I'm looking to buy my parents extra car located in Arizona which is a '88 DX 3 door. I recently visited them and took a quick look under the hood and fired up the engine for a quick check. I noticed the plugs were in the middle of the head and not canted off to the side.

Did the DX's come with DOHC engines?

My dad bought the car from the widow of one of his friends and he mentioned they just had a new engine/block put in as well as a lot of suspension work. Since I live in California, it could become a issue if the engine is not stock when I go get smogged.

 

No, the DX is a standard performance version and came with a SOHC engine. Sounds like you have the stock D15B2 SOHC engine. The plugs are toward the back (intake side) of the head. The valve cover will say "HONDA" and "16 VALVE" on it. If it still has the DPFI intake system (big round air cover that may still have the label "DUAL POINT FUEL INJECTION" it's definitely stock.

Clean off the flat spot on the front of the engine block where it meets the transmission and the engine type will be stamped there.

 

Thanks for the info. Will look when I visit this weekend. Engine is almost spotless as its new. Only thing wrong with the car is the paint fade due to the Arizona sun.

 

Also look underneath to make sure the catalytic converter is still there. Though it may be there but it has been hollowed out. Best thing is to make the sale conditional on it passing the smog test when you get it to California.

 

Lol. Its my parents car.

 

But he bought it off of someone else, so it's history isn't completely known.

Also this is from the era where there were different versions for California versus the other 49 states. If it's not the California model, there may be trouble bringing it in. So check with the California authorities.

 

You can bring in a non CA emissions car to CA as long as the existing emissions haven't been tampered with. I'm retired military and am aware of the exceptions. You can occasionally see a VW Golf TDI running around here in San Diego that was brought in from out of state.

Thanks for the word of caution though. Will give the car a thorough going over this visit while replacing a broken taillight. Bought one from a junkyard here in San Diego for $65 with none available locally at my parents and dealer was estimating about $300 plus labor for a new replacement.

 

For a taillight! 300$? Omg...