Hey I been struggling to find a good engine replacement for my 2000 Honda Accord v6. My tranny blew and I don’t want to just replace it since it’s the an old Honda auto and I can’t manual swap the v6 version. Also wanted to be able to add a turbo. If anyone has had any luck with it I would appreciate any advice or direction in to start looking more into.

 

Lots to unpack here:

• I would strongly recommend you either repair or replace your transmission and leave well enough alone; the J30A1 engine in your Accord is well known for 300,000+ miles with just normal maintenance.
• Technically speaking, you do have an avenue to swap a manual transmission into your car (and a more powerful engine as well); if you can find a wrecked Acura CL Type-S 6MT, I've read reports indicating you can literally drop the engine, transmission, and wiring harness directly into a Gen 6 Accord which was built with a V6.
• Regarding turbocharging your car; while technically possible, this is a virtual non-starter. Why? Engines built on a "V", be they V6, V8, V10, V12, or even V16, are far more complicated to turbocharge than inline engines like I3, I4, and I6 engines; this is simply by virtue of the fact the exhaust ports for inline engines all come out of the same side of the engine while the ports for V engines come out of opposite side. Given that major idiosyncrasy, the cost to plumb in one, or two turbochargers, what with the necessary routing for intake charge cooling, intake charge routing to the throttle body, exhaust gas routing, and the routing of oil to and from the turbocharger bearings is highly complex, and given the packaging limitations of a transverse mounted V6, the plumbing becomes doubly complex.
• You might say, "Well, why don't I just drop in an I4 from another Gen 6 Accord?" Simple answer, cannot easily be done. Why? The V6 models like yours have the engine on the right side of the car and the transmission on the left; the I4 models are reversed, and that causes all manner of challenges when it comes to a transplant.
• Then there is the transmission itself; if you were to say successfully turbocharge your V6, given the H4 transmission in your car is widely considered "as fragile as glass", the extra power your engine develops would render your transmission "toast" on a regular basis.
• If you really-REALLY want a turbocharged I4 Accord, the absolute best route to pull this off would be to sell your car and buy an otherwise identical Accord with the I4 and the 5-Speed manual transmission.

 

One final thought; I drove a 2001 Accord EX V6 for 7 years, and the entire time I had it I dreamed of dropping a slick shifting 6-Speed manual into it. Ultimately I kinda-sorta did just that; I sold the Accord and replaced it with the Accord's sibling (built on the same platform and on the same assembly line), a 2006 Acura TL 6MT; yes the TL cost difference between what I sold the Accord for and what I paid for the TL was upwards of $6,000, but that was probably far less than the cost of dropping the 6MT in the Accord, and as a bonus, I got a far-FAR nicer car, with a lot more power, better brakes (Brembo 4-piston calipers up front), better suspension, and better looks. In your shoes I would strongly suggest looking at 2004 to 2008 Acura TLs with a 6-Speed manual.

Oddly enough, mine is on the market as we speak; I just had a new Toyota Tacoma TRD Sport with a 6-Speed manual built; it will be here in a few weeks.