the valves to spec, but when it fired up it sounds like a Pa*****o machine they rattle so much. Then boggs when I rev it and is in limp mode. Any solutions to get this thing running smooth today?

I built one of these for fun about 15 years ago when I was a bit younger, all the bells and whistles, a6 bottom, y8 top, b20 TB, ported, EX tranny, supercharged, chipped p28 in a little EF sedan/go-kart... Those days are over, I bought it back and sold it twice before it found its way to the cruncher. Now I just fix cars for friends and family. This one is suddenly giving me flashbacks to the dizzy/adjustable cam gear nightmare I went through with mine for a while. I'm gonna go pull the code (TDC I bet) and recheck the timing while praying one of you here still in this game as a quick response.

 

Was giving me a p0505, p0141 and p0135. I inspected the IAC and it wasn’t seated all the way. Doh! Cleared codes and they’re staying off at the moment.

Ignition timing on a warm engine with full retard of
dizzy. Best I can get with the light is about 18BTDC.

pulled off valve cover (this is why I used to drive mine with no upper timing cover all the time) and looks about a tooth off. I’ll check valves, skip a tooth and report back. Give a shout please if any other potential hand ups jump out at y’all.

 

Mech timing squared away. Ignition timing is spot on now. I went through all the valve lash and made some adjustments, but nothing seemed out of spec on the wide range. I like em tight right at .007 in. and .009 ex. It idles quietly, but as soon as I give it any throttle, way below 3k rpm for VTEC, those things scream at me. Are these the extra oil thingy dingys for VTEC I’m not using? Ive never ran a head with VTEC, without VTEC. You know... Back in the day I gotta hear that “crack” and feel that tiny godly solenoid “kick when it pops off” and throw me back in my 5pt eBay racing harness. 👀

 

Get a Y7 head. Then go from there.

Warning: The block is extremely risky given that the engine overheated, which can cause warpage and fry bearings. Considering sourcing a replacement engine.