Honda Car Forum

The 88-91 Civic Si and CRX Si, US Model share the same engine D16A6 and same
5 Speed Transmission. The valve cover gasket, spark plug seals, & grommets
are extremely easy to replace and costs about $30 US for all.

The engine swap you're talking about is a straight swap with no problem but
keep in mind that there's no identical car/engine/tranny even though they're
built to the same specification. There will be minute idiosyncrasies.
Verify the clutch condition on the new transmission as well as other
periodic maintenance are current i.e. timing belt, valve adjustment, etc..
if not, the timing belt and the clutch should be replaced at the same time
of the engine swap to save on labor cost.

If the new engine has an oil leak and was not replaced by the original owner
I would be inclined to believe that the person doesn't take good care of
his/her car and would be skeptical about the engine. If you know that the
valve cover gasket is the source of the leak and everything else about the
engine is good then go for it.

Good Luck

"Mark McLean" <copperdoo@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:SmgQa.216$eP6.74597@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Hi all, I know that many of you are highly eduacated on the
> subject....unlike me..
> I have an 88 CRX Si, D16A6 motor..
> It's burning oil like hell, and won't pass the Ontario Drive Clean
Emissions
> test.. (a problem that many of you have run into I see) I have a dilemma,
> whether to get the engine rebuilt and replace the warn out oil rings in
the
> cylinders, or buy a $500 Civic (non-crx) Si that I know passed an
emissions
> test with flying colours last fall without having any sort of tune-up
done.
> My CRX has a full tune up so I can give this engine a tune up.
> My real question is, is there any difference between the engine in the '89
> Civic Hatch SI and the 88 CRX Si?
> Are the gear ratios the same, as the tranny in the civic has also been
> changed and shifts quite nicely. Will it be a straight swap with no harsh
> side effects or am I going to have problems because the engines are from
> different cars and different model years. I also noticed on the new
engine
> that there is oil (lots of it) in one of the spark plug towers. My
mechanic
> told me that it's just the valve cover gasket and it's not a big deal to
> change, and this oil helps me get this guy's price way down through the
> floor.. (I might be able to get it for $150)
> Could this potentially be anything other the the valve cover gasket, and
am
> I making a mistake buying this engine and tranny?
> What do you guys recommend that I do?
>
> Thanks for your help..I'm sure I'll get some.
>
> Mark (crxtasyATsympatico.ca)
>
>

Thanks for the info, I think I'm going to go for it..
The engine that I'm looking to buy was recently replaced from a wrecker, and
was documented as having 160k km on it..
Apparently it doesn't burn a drop of oil, and from just a sniff test i
believe that guy..
my car right now has 300k on it and it burns oil like mad.. if you run it up
over 3500rpm it's difficult to breath in the car lol.
I plan on changing all the valve cover seals and the timing belt at the same
time as the valve cover needs to be removed for the timing belt to be
replaced..
I hear of everybody replacing water punps, is that a difficult job and an
expensive part, I havn't really researched them yet..
Thanks for the info.


"Fluffy" <no-spamming-bsavanh@mchsi.com> wrote in message
news:d6hQa.52443$ye4.38896@sccrnsc01...
> The 88-91 Civic Si and CRX Si, US Model share the same engine D16A6 and
same
> 5 Speed Transmission. The valve cover gasket, spark plug seals, &
grommets
> are extremely easy to replace and costs about $30 US for all.
>
> The engine swap you're talking about is a straight swap with no problem
but
> keep in mind that there's no identical car/engine/tranny even though
they're
> built to the same specification. There will be minute idiosyncrasies.
> Verify the clutch condition on the new transmission as well as other
> periodic maintenance are current i.e. timing belt, valve adjustment, etc..
> if not, the timing belt and the clutch should be replaced at the same time
> of the engine swap to save on labor cost.
>
> If the new engine has an oil leak and was not replaced by the original
owner
> I would be inclined to believe that the person doesn't take good care of
> his/her car and would be skeptical about the engine. If you know that the
> valve cover gasket is the source of the leak and everything else about the
> engine is good then go for it.
>
> Good Luck
>
> "Mark McLean" <copperdoo@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:SmgQa.216$eP6.74597@news20.bellglobal.com...
> > Hi all, I know that many of you are highly eduacated on the
> > subject....unlike me..
> > I have an 88 CRX Si, D16A6 motor..
> > It's burning oil like hell, and won't pass the Ontario Drive Clean
> Emissions
> > test.. (a problem that many of you have run into I see) I have a
dilemma,
> > whether to get the engine rebuilt and replace the warn out oil rings in
> the
> > cylinders, or buy a $500 Civic (non-crx) Si that I know passed an
> emissions
> > test with flying colours last fall without having any sort of tune-up
> done.
> > My CRX has a full tune up so I can give this engine a tune up.
> > My real question is, is there any difference between the engine in the
'89
> > Civic Hatch SI and the 88 CRX Si?
> > Are the gear ratios the same, as the tranny in the civic has also been
> > changed and shifts quite nicely. Will it be a straight swap with no
harsh
> > side effects or am I going to have problems because the engines are from
> > different cars and different model years. I also noticed on the new
> engine
> > that there is oil (lots of it) in one of the spark plug towers. My
> mechanic
> > told me that it's just the valve cover gasket and it's not a big deal to
> > change, and this oil helps me get this guy's price way down through the
> > floor.. (I might be able to get it for $150)
> > Could this potentially be anything other the the valve cover gasket, and
> am
> > I making a mistake buying this engine and tranny?
> > What do you guys recommend that I do?
> >
> > Thanks for your help..I'm sure I'll get some.
> >
> > Mark (crxtasyATsympatico.ca)
> >
> >
>
>