Ok so I have a 2000 Civic EX. Everything is stock performance-wise. Now before anyone says anything, I have read up on this site and in general. I'm kind of leaning away from an engine swap since my car has about 95,000 miles on it and the engine is still running great. I'd have to buy a used engine that's been through who knows what and may not be in the best of shape. Then I'd have to sell my old engine. I was leaning more towards turbo but I really need this car to be reliable. I'm a senior in high school and I'll probably be driving it at least through college. So I guess my questions are:

1. What could I get for my used D16Y8 with 95,000 miles should I decide to go engine swap?
2. If I decide to engine swap would I have to swap my tranny too or no?
3. How reliable are turbos provided I get a good tune and keep the boost low?
4. If I go ahead and do the I/H/E for my D16, will I have to take them off or replace them if I later do the turbo or engine swap?
5. Is there anything else I would have to do other than install it and get it tuned for a turbo?
6. What exactly is involved in a tune anyway? From what I read you do something with your ECU and then dyno it...

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me out here

 

1. A couple hundred maybe.
2. If you swap to a different series [other than d]
3. Just as good as stock, depending on just how good the tune was. Also do a compression test before boosting to make sure your engine is in good shape.
4. Yes if you install a turbo, and yes if you swap to a different series but I'm not sure about the exaust if u swap, you might be able to keep it.
5. Normal maintaince like oil changes, I think they might have to be done more often.
6. I'm not sure of everything done but the tuner chips your ecu (you would have to convert your OBD2 ecu to a OBD1 ecu with a conversion harness) and they set the a/f ratios for all the rpm's. They probably do more but I don't know much about tuning.

Hope that helps.

 

here is what i would do, do a compression leak down test on your car and see if your engine can hold boost. then instead of spending the money on a b series, i would build up the d series, put a turbo on and your good go go. d series engines can make power if they are built and tuned right, but to answer your quetsions, here i go

1) i got 350 for my d16y8 with 144k on it
2) if you get a swap, it will come with all the necessary components you will need for the new engine
3) no turbo is reliable no matter what boost you run at. if you dive into a turbo project, you must have some extra money just in case of some problems.
4) you will have to replace the intake and header as there are other parts that replaces these with a turbo build
5) oil changes and making sure your engine bay doesnt get too hot.
6) a tune consists of making sure the right amount of fuel is getting into the engine with the new injectors and e manage system you have in. there are some other components related to a tune that other people can tell you. i have not witnessed a tune first hand, but i will soon.

if you are going to get a turbo i would research this until you are blue in the face.

 

1. Depending on the state you are in anywhere from 200 low to 500
2. Also depending on where your engine is bought from it should include the transmission.
3. I have had my turbo on for a year, and have dealt with a lot of different issues, and as aryiman98civic said, if you want to put on a turbo, you need extra funding to cover things.
4. The i/h/e is all part of the turbo, and it will be replaced all the way to the catback if you go that route. if you just decide on a different engine, for instance the K series, the exhaust will leave a from the rear of the engine instead of the front of it. Therefor, depending on which one you get, certain things won't be compatable.
5. Hi octane gas. Nothing lower than 91, and you would have to keep a close eye on your head gasketif you decide not to swap. I would also recommend going with synthetic oil if you do decide to turbo it, for the mere reason it doesn't break down as fast in your engine in the extreme heat.
6. During the tune, the technician will place your car on a dyno, and at every rpm the air/ fuel mixture wil be adjusted to the minimum to keep it from stalling. Then they will go through do the max, and fill in the blanks. Afterwards, They will go back and do it all over again, this time putting more loads on the engine ie A/C, heater, headlights, winshield wipers, radio, defrost etc. Normally from there, they have a tech support hotline that they can call to fill in a few other variables you don't think of such as cold start, warm start, and the different temps. Therein lies the problem though. I live in alaska, and the preset temps available for most turbos only go to around 50 Degrees, which is fine if you live in a warm environment. It was neg 25 here yesterday, at those are unset variables in the ecu. It sits and searches for the right combo to plug into to make it start, and takes a while. Anyways, just food for thought, want to know more just ask.

A mere thought, if you are on a budget, and looking for some quick horsepower without spending your college fund, then you might want to consider going with a supercharger. They are cheaper, and easier for the beginner. When you invest in a turbo, you need to be looking at things like extra cooling, bigger fuel rails/ injectors, fuel pump, ecu programming, New hi temp O2 sensors, stepping the exhaust up to 3 inch exhaust piping, and going deeper in depth, realizing that if you decide to do all this on the same block, than you will eventually want to look at changing all the internals.

 

Yea... I'm not sure if I want to go through all that trouble with the turbo then. I need my car to be reliable and not have to spend too much money on repairs... that's one of the main reasons I bought a civic in the first place heh. Wouldn't it be the same with a supercharger though? I mean with the tuning and the cooling and the engine internals. The other thing I was thinking of by reading the posts on here is keeping it naturally aspired I guess build the engine up. Is that worth the trouble and will that keep it reliable?

 

1) 95K is nothing, we're talking Honda here. Compression and leakdown test, see what your numbers are. If your car doesn't burn a lot of oil, doesn't smoke, etc, then you'll be fine. I personally wouldn't buy a Dseries engine for more than 2-300, I just got another one for a build for $150. However, I could see you getting 4-500 from someone stupid, lol.

2) Depends if you go Bseries or stay Dseries. If you stay Dseries, you don't need to get another tranny, Bseries, you will.

3) There is absolutely no reason why a turbo Honda can't be reliable, even high boost applications.

4) Don't waste your money. I/H/E will generally end up getting replaced, I had to get rid of my intake, header, and exhaust when I went turbo. I was supercharged before then.

5) New clutch, lol.

6) Pretty simple really. You would purchase a P28 OBD1 ECU, have it chipped with crome/uberdata, buy an OBD2B-OBD1 conversion harness, and then take it to a tuner. The tuner will then open up the software (crome/uberdata) and start modifying the fuel tables. He'll get the car running correctly using that, and then he will start playing with the timing tables. This is where a dyno comes in, you do not really want to play with timing too much outside of a dyno. Your tuner will increase/decrease the timing so that it makes the most power possible, then turn it back slightly to keep the engine safe. It's really not all that complicated.

My engine has something around ~95000 miles on it, and has spent the last 8 months boosted. Trust me when I say, I beat the **** out of it every day and I haven't had a single problem yet.