general engine info
#2
11-02-2005, 02:57 PM
RE: general engine info
Found this on another site, but didnt know whether it was cool to link it, so I will copy past it for you. 
Good Info about Motor Swaps-Pulled off another site
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The COMPLETE 92-00 Civic Owners Engine Swapping Guide!!
So you want to swap out that puny 91 cubic inch weedwacker engine of yours and replace it with a fire-breathing DOHC? That's cool. But which engine should you go for? The 5th and 6th generation civic owners are lucky in the fact that its bigger brothers were designed very similar to the civic in many ways. This allows the ability to transplant various other engines from other H-cars without too much fuss. Integra, Prelude, other civics, even the sport Ute CRV engines can be considered. In addition you can do more than just swap out the whole engine, you could take a Vtec cylinder head and put it on your existing engine or swap out the whole engine and THEN swap the head on that. The possibilities are many. To help you wade through this mess, First I'll talk about the different engine choices, and then I'll talk about head swapping choices and its benefits. I'll get into the pros and cons of each to help YOU decide which choice is wise for you according to your courage, budget and power needs.
First off I need to mention a few things. When looking for your possible swap candidate, have a plan and research EVERYTHING. Find out as much info from as many sources as you can find. Now when putting $$$ aside for the swap, put aside as much as the components costs (Engine, transmission, etc), add shipping if necessary, then add atleast $1000 for small extra parts you might need and/or broken parts on the engine (PCV valves, distributor core, AC bracket, axles, shift linkage, new polyurethane mounts, etc), and finally calculate how much you’ll need to replace all the high wear components: Timing belt, plugs, oil pump, clutch, etc. Believe me, it’ll cost ALOT less to replace them now than if they break after you’ve installed the engine. You should buy the helms manual for the engine you plan to get to get a complete run down of all the technical stuff. AND before I forget, remember that your stock cooling system will most likely need to be upgraded in one way or the other to cool the new bigger engine. And plan on the safe side to be without the car for atleast 2 weeks. It shouldn’t take more than a weekend of work but something ALWAYS goes wrong. As we Hispanics say: “Dress yourself in patience” and expect the worst and you’ll be fine.
As for exactly what you need to complete the entire swap, unfortunately it changes slightly with each engine considered, which is why it’s extremely important to research exactly what you need, but here’s the general list:
1. Engine and all components attached to the engine. Cylinder head, alternator, distributor, AC pump if necessary, P/S pump if necessary, etc.
2. Transmission: It doesn’t necessarily have to be the tranny that came with the engine but you need to get atleast a transmission that will bolt up to the block. All transmissions of the same letter series tranny’s should bolt up like stock. At this point it would an excellent time to decide if you’d like to change your transmission from automatic to stickshift or vise versa. There are other threads available in the Civic FAQ that could help you with that.
3. ECU: It’s a vital link in the whole project and most of the times completely looked over. If you plan to swap the head of your engine, you need the ECU of the head you’re swapping in.
4. Shift Linkage: These rods connect the shifter **** to the transmission. Without them you couldn’t shift the tranny. They aren’t necessary with every swap but most of them do need them.
5. Axles: Makes sense that you need the axles that fit the transmission. They’re all different for each swap unfortunately. The axles that came with the engine aren’t going to necessarily work with your civic suspension. Research.
6. Mounts: Most of the swaps don’t need fabricated mounts but they do need the mounts that came with the engine. The H22 and F22 engines are different in that they need custom mounts from places like HASport or Place Racing.
7. Optional, Performance exhaust: Your stock exhaust, particularly your stock catalytic converter will act as a cork to your newfound power. Replacing it with a high performance exhaust will let the engine breathe at the very least to stock specs. In some cases however, the down pipe on the engine won’t match up perfectly with your catalytic converter. In which taking a trip down to the local muffler shop and making a custom exhaust system would be in order.
8. Fuel Pump: For some of the larger swaps, particularly the 2.2 liter series, the stock civic fuel pump will not be enough to meet the needs of the new engine. At the very least you need the pump of the engine you’re getting. If not get an upgraded aftermarket pump.
Two things that are very important that I need to discuss before we get into each engine are the Rod to Stroke ratio and OBD.
