Engine rebuild? Too much oil is burned up!
05-04-2004, 06:52 PM
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Engine rebuild? Too much oil is burned up!
My friend has a 91 civic hatch with a 1.5l. It burns a lot of oil and we are thinking about getting our hands dirty. What could we do by ourselves to give this engine some more life? I was thinking about changing out all the seals and gaskets as well as cleaning out the internals. Please give me as much info as possible. Links to DIY guides would be great as well. Hopefully we can get this thing ready for boost so any suggestions on a cheap turbo would be great. We have good mechanical skills for the average joe so shoot away with anything u got.
05-04-2004, 07:27 PM
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if it's burning oil, there are three things that will fix it: new head gasket, new piston rings and new valve guide seals. Those are the only components that have anything to do with oil getting into the combustion chambers.
All of that is very simply replaced on a Honda. If you're good with tools (and you have a full set of metric tools, torque wrenches and access to special engine tools) and have the patience to work slowly, you can rebuild an engine. You'll want the Helm service manual (NOT haynes) for your car.
There are lots of sites that have homemade turbo kit instructions. Just remember, you can't boost much past 7 or 8psi with stock internals.
All of that is very simply replaced on a Honda. If you're good with tools (and you have a full set of metric tools, torque wrenches and access to special engine tools) and have the patience to work slowly, you can rebuild an engine. You'll want the Helm service manual (NOT haynes) for your car.
There are lots of sites that have homemade turbo kit instructions. Just remember, you can't boost much past 7 or 8psi with stock internals.
05-04-2004, 07:38 PM
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thanks good info on the gaskets and such. Do u have any links for rebuild and turbo DIY? I researched alot about turbo for my accord, but the price just wasn't right. I am hoping that DSM parts will work well with this car.
Would u reccomend seafoam to clean out the engine for now. We want to get going on the project in June. I'm worried that seafoam could break up the grime thats holding the engine together.
Would u reccomend seafoam to clean out the engine for now. We want to get going on the project in June. I'm worried that seafoam could break up the grime thats holding the engine together.
05-04-2004, 07:46 PM
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05-04-2004, 08:25 PM
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You can rebuild the engine. That should do it. As with the 3 things the previous person said, he/she is correct. The only thing you probably can't do is the honeing. Good luck. Sea foam will work but don't just stick to that.
05-04-2004, 10:26 PM
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Actually, you can hone cylinders yourself. All you need is a honing tool and power drill. It's boring cylinders you can't do. So, as long as you're reusing the stock pistons, you can hone the cylinders, fit new piston rings, and you're all set.
05-06-2004, 10:32 AM
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jeeze, I have to buy a new tool for pretty much anything I do. I'm suprised I don't have a cylinder hone yet, but I don't play with cylinders much anymore anyway.
Honing is very possible for a home mechanic though, you just have to be careful to not overdo it.
Honing is very possible for a home mechanic though, you just have to be careful to not overdo it.
05-06-2004, 11:26 AM
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I have bought several early to mid 80's honda accord and civic's (cheap prices now)
and have successfully rebuild the engines and used the cars for commuting back and forth to work. The cars usually had a bad head gasket or burned oil badly. for the most part a Honda even with high mileage can be okay with the rehone and use standard piston rings. You have to inspect the wear of the cylinder after you pull the head off. If the bore looks okay, no deep scratchs and has some crosshatching left, hone it. Don't hone it if it has straight up and down scratchs and a ridge at the top of the cylinder, that would require boring to repair. I use a cheapo hone attached to a standard 3/8 drill you can buy anywhere. I would recommend replacing the bottom end bearings as well. It's easy and on a honda, if it's got no noise in the bottom end it's probably cool for standard bearings. On a honda the bearing code is stamped into the block and crank and with a Helms you can find out which one's to order based on the stamps. This makes changing bearing simple and easy. I think for the accord I did last it was about 8 dollars a bearing. the whole rebuild cost me around 400 dollars with factory parts, I happened to run new pistons which made it more expensive. It runs perfect.
and have successfully rebuild the engines and used the cars for commuting back and forth to work. The cars usually had a bad head gasket or burned oil badly. for the most part a Honda even with high mileage can be okay with the rehone and use standard piston rings. You have to inspect the wear of the cylinder after you pull the head off. If the bore looks okay, no deep scratchs and has some crosshatching left, hone it. Don't hone it if it has straight up and down scratchs and a ridge at the top of the cylinder, that would require boring to repair. I use a cheapo hone attached to a standard 3/8 drill you can buy anywhere. I would recommend replacing the bottom end bearings as well. It's easy and on a honda, if it's got no noise in the bottom end it's probably cool for standard bearings. On a honda the bearing code is stamped into the block and crank and with a Helms you can find out which one's to order based on the stamps. This makes changing bearing simple and easy. I think for the accord I did last it was about 8 dollars a bearing. the whole rebuild cost me around 400 dollars with factory parts, I happened to run new pistons which made it more expensive. It runs perfect.
05-07-2004, 03:04 AM
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And to accent the above reply: DO NOT BUY CHEAP BEARINGS
Honda makes incredibly high-quality bearings. It's not worth it to cheap out. Get the factory stuff and the engine will run just like a factory unit.
The Helm (factory Honda) service manual states that VERTICAL scratches along the cylinder walls are ok provided they are not deep enough to catch your fingernail. So, when you take the engine apart, check the scratches. If they're small enough, the cylinders can be honed. If you're worried about honing it yourself, any machine shop will hone an engine block for real cheap, assuming it's fully dissassembled and ready to be mounted on the machine.
There's also a good chance you won't have to replace the crankshaft main bearings. Since Honda engines use 5 mains for only 4 cylinders, the load is very well-distributed, and wear on the mains is very slight, if any at all. When I took my engine apart after overheating it (blew the head gasket, filled the crankcase with water...not good) with 170,000 miles on it, the main bearings were still very smooth, shiny metal. The rod bearings, however, were visibly worn. Some of them were worn all the way to the copper. So, be ready to replace the rod pieces. Mains *should* be replaced since you're doing an overhaul, but if you're on a budget and the mains look good, you can get away with reusing them.
Honda makes incredibly high-quality bearings. It's not worth it to cheap out. Get the factory stuff and the engine will run just like a factory unit.
The Helm (factory Honda) service manual states that VERTICAL scratches along the cylinder walls are ok provided they are not deep enough to catch your fingernail. So, when you take the engine apart, check the scratches. If they're small enough, the cylinders can be honed. If you're worried about honing it yourself, any machine shop will hone an engine block for real cheap, assuming it's fully dissassembled and ready to be mounted on the machine.
There's also a good chance you won't have to replace the crankshaft main bearings. Since Honda engines use 5 mains for only 4 cylinders, the load is very well-distributed, and wear on the mains is very slight, if any at all. When I took my engine apart after overheating it (blew the head gasket, filled the crankcase with water...not good) with 170,000 miles on it, the main bearings were still very smooth, shiny metal. The rod bearings, however, were visibly worn. Some of them were worn all the way to the copper. So, be ready to replace the rod pieces. Mains *should* be replaced since you're doing an overhaul, but if you're on a budget and the mains look good, you can get away with reusing them.