Not sure what to do with my d16y7 engine

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graymonkey44

New Member
I currently own a '99 civic lx with a d16y7 engine.

The problems with it started a few months ago when I went to go get an oil change. I hadn't gotten an oil change in about 6,000 miles and after I got it changed they said no oil came out of the pan when they went to change it. This was at a honda dealership and they told me to check the oil once a week and top it off if it started getting low. I wasn't leaking any oil, but they said I could be burning it up.

I was getting ready for another oil change and I brought it down to another honda dealership and told them about the problem. I hadn't been checking the oil every week but before I went to the dealership, I checked the oil and it was barely showing on the dip stick. They said they would do some compression test and high pressure leak test or something to see if anything was wrong.

When they called me back they said that I would either need to buy another used honda engine or rebuild the engine I have now. $1,500 for a used engine including labor and like $3,500 for rebuilding including labor and parts.

Now I had been getting parts for a y8 head mini-me swap already before I brought it down there. I pretty much have all the parts for it except for a full gasket set for everything.

I have a friend who said he could do the mini-me swap for me, but he said that swapping the head won't change anything if what honda says is true. He said that I could buy a d15b(not sure which one) engine off one of his friends for $200 and then bolt the y8 head onto that.

But I was looking on ebay and there was this rering engine kit for $180.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda...Q5fAccessories

I asked my friend if I could use that and he said it would work, but that it would be easier to just use the d15b block.

I'm not too sure what to do. Should I just keep the block and buy the rering kit or buy the whole other engine? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Yeah doesnt sound good man. You most likely hurt the motor more by not having oil in there. But what can you do sometimes. Personally I would oull the whole motor, sell the Y8 head and get what you can for the block. Get a B18b1 from a 99-01 Integra, the cost for the motor and swap will be around $1500. I just did mine for around $1200. Putting the Ls B18b1 into your Lx is a snap. If you rebuild the Y7 you need to have it checked, specd and machined. If you rebulid the Y7 I would go higher compression and beef it up a bit, then slap on the Y8 head. this will run you more than the B18b1 swap though. Trust me the B18b1 is a beast in the EK.
 
if you'r losing oil and its not visible its likely in the piston rings or valve seals. one is in the block, one is in the head.

you're best off replacing both since you have access to them both.

the y7 is different than the y8. that kit you linked to will not work.... and it's kinda expensive too. Realiztically, you can get a whole y8 swap with tranny + ecu for 400 bucks nowadays. I wouldn't waste 200 on a rebuild kit.

or, you could just put a b-series in :D
 
Yeah but the y7 and y8 blocks are the same aren't they, and if I put the y8 head onto it wouldn't the kit work? Because all that would be different would be the gasket set for the y8. Right?
 
Blocks are the same but pistons are different.

Have you tried Craigslist? You could probably find a used Y7 for 200 or less since everyone seems to go B or bigger.
 
if you'r losing oil and its not visible its likely in the piston rings or valve seals. one is in the block, one is in the head.

you're best off replacing both since you have access to them both.

the y7 is different than the y8. that kit you linked to will not work.... and it's kinda expensive too. Realiztically, you can get a whole y8 swap with tranny + ecu for 400 bucks nowadays. I wouldn't waste 200 on a rebuild kit.

or, you could just put a b-series in :D
Then I could just use this one right?

Honda Rering Engine kit Civic EX 1996-00 D16Y7 1.6:eBay Motors (item 190289858167 end time Nov-23-09 13:22:37 PST)

And the full gasket set would work right, even if I put my y8 head on it or would it not work?
 
What are your goals for the car? If you want to get it fixed quickly just for DD duties I'd look for a good used long block. I don't trust anything ebay for engine internals either.
 
Youcan give the d16 to me, they are great in boats, as an anchor. Seriously though im with 99sidude, dont get any internals from ebay especially those 1 size fits all rebuild kits. As for a complete engine ebay is ok as long as the place you buy from offers a warranty. You would be better off buying locally from a good yard b/c shipping to and from cost too much when it comes to replacement if it is bad.
 
You can put a Y8 head on a Y7 no problem. You need the head, gaskets, ecu and harness. But if you ran the motor low on oil as you said, I would replace the whole motor. All your bearings will be worn from the oil starvation.
 
the re-ring kit from ebay would be fine but unless you have feeler gauges and a ring file and know how to do it, dont try. get somebody to show you how the first time or the rings you install could be worst than the ones you took out. happened to me when i was 14 years ago on my first honda.
 
I'm not exactly sure what any of that post means. And what happened to your honda?
i bought a rebuild kit for a 89 d16a turbo motor i had in a awd wagovan instead of going to honda and getting the color coded bearings and it didnt last a week. honda main and rod bearings have diffrent thickesses and are sized using a chart,letters and numbers on the block,crank, rods. the kits they sell on ebay and i bought from like advance auto parts dont have the diffrent thickness bearings ans can be way loose or way tight. way tight is bad because it leads to oil starvation, way loose is bad because of it drops oil pressure on the other things that need oil.
 
funny thing, i hate d series and talk so much shit about them and built one last week out of a d15b2 bottom end with those flat top pistons and a y8 head and intake manifold, put a 99 ex trans on it with a fidanza flywheel and a ebay clutch in a 97 4 door with a jdm sir ecu .($400 build for a buddy of mine) and he smoked a em1 yesterday. it feels great and he really dosent need to have any real hp as he is a driving noob. turned out to be a great lil beginner motor for sombody.
 
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