F23A1 = VTEC (most LX & EX cars)

F23A4 = ULEV VTEC (ULEV California-car but not sure how that relates to LX or EX)

F23A5 = non-VTEC (Accord DX where the valvecover doesn't say "VTEC")

In more general terms, it goes like this:
F = F-series engine architecture
23 = 2.3 liters displacement
A = major version
1 = minor version

The front of the engine block has a serial# stamped into a flat spot about mid-height near the engine/transmission split line.
First line of that stamped information is the engine F23A1
Second line is the block serial #.

 

Thanks for the info JimBlake. I'll have to double check mine, but since it is a non-Cali VTEC car, it would most certainly be a F23A1.


Is the SE 4-dr the step-child of the Honda Accord world? lol

 

Somewhere between 2001 & 2014 the ULEV cars would move around the country along with their previous owners.

And nothing prevents any Honda dealer (in 2001) from swapping to get a ULEV car if some customer wanted a particular color or something. We have occasionally seen ULEV cars all over the country.

 

Please note, other states, mostly in the North East, have also adopted California's emission standards, and as such, ULEV cars were the requirement not only in California, but also in New York, New Jersey (due to border state rules), and most of New England (except New Hampshire, which somehow dodges the border state rules).

 

If I get a chance, I'll check out the engine block stamping. Would there be anything else I could look for that would alert me if my car was a ULEV car?


Thanks again for the input guys - very interesting discussion.

 

There's a sticky at the top of the forums "VIN Decoder...".

Put in your VIN and see what it says.

 

Nice. I'll check it out. Can't believe I missed that.

 

Good info from the decoder, but alas, it did not provide the final digit engine designation, only referred to it as the 2.3 VTEC Auto.


Thanks though!

 

Here's pictures of the exhaust manifolds. The SECOND picture is the ULEV engine.

 

Thanks JimBlake, mine is most certainly the first one, the NON-ULEV version.


Do you happen to have access to any more of the exploded-view diagrams that would show the rest of the exhaust? Most especially the downpipe?