So, I went to a wrecking yard a few days ago to just get a few little parts here and there. I'm talking plastic body parts and the plastic rivets for the inner fender shield. Small stuff that they give away for free with any purchase.

Well, I happened across a police impound 1994 honda accord, with a nice little vtec sitting in the engine bay...complete with no oil leaks or any damage so far as I could tell. the dipstick came out clean and the belts were recently replaced. Crawling under the car I found the recent replacement oil filter date, one month previous!

So, I called the office and asked their price for complete motors and I bought it on the spot for $232.45 with tax. I went home and got the tools and now I have another project to complete!

everything on the motor looks extremely clean and the mileage was at 189k.


I plan on replacing all the gaskets and seals and the timing belt and water pump before installing it into my car just to be safe.

So, my question is this: Where should I start with the engine?

I want to replace anything that could go bad on a motor at 200k miles, and I know that is the gaskets, water pump (that unless it is in new condition might as well be replaced with the engine out of the car because it is a bitch to get at in the car.),timing belt, and?

Thanks for the help guys!





It was so clean...

 

Several potential oil leak sites should have gaskets replaced; rear balance shaft cover, vtec base gasket, distributor/cylinder head oring, and oil pan gasket.

I would suggest checking engine compressions before installing. Rig battery to starter and turn engine over to test. Add some oil to see how much compression is improved. Since engine has been down for perhaps 1 month, the cylinder walls may be pretty dry.

You will need Vtec ECM and may need the donor engine harness to make Vtec work in LX accord.

good luck

 

Do some reading on swapping an OBD-I motor into an OBD-II car. You will need a vtec ECU as well.

What is the condition of the clutch and flywheel in both cars? Would you feel better with a new clutch set up or are you willing to trust either set you have now (the one in the car and the one on the engine?). If I was there already, a new rear main seal is easier to do now than in X miles after the engine is in the car.

Again, check local laws and figure out what manual trans vtec ecu you will need. Then you will know what else needs to be solved on converting.

EDIT: dang I'm really slow at typing.....I see TX posted already

 

Where is the VTEC ECU in the car? I didn't see any other boxes that my car doesn't have, unless it is the ECU for the entire car, but a vtec module?

It was newly put into the yard a few days before I got there and I'm relatively sure it would still be there, unless it is something that would be cheap-ish to buy new? It is a running project and doesn't need to be done anytime soon so shipping won't be an issue.

As for the clutch, it is perfect in my car. When I got the car it was newly replaced and that was only 20k miles ago. It should still be good, I don't ride it all the time.

I live in an emission exempt area so it doesn't need testing when registering if that is the only reason for checking. As for the other stuff, the wiring harness connections, wouldn't I be able to use like the distributor, alternator, and other stuff off of my current motor to allow the wiring harness that i have to work with it regarding the OBD-I to OBD-II?

EDIT: I'll be replacing the following so far, unless I find more problems in the future:

Rear balance shaft cover
VTEC base gasket
Distributor/cylinder head o-ring
oil pan gasket
timing belt
water pump

I can buy an entire upper and lower gasket set from rock auto for $121, it would be roughly the same to buy the few pieces I need separately, unless I found the wrong items online.

If I get the Vtec ECU from the 94 accord i got the motor out of, will it matter if it is 5-speed or auto?

 

Sorry, wasn't clear. The ECU needs to be from a manual trans car that came with vtec.

Again, you need to figure out if you want to use an OBD-I or OBD-II ECU. There are some wiring and sensors that are different between the two.

I personally, no testing where you live, would lean towards the OBD-I option.....why, somewhere down the raod you want to do more to the car (turbo, ect) there is more support for tuning on an OBD-I ECU.

 

So, if I got a Vtec ECU from a 96-97 accord I'd be okay then? I doubt that I'll be doing turbo or anything too fancy anytime soon...if ever with this car despite how much I love it.

I'll go back today and see if there was still the ECU under the dash. I really don't want to change my entire wiring harness, that is just something I'd rather avoid, but if none present their selves in a 96-97 with a vtec I'll grab the ECU from the doner car. It was a manual after all. (I was asking in case I had to buy one or find it off another car)

 

Again, if you want a pretty simple ECU change then a manual - vtec ECU from a 96 or 97 will be what you need. Just add the wires from the vtec to the ECU.

With that desicsion, the next major thing will be one of the "triggers" for the ign system. On the 96 one is in the timing belt area and on the 94 it is in the dist. So you will need to decide it you swap the sensor and gears from the 96 to the 94 or wire the 94 to your 96.

 

I think the scheme of signals from those sensors are different. So if you get an OBD-2 VTEC ECU (1996/1997) then you'll want to use an OBD-2 distributor and connect to the distributor and crank-sensors just like your car's wiring harness is already set up.

If you get an OBD-1 VTEC ECU (up to 1995) then you'll have to use an OBD-1 distributor and probably some additional changes to your wiring harness.

 

Just me, never done it but have read about it, the wires for the OBD-I motor can be wired to the OBD-II ECU for the ign system.

Again, my statement is still true....what you decide to do is going to drive "what you have to do" to make it work.

It is more than just the sensor on the tb side, the gear has to be changed as it contains the "trigger" for the sensor.

 

Okay, that seems like a good start then, thank you for the advice guys!