My son's 1st car purchased last July has a major oil leak. Respectable Honda service shop can't find. Have replaced distributor seal, valve cover gasket (twice), main seals. Blowing out 1-2 qts. per day. Now they're saying need new engine because can't find source of leak. Also saying 90 engines are bad. What year engines will fit 90 Prelude Si, 5 spd.?

 

well... theres lots of engines that will fit... It depends on what type and how much you wanna spend on it... We are talking 800 to 4k... Its really up to you... The h22a1 is hihg end motor and will make the car run so fast he wont complain.. There are also lots of other replcacement engines available... check the teaminterlude website as they have a current thread about engine swaps in the 3rd gen(the 1988-1991 i think) and prices....

 

Get rid of that motor and find a JDM B20A. It will be cheaper to do than fixing that 2.1 motor.

 

Well, unfortunately, money is an issue. We need cheap, but reliable. He's not much into racing, just getting around. We're in Kansas City.

 

JDM B20a is your answer.

http://www.nippon-motors.com/

I've heard 750 shipped to a shop but http://www.nippon-motors.com/honda.htm lists it at 495 before shipping and I'd hope shipping wouldn't be more than $200!

 

Does the engine have balancing shafts????? Like the h22a1 does? If so those seals are very very prone to blowing out!

 

I'm sorry, but this is all new to me. There's no dad here, so neither I, nor my son, know anything! However, I'm not afraid to learn. What's the difference between a JDM B20A and a B20A3 or B20A5? These are engines listed on the Nippon-Motors.com site and say they're 88-91 and 88? Will they both fit a 90 Si? The A3 says SOHC, Carb, 12 Valve. The A5 says FI, DOHC, 16 valve. What's that mean? Oh, and, thanks for your help.

 

What would be a normal fee range for a mechanic to swap engines?

 

Labor will run you inbetween 500 - 800$ depending on difficulty of the installation. I'm pretty sure the b20a5 will be a direct fit. I am in a very similiar situation with my car (90 Si), the motor is completely shot and i only have 138k. I am in the procees of finding info about the compatibilty of the b20a5 into my car b/c my car had the (POS) B21a1. Good luck