Blogs

Back in November of 2018, I jumped in my friends Chevy pickup and we went do JDM in Long Beach, CA. We drove from the SFV to the LBC and picked up a newer engine for my Civic.

A buddy of mine recommended that I swap my engine with a DOHC VTEC. When I got the JDM warehouse, the employees were very helpful. I told them my story and they told me that they had a few D17’s in stock. Unfortunately, all they had were SOHC but their D17’s were VTEC.

So I went from an American D17 Non-VTEC engine to a JDM D17A VTEC. I dropped off the engine and my car at Red Line Built Performance in the San Fernando Valley. When they started working on my car, they called me and told me that I would need new axles and asked if I wanted to replace my clutch. So I picked up those parts from AutoZone and dropped them off at Red Line Built.

The guys at Red Line Built (Memo and Jeffery) did a great job with my swap. The car ran just fine with zero issues; I’m very happy with their work. They swapped the engine, clutch and axels. So basically, I’m driving a new car under the hood!

Vtec engine (non-vtec engine wiring harness)

One of the issues I ran across with the engine swap was the wiring harness. I didn’t think to pick up a new harness, so the guys that did the swap used my stock (Non-VTEC) engine harness on the new VTEC engine. They told me that there are two options, 1. Buy a VTEC wiring harness or 2. Tap the oil pan and wire a button/ switch to activate the VTEC feature. I didn’t want to drill a hole in my oil pan, so I thought I would buy a VTEC wiring harness. Unfortunately, buying a VTEC wiring harness would require a new starter and I would need to replace the door mechanism so that same key could operate the starter (with the VTEC feature) and open the doors. I had no clue this shit would be so complicated.

Hi, I’m Tony.  Meet my 2003 Honda Civic DX Coupe.  I named her “D,” short for DX.  The milage as of February 2018 is 209,xxx miles and counting.  Honda’s are know for being some of the most reliable cars, so I’m curious to see how many miles I can get out of mine.  As of now, I’m setting a goal of 300,000 miles, will it make it?

My Civic was running great and then one day, the engine started to stall.  It felt like a misfire and the ‘check engine,’ light came on.  So I went online to check the boards, went thru the chat rooms, watched some videos and did some research.  All signs pointed to the spark plugs.  I made a trip down to Auto Zone to buy some brand new ‘Platinum NGK’s’ for my Civic, but they didn’t have them.  I didn’t like how my car was running, so I bought some Bosch Platinums that they had.  Went home and put them in my engine; the car ran fine after that.

I purchased my Civic in 2014 with 167,xxx miles.  This was the first time I had changed out the spark plugs at 209,xxx miles in 2018.

OEM D17 1.7 Liter Engine Dead @ 215,ooo miles

It’s been a while and a few miles since my last update. So I’m gonna fill you in. The original D17 engine that came in my Civic had over 215,000 miles on it and it was still in working condition. I would drive it to work and back (25 miles one way, 50 miles roundtrip) and it was still reliable, but at that point it did have its share of problems. One of the biggest problems was that the engine would overheat. That combined with a major oil leak really made me think about what I was going to do next. Should I repair my car? Save money to buy a new one? The options were pricey and endless. The repair on the head gasket was quoted around $800 USD. That would not fix the oil leak. The cost of the oil leak repair, my guess-timate was $200 to $400. Luckily, I searched the internet and I found JDM Motors in Long Beach, Ca. They had a D17 Vtec engine that I picked up for $660.