The Rod to Stroke ratio: This topic gets very complicated very quickly. Basically it’s the ratio of how long the rod is compared to the length of the entire rod stroke. The perfect ratio is 1.75. If the ratio is off, it means that the rod is not using 100% of it’s momentum to compress the air and gas mixture. It’s using more energy to push against the sides of the cylinder walls than to compress the fuel mixture. This is normally not too bad because things are very well lubricated in your engine. But when you change certain aspects of the engine, in particular increasing the ECU fuel cutoff point or going forced induction, the imperfect R/S ratio will cause more stress on the engine block and could eventually destroy it. A good R/S ratio also ensures long engine life. For a more in-depth look into the R/S ratio check out the following site: http://victorylibrary.com/tech/crod-c.htm
OBD stands for On Board Diagnostics. Most every modern car has a version of OBD and it’s basically an engine monitoring system. It consists of many different sensors in strategic locations that monitor various aspects of the engine’s performance. Some examples of the sensors are O2 sensors that monitor the air to fuel mixture, the throttle position sensor that senses how open the throttle plate is at any given moment, and intake temperature sensor that monitors the temperature of the intake air. All of these sensors are monitored by the ECU, the car’s brain monitors the OBD system and changes variables according to pre-programmed specifications. There are currently 3 versions of OBD and each version gets progressively more complex and stricter on the amount flexibility it will allow before taking action to prevent what it sees as a potentially engine damaging situation. OBD1 started with the 5th generation civic 1992-1995. OBD2 continued with the 6th generation 1996-2000 and the latest version is OBD3 and can be found on the 7th gen. civic 2001-???.
NOW, Let’s get to the engines starting with the smallest and cheapest candidates:
D16Z6, D16Y8, D15B7: If you have one of the lower and cheaper civic models, IE The Cx, Dx, Lx and If you're looking for a cheap power increase while still maintaining stock gas mileage then the possibility of swapping in one of the higher model civic engines is right up your alley. The D16Z6 is the SOHC 5th Gen. Si and Ex engine pushing 125hp @ 6600 rpm and 106 lb.-ft of torque @ 5200 rpm. The D16Y8 is the 6th gen. SOHC Ex engine pushing 127hp @ 6600 rpm and 107 lb.-ft of torque @ 5500 rpm. These are extremely easy to find since allot ppl swap them out in favor for more expensive engines. They bolt in like stock and the whole package could be had for hundreds (You might even find someone who’s recently swa
Good Info about Motor Swaps-Pulled off another site
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The COMPLETE 92-00 Civic Owners Engine Swapping Guide!!
So you want to swap out that puny 91 cubic inch weedwacker engine of yours and replace it with a fire-breathing DOHC? That's cool. But which engine should you go for? The 5th and 6th generation civic owners are lucky in the fact that its bigger brothers were designed very similar to the civic in many ways. This allows the ability to transplant various other engines from other H-cars without too much fuss. Integra, Prelude, other civics, even the sport Ute CRV engines can be considered. In addition you can do more than just swap out the whole engine, you could take a Vtec cylinder head and put it on your existing engine or swap out the whole engine and THEN swap the head on that. The possibilities are many. To help you wade through this mess, First I'll talk about the different engine choices, and then I'll talk about head swapping choices and its benefits. I'll get into the pros and cons of each to help YOU decide which choice is wise for you according to your courage, budget and power needs.
First off I need to mention a few things. When looking for your possible swap candidate, have a plan and research EVERYTHING. Find out as much info from as many sources as you can find. Now when putting $$$ aside for the swap, put aside as much as the components costs (Engine, transmission, etc), add shipping if necessary, then add atleast $1000 for small extra parts you might need and/or broken parts on the engine (PCV valves, distributor core, AC bracket, axles, shift linkage, new polyurethane mounts, etc), and finally calculate how much you’ll need to replace all the high wear components: Timing belt, plugs, oil pump, clutch, etc. Believe me, it’ll cost ALOT less to replace them now than if they break after you’ve installed the engine. You should buy the helms manual for the engine you plan to get to get a complete run down of all the technical stuff. AND before I forget, remember that your stock cooling system will most likely need to be upgraded in one way or the other to cool the new bigger engine. And plan on the safe side to be without the car for atleast 2 weeks. It shouldn’t take more than a weekend of work but something ALWAYS goes wrong. As we Hispanics say: “Dress yourself in patience” and expect the worst and you’ll be fine.
