redcivicforever

Anyone know how much I should pay to have someone install a new or used engine for my 91 Civic Hatch DX 1.5? Or how much I should pay someone to rebuild mine?
I have little knowledge of this stuff and don't want to overpay I'm trying to to get a realistic idea of what it should cost me either way.
Anything I should watchout for so I don't get screwed or they don't mess my car up in the process?

augy

It kinda matters what type of swap you want. For an engine that drops right in, a shop can do that in a day, but it'll cost you maybe a thou in labor--if you want them to rebuild it AND put it in, plan on paying considerably more.
Frankly, an engine swap isn't something I would ever recommend somebody pay a shop to do unless there are no money issues involved. It sounds like you just want a stock engine. This isn't a difficult job, but it IS time consuming. The engine swap I did on my car was the first mechanical job of any difficulty I ever did 'cept pumping gas and it took me and my friend a weekend to do 2 engine swaps (we literally swapped engines). The engine itself will only cost you a couple hundred dollars; if you can put it in yourself, you can save a LOT of money. If you have a friend who knows a thing or two about cars, pay him in beer (my friend worked for weed ), buy an engine hoist ($180) and a helms manual ($60), and you'll still come out WAY ahead. And you'll learn a lot as well.

redcivicforever

I'm a girl and while I love cars, I know little about them. I wouldn't ever try to change my oil without first having someone show me let alone installing an engine. My dad was a mechanic now he isn't and doesn't have the time or care to do this job. I really know no one who will help me. I finally found a guy in my area through a posting I did on here to get me the install for $500 Then all I have to do is pay for the engine, I hope. I sure wish I was a mechanic, cause I get screwed by one everytime I turn around. I just had my oil pan stripped by some moron who changed my oil but thankfully they paid me for it and now I'll put that money towards my engine and install!

jaje

the $7 an hour guys who change oil don't know much about car either except they get really dirty...you should strip a oil drain plug unless you don't use a crush washer to properly seal it (jiffy lube and other $15 oil change places reuse the old one washer and you have to tighten it even more meaning you can strip the drain plug)

as for the guy who replied i'd get references and check them...an uninstall and replacement of with another d series motor (direct replacement) should take about a day's time if they do it right

ED9man

They killed the drain plug on one of our cars.

augy

Well, in that case then good luck with the $500 job. Ask the guy if he's done it before, because what really slows up the job is stuff like say... swapping an engine on a sunday, and after the swap is done realizing that you need little replaceable parts like axle spindle nuts and circlips and stuff like that which you just can't get at 9pm on a sunday evening. Be sure to make arrangements for him to check it out the next day and perhaps a week later, to be sure he hasn't missed anything and that it's running fine. Good luck

redcivicforever

I just hope I don't get screwed again...I love my car but I hate having anything done since most paid mechanics I know are either idiots or ripoff artists!
I just went to see this guy yesterday about putting the engine in =. Hes a nice guy and seems very knowledgable and willing to do the job. Plus he's by far cheaper than anyone else in town. He said he has a 93' v-tec engine that he'd sell me for around $300 + installation costs. He says its a much better engine than mine and has 45,000 miles or so on it, and that it won't be that difficult to swap and he won't charge me much more than if he was doing the same engine as is in my car now. I know so little that I don't know whether its good to do the v-tec swap or not-I know it'll need a new ECU, extra wiring done, etc. but he said it's complete with tranny one complete piece drop. Can you tell me what you think about this? The pros and cons. No matter what engine I swap it for what should I have them do at the time like timingbelt waterpump, etc? Thanks again!

augy

Try to get some more info on what type of engine it is; v-tec is just an engine with a more "wild" cam that kicks in at higher RPMs to give you the advantages of wild cams (better high-RPM performance) without the loping idle and other low-RPM issues that go along with that. And if that last sentence didn't mean anything to you, then you may or may not get much use out of the vtec. However, there aren't any real "cons" to vtec except the price, but $300 is what I would expect to pay for a non-vtec engine so you really don't have any good reason not to go with that deal. Has the guy actually used this engine before? Is it coming out of his car? $300 is a really good deal for a '93 vtec engine w/ only 45k miles on it; I'd be suspicious. Or, if you think he likes you, then your gender may be working to your advantage on this one
If it's coming out of his car, he may already have the wiring and harnesses and ECU for the swap and you can negotiate a price for those. And yes, a new timing belt and water pump is good, but also think about replacing the clutch--with the engine and tranny out of the car, it's a 20 minute job that he'll just do for free. Getting a shop to do a clutch will cost you $300 and up.

Again, find out what model of engine it is. You'll be listening for something like "B16"--a letter followed be a number and then maybe more letters.

redcivicforever

hey Augy, Do you think it could be something sticking within the engine or something extremely dirty that needs cleaned and thats why its smokes sometimes? Someone told me that because it doesn't smoke constantly and it stops and starts smoking that it might be something sticking. Am I just wishful thinking or should I have something specifically checked that might be causing the smoking other than a worn engine? Some Honda specialist in Boulder, CO was telling me for $70 he would clean some things (valves, intake, throttle body?, etc) and thats what he thought it needed, not an engine. I just hate to get rid of my engine and get another one if it isn't necessary or the cheapest way to go. Aside from the expense of another engine and installation my engine has been great otherwise. Also since it has no visible leaks anywhere and has never broken down I feel it may still be good somwhow. What do you think I should do?

augy

Well, keep in mind that no visible leaks doesn't mean no leaks. Given that our exhaust downpipe runs underneath the engine, if you're leaking from somewhere around where the oil pan meets the block, it could be drawn to the center via surface tension and then dropped onto the exhaust piping, which is so hot it could quite possibly burn it off before it hit the ground. And perhaps the leak is in a place that the oil doesn't get to unless it's getting pumped through the engine, which would account for why you don't see puddles of oil under your car after a long night of sitting still when the exhaust wouldn't be hot enough to burn it off.
But this is besides the point. What you should do is what somebody suggested in another post--get the "stuff" cleaned, but don't expect that to fix your smoke problem. There really aren't many ways for oil to get into your exhaust except through worn rings, so until you get those replaced, I wouldn't expect any progress on the oil-burning problem.