97 Civic EX D16Y8 problems.

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jaydotno

New Member
Howdy, about a year ago I picked up a 97 Civic ex with about 180k miles on it, dirt cheap since it got flooded back in mississippi.

I fixed as much damage as my limited experience could handle, and the car ran fine for about 15k miles, all I really changed was the exhaust since it had rusted out. I'd known for a bit that the oil pan needed a new gasket, or possibly just a replacement since it was leaking about a quart every few weeks. I finally found time to sit down and try out the new gasket, but apparently (since the base I live on hasn't opened the lifts i can rent yet) the owners of the apartment complex don't appreciate you working on cars in their parking lot. :mad:

Anyway, they booted me out, and all I had time to do was put the new oil filter on and fill it with oil since I hadn't had a chance to even start on the oil pan yet. The old oil came out looking like sludge, and apparently I'd lost a lot more than I thought, probably on the way to work on it (since apparently Texas heat makes oil run faster, go figure).

Immediately after setting the car down and starting it up again, what sounded like a grinding noise (the only way I could describe it is what a grinder would sound like spinning inside an engine :mellow:) started up, sounds like its coming from under the engine, just above the oil pan. I checked to make sure nothing was loose, drain plug, oil filter, basically anything I'd touched, and I even topped it off with just a little bit more oil. The noise got a little better, but is still present (and sounds worse now.) I left the car to sit over the weekend, and when i started it up after 3 days, the grinding wasn't there until it ran for maybe 20 seconds, then it started again, same noise, same location.

From people i've asked (who I assume are just slightly smarter than I about the matter), and the reading I've done, I should be able to check and see if a bearing is bad by dropping the oil pan, and replacing the bearing may just buy me a little more time on the life of the engine. Unfortunately, I have no clue what these bearings are or what they look like. I've also read that with a problem like that, chances are the engine's going to need a lot more work than it's worth. So i've narrowed my solutions down to trying to replace small things to make the engine last a little longer, or just buy a replacement. Does this sound like something I could fix? I've hardly let the car since the noise, so I hope I've minimized the consequential damage. What engines (I really have no interest in horsepower - just $$$) will replace a D16Y8 the easiest (and cheapest) if it comes down to that?

If anyone has any info they can share, or any extra info I can give to help diagnose,
please feel free to ask.

Sorry for the lengthy post, I'm just hoping a little info on what caused the problem might answer some unasked questions.

norman.justin@gmail.com
justin.norman@goodfellow.af.mil
 
Just buy a replacement, who knows if a spun bearing is the only thing wrong with it since it got flooded. A d16y8 would be best since you already have the ecu, the d16y7's are the non vtec version of the y8 and are a little more commmon to come by depending on where you live. But then you'd have to get a new ecu.
 
Just buy a low mileage replacement. D-series engines are dirt cheap, because people pull them to drop other motors in. Check out Craigslist and other local classifieds or forums for an engine. Another D16Y8 would obviously be the easiest swap, but a D16Y7 or D16Y5 will work easily provided you also use their corresponding ECUs. If you're looking for a drop in swap, then avoid any pre-1996 or post-2000 D-series engines (i.e. anything D17, anything D15, D16Z6, D16A6, etc.)
 
I found someone doing a B swap, who currently has a JDM D16... I'm not sure if it's Y8 or not, but he's got an automatic. If I bought his motor what would I have to change, if anything, since he's got a JDM automatic version of my motor to swap them out?
 
I found someone doing a B swap, who currently has a JDM D16... I'm not sure if it's Y8 or not, but he's got an automatic. If I bought his motor what would I have to change, if anything, since he's got a JDM automatic version of my motor to swap them out?

Ask him what year the motor is, or whether or not i's OBD1, OBD2, etc. That will help determine how easy of a swap it will be...
 
I got ahold of the fellow selling the motor, he sent me
[FONT=&quot]My motor is a ZC SOHC 1.6L VTEC (The Japanese version of the D16Z6 engine)[/FONT]
.
His is an automatic, and mine was a manual. Any idea how difficult of a swap this would be?

I'm willing to do quite a bit of work for this one - its cheap and only has 20k miles on it.
 
If it's essentially a D16Z6 then you'll probably need to do an OBD conversion. It's not terribly difficult, and the motor should bolt-in like stock, but an engine from a 96-00 Civic would be easier on the wiring front...
 
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