Hi everyone- I recently bought this car from my father in law. The car has been in the family since new. He had the car for 8 years and put on 200,000 miles on it in that time. The car now has 262,000 on it. I enjoy the car despite the auto tranny and general lack of power. It still runs and drives 100% despite the miles. I am saving good amount of money on gas compared to my other car. I picked up the obscure integra 15" wheels and also installed a low mileage stock EM1 Si suspension. I got the wheels/shocks/springs/sway bar all very cheaply. The car handles very well with this set up and doesn't have a punishing ride.
The engine does use a bit of oil in between changes. There is also a strange engine noise that only happens under load at about 2,700-3,000 rpm or so. It is definitely internal and is a very hard sound to describe. It is almost like there are some loose bits being shook around in the engine. My wife mentioned that she has remembered the car making this noise since her dad owned it. I am planning on switching to some Royal Purple oil next change to see if I notice any difference.
I have never owned a honda before and am new to all their engine codes. What would be the easiest swap into this particular model civic? If the engine ever did decide to give up the ghost, I might be tempted to swap something in along with a proper 5 speed.
Cheers!
I desperately miss my 2000 LX sedan. Great great cars. I swear they have the best cup-holders ever installed into an automobile. Cheap insurance, great mileage, comfy for DD use.
For engine codes, there's a plethora of information on the web.
Here's a wikipedia list of the Honda 4-cylinders in automotive applications.
Your car has a d16y7, which can be seen on a flat part the size of a postage stamp on the block below and to the left of the exhaust manifold just where the block joins the transmission.
B series swaps are the most common, as it is the same engine family that came in the EM1 you got your suspension from (as well as all Integras 94-01), so the swap can be done almost completely using OEM Honda parts.
There are databases out there showing what is needed to swap motor X into chassis Y.
My DD is a '97 Civic DX coupe (no power steering...last year of the no P/S) with a stock engine and manual transmission. Mine has about 211K miles on it now (not sure, but believe the engine to be original to the car) and uses some oil between changes, but not much and runs fairly quietly. On long trips it gets about 37-38 MPG while in town it get 31-32. Only problems in the 60K miles I've driven it are "check engine" light has come on twice. First time it needed a fairly extensive tune-up (done around 200K miles) and the second...just this weekend so not sure what iti is yet.
A few years ago, I drove a '98 Civic DX sedan with automatic for a few months. They aren't all that bad compared to a manual car...at least as far as throttle response and "get up and go". My gas mileage wasn't too bad or too good (about 10-15% worse than a manual Civic) tho I figured on long trips that the cruise control of an LX would have gotten me better MPG numbers.
Swap to a B series engine and it's nearly "plug and play" plus there is no change in weight distribution. Basically, different trans and motor mounts and a few wires changed unless you go to a V-Tec engine. Best of all, gas mileage stays the same or even improves, depending on how you drive.
I forgot to mention I have a constant CEL as well. It keeps throwing a code for the cat convertor. It threw this code about 500 miles after the convertor was changed out last year. I replaced one of the O2 sensors and got the car to pass emissions.
At this point, I ignore the light. I am getting about 35 mpg per tank of gas. I recently replaced the pcv valve and the oil consumption has since gone down. It was a bitch to replace and in a terrible location.
