okay... i have a 1998 honda civic ex 2dr coupe 5spd... i blew the motor (three nice big holes in the block)... so i bought a motor from a 2000 honda civic ex from someone here on HT... it was a rebuilt motor... it was night time when i picked up the motor and couldnt really see but it all looked good... so i get the motor and take it to a friends to swap it...

all the sensors are missing off the motor, the oil pan is tapped for turbo but its tapped in the wrong spot and it leaks like hell... so i had to take all the sensors and oil pan off my old motor... had to clean the old oil pan a lot because of all the metal inside from when it blew...

so blah blah blah, we drop the motor in... manual says 3.5qts of oil but we used about 4.5 because we kept checking the stick and it would disappear... maybe because it was so clean it didnt have any excess and had to fill it up? dunno...

we accidentally broke the knock sensor, (the plastic piece broke off where it screws in)... so we superglued it on...

anyway, moment of truth... turn the key and it fires up first time...

engine gets hot really quick... theres a CEL...

valves tick a LOT (needs valve adjustment badly im guessing)...

i broke a motor mount when the engine blew (ripped it in two)... so the engine jerks back and forth violently...

alternator belt is on kinda tight and makes a slight whining sound...

so anyway... heres my questions...

the ticking sound... its coming from the head... not from inside the block... as you raise the rpms... the ticking gets faster and louder... after awhile (maybe after warmed up) the ticking gets a little quieter over all... so my bets guess is that its the valves and they need adjusted... any opinions? honda dealer said it would cost about $100 to get the valves adjusted

the knock sensor... is it bad to run with a broken one? i want to replace it but the sensor is expensive as hell... like $150 from the dealer... $100+ from various places like autozone or kragens...

motor mount... its like between $70 and $90 depending on places... definitely needs replaced...

whining sound... i had someone look at it and they at first thought it was the timing belt... then they had me turn the car off and they felt the belts... they said timing belt felt fine and they think the alternator belt is a little too tight... is that bad or should i get it adjusted to be not as tight?

transmission oil... i needed to buy all my stuff for the swap quickly... place i went to didnt have 80w90 gear oil... so i used 10w30... honda manual says thats okay but how long is it good for? all this stuff is going to cost a lot of money and im looking to prioritize everything...

also... my temp needle broke... i took the guages apart to clean that clear plastic thing because there was so much lint behind it and when the sun shined on it all that lint lit up and it was hard to see... so when i was cleaning it and went to put it back on... my thumb slipped and nailed the temp needle and broke it... i asked honda dealer how much it would cost and they said for that guage thing (fuel + temp) would be about $40...

so any opinions on the ticking or anything else are welcomed...

ive done searching, btw and found some answers and some not... just adding it all together...

also... whats the cheapest place to buy all these parts from? $150 for a knock sensor? wtf?

thanks

 

screw the knock... as long as it's plugged in and tucked out of the way, no cel. Knock sensors are worthless IMO.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ARIZONA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">screw the knock... as long as it's plugged in and tucked out of the way, no cel. Knock sensors are worthless IMO.</TD></TR></TABLE>

see... i figure the CEL is for the knock sensor since its broken... I'm not sure how to check which code the CEL is for since i'm OBDII

 

i also have the ticking in my head, i had a freind look at it and he says the valves nned to be adjusted. and he also said it would run around 100. ive been driving on it for a while now tho and it runs smooth, jus annoying when the hood is popped. bone stock motor also.... college = poor

 

um, what did you do about the ecu? Because you know your 98 has obd2a and that 2000 y8 is obd2b right? So are you using the new engines ecu? What wiring harness did you use?

And on a personal note, how long did the swap take? I am about to drop in a 2000 ex into my 98 dx.

 

I think he said he had to use all his old sensors so the ecu he has should work fine... Minus cold start assist issues on the IM to head

 

10w30 is fine for tranny. what moount do u need i might have it

 

i didnt know there was a difference in the ecu's... i didnt swap the ecus at all...

the motor mount is the one on the driver side up top...

swap took a day... the only long part was switching all the sensors and parts between the two motors...

the valve ticking is really annoying and loud... car runs fine... just sounds bad...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by imk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i didnt know there was a difference in the ecu's... i didnt swap the ecus at all...

