Engine swap in 92 Honda Civic DX

I think that my son has blown the engine in
his car (haven't looked at it yet, it is
150 miles away). Assuming that the engine is
dead, how hard is it to put one of the low
milage engines from Japan that are available
on EBAY? The ones listed there are the VTEC
engine, which his car does not have, it has the
16 valve engine. Is it a matter of getting new
motor mounts or will the VTEC mount right up to
the existing 5 speed? What about electronics?

TIA

Kevin in Iowa

 

Hello,
If you want to save some money, visit a large junk yard
and ask the owner if they are on a database. If so, you
should be able to get a great deal on an engine that that
was removed from a wrecked Honda that was removed from
a 1992-1995 Civic. Any of those engines from those Civics
should easily fit your son's 92 Civic. In some cases, they
even come with a guarantee. If you want a new engine, do a
google search on HONDA or Honda engines. One of the problems
is the huge expense of shipping costs.
Jason

 

-------------------------

Before jumping to conclusions, why not post ALL the details of the
symptoms? Maybe, with a little info, you can troubleshoot it over the
phone.

'Curly'

 

I am renting a car dolly tomorrow and towing it to my house
and then will be able to post more.

Kevin

 

If you are talking about the JDM D15B, yes it will bolt right in with stock
everything. In order to get VTEC, you will have to get a new ECU as
well--the P28. You can also modify the ECU but that's a little more work
that I don't think you'll want to get into--it requires soldering new
components on the current ECU, and using a program to modify the current
ECU. Also, you will have to run a few cables for the VTEC and knock sensor
from the ECU to the engine/underhood harness. You can check out
honda-tech.com for more info.

Only problem with the JDM D15B is that it doesn't have much support in the
states so parts are pretty hard to come by in case something happens. The
good side of it is that most of those engines are in good shape and average
30-50K miles. So you should be good for at least 10 years with proper
maintanence and proper driving.

Many of the engines in the junkyards are much older 100K+ miles on the odo
and sooner or later you'll have to swap again.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

 

The car gas a big hole in the side of the block, threw a
rod, so the only option that I have is a new engine.

Kevin in Iowa

 

Go to www.hondacivicforum.com , they have all kinds of topics on engine
swaps.