Hello. I am rather new to this forum. I tried searching for an answer.

I have a 96 Civic EX with a Y8. I recently lost most compression in cylinder 2 (only 80 now compared to 180 previously).

After some troubleshooting, we determined that the valves are not seating properly for cylinder 2. I am leaning away from doing a valve job because my engine has 205K miles on it and I don't want to risk blowing something in the lower end.

I have found a used head (with cam, valves and valve cover) in good condition for $150.

1. Could I just buy the used head and be ok?

2. Should I just replace the engine with another Y8 (found one with 100K miles for $850)?

Money is rather tight, as my wife is in graduate school still. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance,

~Steve

 

$850 seems a little high for a y8 unless it has the transmission and harness too.

I think you should try swapping the head. It's cheaper than taking the old one to a machine shop ($75+ just to clean it so they WILL work on it).

That's just my $0.02

 

I agree that $850 is a little steep, but there are very few in the area. Thanks for your input! I, too, am leaning on just swapping the head. I just want to make sure that no one thinks it will cause problems with my lower end.

 

Just put new valves in! Once that's done, I would start to worry about the piston rings.

 

http://www.onecamonly.com/diy-forum/...d-rebuild.html

Once youve got the head torn down you will know if theres anything irreparable or not. You may just have to put in some new valves and rebuild your head.

 

Well, I bought a head for $75. Everything is straight as an arrow, just needs to be blasted. I decided that I might as well pull the engine and change all lower end gaskets as well. I also need to change the clutch (still on the factory clutch).

Any other suggestions are definitely welcome!