</TD></TR></TABLE>


hmm, that would be one problem!!

 

that wouldnt be a big problem would it? theyre the same engines so there shouldnt be a big deal... i swapped all the sensors and parts so its not like the engine has stuff thats not on the old motor... there was one thing i think that had a different part between the two motors where it looked like more hoses plugged up to... but i took that part off and put the one from my 98 motor on it...

i figure the CEL is just because of the broken knock sensor although i dunno how to see which code its throwing...

listened to my friends integra last night and his engine makes the same ticking sound although not as loud or as rough... he has about 80k on his motor i think... he said the place he goes to said he needs a valve adjustment at about 100,000 miles... i think mine is just over-do for a valve adjustment... when the motor is cold it realllly makes loud ticking... then when it warms up its quiet but still noticeable... the dealer i went to said it was the valves and the reason it gets quieter is cause it heats up and expands...

 

the ecu you have is fine.

 

okay... more on this... i decided to get a valve adjustment... took it in... they estimated it to cost $110 but it came out to be like $87...

i get a call that its done and the guy said "its done and quieter but theres still a knock... we think its a rod knock"... so i go to pick it up

the guy pulls it forward... and it doesnt sound anything like a rod knock... so i ask for a second opinion... another guy comes and says its the intake manifold but its hard to tell without more testing...

so the guy takes it for a drive and then pulls it back up and uses one of those stethoscope things for cars to listen to the sound... then he had me listen to it... on exhaust manifold side of the head it was quiet... on the top of the head it was quiet... on the sides of the head it was quiet... on the intake manifold side of the head it was loud as hell and i heard an occasional 'pop' (dunno what the pop is)...

so the guy said his guess is that its the valvetrain and that the valvetrain needs re-seated...

he said its normal for honda cars to make that ticking sound but not nearly as loud as mine (mines really loud)

so he said i should take it to a head shop and have them look at it... soooo... anyone know about how much that would cost and what are some recommended places for that in southern cali?


also the guy told me what the CEL is for... theres actually two codes its throwing... one is for the knock sensor... but i already figured that because its broken... ill replace that eventually because its so expensive... the other one he said is for the vtec solenoid... he said it was probably starved of oil before... he said he recommends just taking it apart and cleaning the filter inside... does this work or is my vtec solenoid owned?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by imk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... he said he recommends just taking it apart and cleaning the filter inside... does this work or is my vtec solenoid owned?</TD></TR></TABLE>

sometimes it works. give it a try. as far as getting a knock sensor, isn't there any junk yards around you?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by imk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... another guy comes and says its the intake manifold </TD></TR></TABLE>

did you check the im bolts to make sure they are all tight? also, do you have the bracket that goes from the bottom of the IM to the block?

 

the member i bought it from is egturbo... heres the thread... https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=909964

as far as the knock sensor and junkyards... theres a problem with so-cal and junkyards... theyre all raped of parts... finding anything in the junkyard for a civic is a pain...

the IM bolts should be tight... i didnt actually tighten them down... the friends that swapped my motor did... when we swapped the IM from my old motor to the new one we replaced the gasket as well... the braket is there too... when the IM was on my old motor, it was real quiet... you couldnt hear any ticking sound... so the IM is still good...

ill bring up some other points... when driving around... i occasionally can smell fuel/oil from inside the car... with windows down... or when i turn on the air (no AC) i can sometimes smell it blowing in the car...

its not often but i notice it every now and then...

never had that happen with my old motor... so something might be leaking... or loose...

but for the ticking... i dont think the IM bolts being loose would cause that loud of ticking... although im stubborn... im thinking its still the valvetrain

 

I would be carefull with the ticking sound. That sound could mean two things. One valves need to be adjusted. And another thing what people don't realize (I've seen and had it happen twice already) you mistake that sound for knock (spun rod or main bearing). At it's begining stages you hear slight knock sounds exactly like valve tick (if you adjust the valves and it doesn't go away you are in some trouble), then it gets louder you realize it's a rod knock, and next thing you know you punch a big hole in your block.

 

well... ive already had a rod knock/blown motor... sounded way different than what this sounds like now...

we listened to it with that microphone thing... its not coming from the block... its coming from the IM side of the head...