Engine swap question

stephenstephen Senior Wagonist
in Engine & Drivetrain
ok, so i had someone put a d16y7 in my wago, i helped part of the time but couldnt help him toward the end. i think he bubble-gummed my shit to get it out of his garage because i keep having problems. (luckily i didnt pay much at all for this)

so now i am thinking of putting another engine in. i see a lot of data on the web for EF swaps, does this directly apply to the wagons? i want to try to find the balance of power for the money so i am not looking at big swaps like gsr or b16.

i guess what i am looking for is personal experience with different swaps and how difficult/expensive they were so i can determine whether it will be worth it to swap again or if i should strip the car down and reinstall/rebuild what i have.

thanks.

Comments

  • akiraboyakiraboy HondaCivicWagon.com Founder
    Try and work with what you have 1st, you should try to locate someone that you can trust and that knows what they're doin. Switch to a y8 head for more HP

    DOHC ZC is a good motor but most are prettty damn old now. Best bet is using a D16z6 or a JDM SOHC vtec ZC. More modern and not as old.

    Check around the board, sticky topics ect.

    If not I'm sure a few more members would be happy to chime in
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    what exactly is going on with the y7? it could just need a freshening tune. those are quite nice engines in of themselves. you dont have the MPFI version though do you. also, was all the stock wiring used for the swap? anywho...


    Akira hit it pretty good... since you are on a budget and such... you can find JDM D15B SOHC VTEC engines now for like $500 here and there and that includes all the MPFI parts and such. all you would need is to send in your wiring harness (assuming its still all-original) and the D15B's harness to Rywire and he'll hook you up with a hybrid plug and play harness complete with OBD-1 swap and such. its a direct bolt in motor and quite preppy as well.
  • 303WIN303WIN Band Wagon
    I would try to fix what you got but I just did a d16z6 swap on my 88rt4wd. I love it! I paid $300 for the labor and $175 for the longblock. I'd also used Rywire to convert to obd1.
  • stephenstephen Senior Wagonist
    i just keep running into alot of little things that are making it seem like one big problem. it was hard to drive because the clutch bracket was broken. it wasnt starting which was the distributor. then it ran rough which was the pcv valve. now it is leaking oil onto the number 1 plug so i cant drive it at all.

    and the more i look the more it seems like the guy who put it in rushed through the job. my ac compressor is only mounted with one bolt. my fan is direct wired because he didnt want to extend the wiring. i just find more the more i look.

    so i called my new mechanic who is much much better and he wants to pull the engine and check everything and then reinstall it so that he can correct any problems created by the first guy. but he hasnt given me a price on that yet.

    right now i need it to be more reliable, it is starting to cause problems when i cant drive it. so i am just wondering if another engine would be a better option since i may be taking this one out anyway.

    when he calls me back for the price i am going to have him quote me the work he suggested plus the mpfi conversion. i also will soon have to have a new exhaust put in because mine is shot.

    that in a nutshell is what is going on......
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    damn. reminds me of my integra :roll:

    about the oil in plug are at the cylinder, its most likely the gasket around the opening for the plag and the valve cover is shgot...you just need to get a complete valve cover gasket kit. *hopefully*

    is the engine itself messed up? how many miles are on it?
  • stephenstephen Senior Wagonist
    i put a new valve cover gasket kit on it when i did the swap. but the other guy put the valve cover on and the bolts were sooooo tight.
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    jeeeeez.

    idk, if this other guy at the shop cuts you a nice deal, i say get a D15B and that way you'll have MPFI, VTEC and OBD-1 ;) all for a sweet deal.
  • eldonciv777eldonciv777 Wagonist
    He will still have to do the mpfi swap either way but if you bought it from an importer I am fairly certain it would have all the parts you need. Sounds like the guy half-assed it. I hope he didn't mess up any wiring, because that could be a pain.

    I personally would pull the valve cover and fix that issue. Then look it over and fix whatever else you see that's wrong. The dizzy, pcv valve, and clutch bracket were probably pre-existing problems so if this first mechanic didn't take the d16y7 apart further than the valve cover it is probably ok. Do it yourself so you learn a little (if possible) and then gather the parts for the mpfi conversion (not hard) and do that in a couple months when you have all the bugs worked out. Remember, there is no guarantee that the d15b will have any less problems, so if the d16y7 is fine then all your other problems (though a pita) are not major.
  • stephenstephen Senior Wagonist
    update:

    it has been a while since i posted, but here goes-

    i found that many of the problems i have encountered have come from the fact that the wrong dipstick was in the engine when the swap was done, so too much oil has been in the engine.

    i drained the oil, changed the valve cover and spark plug tube gaskets and she runs now but needs the idle and timing set.

    i told my new mechanic i wanted to turbo the y7 and now he is trying to get me to go b-series, but i really dont want to spend the cash on that.

    i may have a hookup on an EX motor and my new mechanic would swap to the EX for not much more in labor that he would charge to do the MPFI and set the timing and idle.(if i didnt do the work myself)


    aaarrrggghhh!!!

    i dunno what to do. she still seems to be in one piece and she runs pretty good other than a rough idle, but i am really pessimistic at this point.

    has anyone done the EX swap (im sure someone has, lol)? how difficult was it? how pleased are you now?

    thanks.
  • wagodizzlewagodizzle Council Member and EDM expert
    the EX swap is the same as an Si or RT4WD swap motor... the D16A6 is a good motor, good replacement if your current motor needs to be replaced.

    setting the idle takes like 1 minute. and for timing, just have the shop do it.

    thts really weird about the dipstick though! HAHA wow... anywho. i'd stick with the motor you have man, and just MPFI it
  • ricefighterricefighter Wagonist
    can somebody enlightened me on this. i got a d15b engine and tranny that was given to me and im thinking to plant the d15b head to my d16 block. i was thinking of getting some horses to tq to wagon. can i used the d15b ecu? is there an adapter harness for obd0 to obd1? is p28 better ecu?

    thanks................wagon4ever
  • JDMshuttleJDMshuttle Senior Wagonist
    yes www.rywire.com
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