As for exactly what you need to complete the entire swap, unfortunately it changes slightly with each engine considered, which is why it’s extremely important to research exactly what you need, but here’s the general list:
1. Engine and all components attached to the engine. Cylinder head, alternator, distributor, AC pump if necessary, P/S pump if necessary, etc.
2. Transmission: It doesn’t necessarily have to be the tranny that came with the engine but you need to get atleast a transmission that will bolt up to the block. All transmissions of the same letter series tranny’s should bolt up like stock. At this point it would an excellent time to decide if you’d like to change your transmission from automatic to stickshift or vise versa. There are other threads available in the Civic FAQ that could help you with that.
3. ECU: It’s a vital link in the whole project and most of the times completely looked over. If you plan to swap the head of your engine, you need the ECU of the head you’re swapping in.
4. Shift Linkage: These rods connect the shifter **** to the transmission. Without them you couldn’t shift the tranny. They aren’t necessary with every swap but most of them do need them.
5. Axles: Makes sense that you need the axles that fit the transmission. They’re all different for each swap unfortunately. The axles that came with the engine aren’t going to necessarily work with your civic suspension. Research.
6. Mounts: Most of the swaps don’t need fabricated mounts but they do need the mounts that came with the engine. The H22 and F22 engines are different in that they need custom mounts from places like HASport or Place Racing.
7. Optional, Performance exhaust: Your stock exhaust, particularly your stock catalytic converter will act as a cork to your newfound power. Replacing it with a high performance exhaust will let the engine breathe at the very least to stock specs. In some cases however, the down pipe on the engine won’t match up perfectly with your catalytic converter. In which taking a trip down to the local muffler shop and making a custom exhaust system would be in order.
8. Fuel Pump: For some of the larger swaps, particularly the 2.2 liter series, the stock civic fuel pump will not be enough to meet the needs of the new engine. At the very least you need the pump of the engine you’re getting. If not get an upgraded aftermarket pump.
Two things that are very important that I need to discuss before we get into each engine are the Rod to Stroke ratio and OBD.
The Rod to Stroke ratio: This topic gets very complicated very quickly. Basically it’s the ratio of how long the rod is compared to the length of the entire rod stroke. The perfect ratio is 1.75. If the ratio is off, it means that the rod is not using 100% of it’s momentum to compress the air and gas mixture. It’s using more energy to push against the sides of the cylinder walls than to compress the fuel mixture. This is normally not too bad because things are very well lubricated in your engine. But when you change certain aspects of the engine, in particular increasing the ECU fuel cutoff point or going forced induction, the imperfect R/S ratio will cause more stress on the engine block and could eventually destroy it. A good R/S ratio also ensures long engine life. For a more in-depth look into the R/S ratio check out the following site: http://victorylibrary.com/tech/crod-c.htm
OBD stands for On Board Diagnostics. Most every modern car has a version of OBD and it’s basically an engine monitoring system. It consists of many different sensors in strategic locations that monitor various aspects of the engine’s performance. Some examples of the sensors are O2 sensors that monitor the air to fuel mixture, the throttle position sensor that senses how open the throttle plate is at any given moment, and intake temperature sensor that monitors the temperature of the intake air. All of these sensors are monitored by the ECU, the car’s brain monitors the OBD system and changes variables according to pre-programmed specifications. There are currently 3 versions of OBD and each version gets progressively more complex and stricter on the amount flexibility it will allow before taking action to prevent what it sees as a potentially engine damaging situation. OBD1 started with the 5th generation civic 1992-1995. OBD2 continued with the 6th generation 1996-2000 and the latest version is OBD3 and can be found on the 7th gen. civic 2001-???.
NOW, Let’s get to the engines starting with the smallest and cheapest candidates:
D16Z6, D16Y8, D15B7: If you have one of the lower and cheaper civic models, IE The Cx, Dx, Lx and If you're looking for a cheap power increase while still maintaining stock gas mileage then the possibility of swapping in one of the higher model civic engines is right up your alley. The D16Z6 is the SOHC 5th Gen. Si and Ex engine pushing 125hp @ 6600 rpm and 106 lb.-ft of torque @ 5200 rpm. The D16Y8 is the 6th gen. SOHC Ex engine pushing 127hp @ 6600 rpm and 107 lb.-ft of torque @ 5500 rpm. These are extremely easy to find since allot ppl swap them out in favor for more expensive engines. They bolt in like stock and the whole package could be had for hundreds (You might even find someone who’s recently swa
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12-24-2008 11:46 PM