The COMPLETE 92-00 Civic Owners Engine Swapping Guide!!

[94tegRS]

well, you could look under your hood and se your engines code, its by where the engine bolts to the tranny a bit above the slave cylinders location. I bet it is the D15B?

also if you are getting one that says D15B2 then it isnt from japan as far as I know, I think JDM engines only say D15B, B18B, B18C, B16A, etc. no number at the end like in the USDM cars.

at least you are getting the right year's engine, then you should have no problems at all, and if it is d series it will bolt up to your tranny no matter if it was D16Z6 or Y8 or whatever but it is the wiring that you have to worry about but since you are looking at the OBD1 engine then you shouldnt have to worry about your ECU or harness or anything like that.

[nosfed360]

Originally Posted by 94tegRS

well, you could look under your hood and se your engines code, its by where the engine bolts to the tranny a bit above the slave cylinders location. I bet it is the D15B?

also if you are getting one that says D15B2 then it isnt from japan as far as I know, I think JDM engines only say D15B, B18B, B18C, B16A, etc. no number at the end like in the USDM cars.

at least you are getting the right year's engine, then you should have no problems at all, and if it is d series it will bolt up to your tranny no matter if it was D16Z6 or Y8 or whatever but it is the wiring that you have to worry about but since you are looking at the OBD1 engine then you shouldnt have to worry about your ECU or harness or anything like that.

My motor is a d15, the problem is the number after it. I don't know the difference between a d15b7 (which i think is mine) and a d15b2(i could be completely wrong about this). I guess, like you said, since they are both the same series it should bolt right up. What could be different to effect the horsepower rating though. This new one lists as like 90 something hp, where as a stock 92 civic cx is supposed to be like 75 hp. I guess it doesn't matter since obd1 isn't very strict anyway, the ecu should run fine?

[GScivic7]

it's a d-series motor, everything is the same except for minor differences that will equate to the horsepower difference. The motor will drop straight in and bolt right up.

[nosfed360]

Originally Posted by GScivic7

it's a d-series motor, everything is the same except for minor differences that will equate to the horsepower difference. The motor will drop straight in and bolt right up.

thanks a lot for the info. This message board has been a huge help to a newbie like me. One last thing, do you think my stock tranny would be ok with about a 20 hp increase? I've heard the civic 5-speed's are really strong, but this one has 214,000 miles on it.

[GScivic7]

yah, aslong as you have a good clutch and the synchros and gears are in good condition, i.e. not a lot of grinding etc. you'll be fine.

[nosfed360]

cool....guess that's what i'm going to go with then. 395+shipping doesn't sound too bad to me (but I don't know that much about it), and then again i'm used to v8 motors. I don't guess i can do anything with my stock motor, really the only thing wrong with it is the head......still has hone marks in the cylinders. 214,000 is a lot of miles though. anyway, thanks a lot for the help

[94tegRS]

you could just try getting a headgasket for 60 bucks and have the head surfaced and see if it fixes it, if not you are only out another huindred bucks, but you saved a few hundred if it works.

[nosfed360]

no....the previous owner ran it for a while with the gasket blown. Water got all in the ports, valves are rusted and pitted. I'd need a whole new head assembly, and i'm not familiar with sohc motors so i'd prefer to not try and mess with cam timing and all. I figure I'm looking at 200 at least to get a new head assembly and everything to install it, might as well go another 200 and have a whole engine. Might be able to do something with my stock bottom end to recover a little of that cost also......sell it for scrap metal at the very least.

[94tegRS]

ok, well, the engine you are getting is used so the head isnt going to be like new on that one, and when you buy a used engine you should replace the timing belt on it anyways so then you are going to have to mess wiht the cam timing, realy easy though, there is a mark on the crank pulley that you line up with a couple bumps on the timing cover, then you put the cam gears up arrow pointing up and you put on the belt, rotate it CC a little bit and tighten tensioner.

but if your valves are rusted/pitted real bad then I would go with the new engine because most places have start up guarantees and a warranty that all sensors work and stuff like that. and im sure you know but you can flush the cooling system and change the oil a ouple times and both systems would be clean and back to normal.

[nosfed360]

well....i just had a monkeywrench thrown in the whole thing. A buddy of mine called me today and said he found a motor. guy wrecked a 93 civic in the rear........wants to sell the whole car for 200 bucks, my friend cranked it up today....motor has 100k on it. not sure what i'd do with a wrecked 93 civic body though.....i guess it's worth it just for the tranny though huh? oh well, things always get complicated. Oh, and thanks for the timing info.....definately sounds easier than i thought it would be.

[94tegRS]

is it the same body style as yours? if so then id definately get it. how bad is it wrecked? even if it isnt a hatch it would still be a good deal since stil alot changes over.
also , if it is a hatch, wanna off the dash,door panels,headliner and seats????

[nosfed360]

I'll let you know as soon as I go see it.

[Wardog]

I'm a new comer to the imports and dont realy now to much. I saw the post and i learned alot. what i want to know is will all those engines mentioned fit in a 95 honda civic EX? and if yes I found a H22A 2.2L 205H for 2100$ can that be used on the stock tranny or will I need to beef that up to? thanks.

[GScivic7]

no, the H22 will not bolt up to your tranny. You have a D series motor and tranny, so any D series motor or tranny can be mixed and matched and they will bolt up to each other and drop right in. The H22 has to be mated to an H series tranny. The same goes for the B and F series motors and trannies.

[Wardog]

ok thanks, Ill probley just go with the B16A2 than I found one for 2k is that a good deal?