Hello all, I will do my best to keep this to the point. First, I would like to show my appreciation for this site. Many of you provide valuable feedback you can't get anywhere else. I am a new subscriber, but have been a frequent visitor over the past year after purchasing a lemon for a commuter vehicle. The lemon is a 2004 Honda Civic EX with the D17A2 vtec, & an oil burning issue. Long story short, I put some work into the vehicle over the 10 months I've had it. Full brakes, new wheels/tires, new clutch, & other little things, however, the OG engine is now toast, & have a JDM motor being prepared for installation. It was the wiser choice with its recent upgrades & overall very clean condition. The "new" motors outside shows its age, but peeping through the fill cap looks practically new. I'll know if it's a keeper when my mechanic drops the pan, & finds flaking or not. If no metal is found, & it's OK for installation, my question is what would be the recommended approach for its 1st fire up? Should I fill the crankcase with diesel or the like, let soak overnight, then drain to flush anything out before filling with 5w20? I don't know how long or where its been sitting empty. How long should I go on the 1st OCI? A long drive, a week, a month? I'm probably going to just use the cheap Chevron synthetic blend from WM with a fram ultra, & new air filter of course, for the initial OCI, then put it on full synthetic. Would it be wise or risky to use an engine flush at some point, & which one if so? Should I give it a couple short OCI's before moving to full synthetic for 5k or fouling of the oil which ever comes 1st? This is new territory for me, & any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you all for your time & opinions in advance!
JDM Engine Swap
- Thread starter Vorlauf
- Start date
If it looks clean down the valve cover it's likely clean and if he's gonna pull the pan might as well pay him a bit more to hand clean it and the pickup tube and change the pickup tube seal and reseal the pan. If the engines out I'd also reseal the rear main just in case and it wouldn't hurt to change the head gasket and other gaskets if it's already out and on a stand. for that extra peace of mind.
Also it's not a rebuilt so there's no need to do any procedure. Honda forums state that those vtec engines have no real change in vtec operation if you use a thicker oil. So i'd use euro rated 30 or 40 grade.
Also it's not a rebuilt so there's no need to do any procedure. Honda forums state that those vtec engines have no real change in vtec operation if you use a thicker oil. So i'd use euro rated 30 or 40 grade.
Welcome to BITOG 
If you're going to JDM swap, why not a K20?
If you're going to JDM swap, why not a K20?
Really wanted to, but this all happened very suddenly, & am limited on funds. Plus I need the car back up & running asap. My only other vehicle is a 93 Rodeo, & isn't very economical as a 3200 mi/week commuter right now. If it were a project car, I absolutely would have pieced together things needed for a k20 swap as I could afford them.Welcome to BITOG
If you're going to JDM swap, why not a K20?
The pan will be cleaned & new gasket. Getting new timing belt/water pump, thermostat, valve cover gasket set, intake & exhaust gaskets, vtec solenoid gaskets, crank, cam, & rear main seals. Head gasket is still in the air. Would cost a bit more, especially if he would have to hone the surface, so I'm leaning on taking my chances. As far as an initial short oci, my thoughts were possible traces of salt or moisture inside. Any benefit for a euro 30 or 40 weight? Wouldn't the higher viscosity actually restrict flow & produce more strain on the pump than the 20 weight it was engineered for?
Oops! That's 320mi/wk. That extra 0 slipped in there.WOW 3k a week?
I am going to do the head gasket now too. After reading my response, & some more thought about it, I realized that if I'm doing every single other gasket & seal, it would of course come back to bite me hard as a blown head gasket later. It only makes sense to do it cheaper now while the motor is out vs later. Thanks for your persuasion into the right direction with that.
Oops! That's 320 mi/wk
Nope that is a misconception, outside of the US where silly environmental regulations aren't a thing cars like the 2022 Toyota Prius will state to use anything from a 16 grade up to a 40 grade. The 2015 Prius would state 20 to 50 grade and it had the exact same engine as the US market version. Same with all the others brands like Ford and Honda. The 5.4 triton was specd for 5w-20 here but in other markets the minimum was 5w-30 up to 20w-50. And in those markers the engines didn't have as many issues while we did. And euro oils cost about the same and will go longer and protect better without affecting vtec operation. Honda forums have debunked that. And you don't have to machine the deck when you replace the gasket.
Any particular euro oil you recommend?
Any you can find at Walmart. I personally like quaker state euro since it's the best priced oil to meet the bmw ll-01 rating which is great. Could also get Valvoline euro 5w-40. Pennzoil platinum euro 5w-30 or 0w-40. Mobil and Castrol In any 30 and 40 grade. About all have an hths minimum of 3.5 which is what matters. Regular SP 30 grade oils are typically just 3.1 hths. But the additives are weaker too.
MB 229.5 Porsche a40
Never heard of a headgasket as PM or while I'm here. Might as well just rebuild the whole thing, then the JDM swap is no longer a cost savings.
It's a used engine and sometimes you get lucky and it goes on for another 200k and sometimes it just fails. But a head gasket right now would be cheapest as the engine is already on a stand with almost nothing in the way so it would be quick and cheaper to change now. If the engine was already put in and buttoned up then it wouldn't be worth it anymore. In that case I'd just wait for it to blow or not. But if it's out then spend a bit more now than possibly way more later on. And cost aside the inconveniences of having a car out of commission when you need it most is the worst so that's what I meant by peace of mind.
Yes but why get a used engine just to rebuild it?
How is this engine getting rebuilt?. The old engine was junk by his description which meant it needs metal replaced, has scored bores, or is just damaged beyond repair. This engine doesn't need metal parts like rings, bearings, cams ect. Doesn't have scoring it seems, well at least I assume because i just assume the mechanic he has checked the bores with a snake cam on the old engine and the new one since it takes no effort to take plugs out on an inline 4. Changing gaskets and seals isn't a rebuild.
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The only thing worth keeping on the original is the head, which I'll hang onto, & external hardware. Everything in the block is toast. I'll just say that I was quite impressed by its loud, clattering will to keep going as I needed to get closer to town for a tow. The JDM D17A was $1300 after taxes & shipping. It was going to cost me more to have the block rebuilt. Roughly $200 for all new gaskets, seals, & Gates timing belt kit, which I needed anyway. Labor cost is going to run me about
1.5-2k. The pan was just dropped on the JDM, & internals look amazing. No staining, no metal, & the little oil left was clear & the color of honey. I feel confident that the motor was low mileage, & will take my chances on the bearings & rings. So far it is still a cost savings. Plus I'll have backup coil packs, alternator, valve cover, oil pan, headers, heat shield, & the whole valve train from the original, & I get my vehicle back up & running sooner.
Did both engines get all their bores checked with a snake cam.
It's significantly cheaper to have these things done now while both engines are out, than when the engine is in the bay later down the road, only to pay for more labor to have it taken apart again. I'm only going to do this once on this vehicle. If I get another 200k miles for doing it smart, it will have paid itself off & then some.
