[EthanS]

Cliff notes at bottom for people that don't like to read

I've got a 93' civic LX 5speed, with 252,xxx miles on it. I have no records of the car. When I bought it I changed the spark plugs, cap, rotor, valve cover gasket, right front tie rod ends, front coil springs, installed a few poly bushings in the front lower control arms, and brake master cylinder.

The parts I've got, but haven't installed yet are; a d16z6 intake plenum, throttle body gaskets, intake manifold gaskets, PCV valve, OEM fuel filter, and short ram intake. I also need to replace the oil pan, do to it being dented to hell from the previous owner. Then I need to figure out whats leaking from the back of the engine below the intake plenum.

I have access to my own lift, tools, and discount from dealerships/autoparts stores in the area.

The car runs and drives great (minus torn RTAB's). I'm pretty new to actually working on Hondas, so I'm just looking for a few helpful tips from fellow d-sereis owners on what I should do to keep the ol' d15b7 running strong.

Cliffs,
1) What kind of things should I be replacing/looking for while I have the intake plenum and oil pan off?
2) What are some general maintenance items/typical problems for a high milage (250k+) D-series?
3) Where are some good places to purchase OEM Honda parts online?

Thanks in advance everyone!


-Ethan

PS. Tried searching through the first 10 pages that "maintenance" came up with.

 

[BiggieBert]

majestic honda and/or Honda Parts Store *The Honda Store > Discount Honda Car Parts Superstore are both good places to order online.

 

[EthanS]

Awesome thanks for the quick reply

 

[Koots]

The oil leak could be coming from the black box that the PCV is plugged into (for lack of a better word). I've seen quite a few of them leaking or rusted through.

I'd suggest adjusting your valve lash, which information on doing it correctly can be found on this website. It's not too hard and doesn't take too long, unless it's your first time adjusting valve lash.

I'd change the timing belt if you haven't done that yet, while you're in there replace the water pump as well. It's basic insurance to keep your motor spinning properly.

If you're gonna start pulling stuff off the engine, i'd suggest replacing the head gasket as well. It may not be gone, but it's something that will ensure proper combustion sealing for future use.

 

[Nasty_Canasta]

1) What kind of things should I be replacing/looking for while I have the intake plenum and oil pan off?

It's a good thing to label your wires and hoses on the intake. If you haven't
done it a million times, it's easy to get them mixed up and you'll have idle
problems and other annoyances.

Make sure there isn't any gunk/residue left over on the head before installing
the new manifold gasket. Also make sure the manifold and throttle body are
torqued down to proper specs to avoid vacuum leaks.

As far as routine stuff goes, Koots covered a lot of it. I highly advise
doing a valve lash adjustment. It's one of the most overlooked steps
in routine maintenance. If you're new to doing it, there's an easy way
for you to get used to it. This is how I taught myself back in the day -

The specs for D series Hondas are .007"-.009" for intake and .009-.011"
for exhaust. That gives you a pretty nice buffer zone. Too tight and
you'll be burning away...too loose and your car will sound like a typewriter.

I learned by aiming for a dead nuts .008" on intake and a .010" on exhaust.
that left me a .001" pad in either direction. For example - doing the exhaust,
I made sure that .010 was perfect. .011 would not fit and .009 had play. I
went around the engine two or three times my first time for the practice.
The engine never sounded better..until I had the confidence to go for tight
.007"s and .009"s. Here's a DIY that 94z6ex posted some time ago -

http://www.d-series.org/forums/diy-forum/63830-valve-lash-adjustment.html

 

[Staypuff578]

I noticed in the first post you changed everything but the oil. (might have forgot to list it). I'd reccomend flushing the tranny, and refilling with some honda manual tranny fluid, cant go wrong with genuine honda fluids :TU:

 

[EthanS]

Awesome thanks everyone

Koots,
Thanks man I had no idea what that box was, I had it on the lift the other day and it looked like that black box you speak of. Is there a gasket in there or do I need to replace the whole box? I was also wondering about the headgasket, are they pretty easy to do on the d-series? The job is quoted at 5.5hrs, everything looks like its pretty easy to get at. How bad of an idea is it to go to a mildly thinner headgasket to boost the compression with 250k miles?

Nasty,
Thanks for the tips, I appreciate it. In the last section you posted you say it never sounded better until you went to the tighter clearances. Should I just shoot for the .007" IN and .009" EX right away? It seems like a pretty simple process, alldata only quotes 1.1hr to do the whole job.

Staypuffs,
I should have mentioned I've had the car for probably 9,000mi and done at least 3 oil changes. I checked the gear lube the other day because I was going to do a fluid exchange on it. Poked my finger in the fill plug and to my surprise the fluid looked nice and clear like it had just been done recently. It's a 5 speed and shifts beautifully.

One thing I was wondering about was if I should bother changing the oil pump? I'll have the oil pan dropped already, still looks like a pretty hefty job to do.

Thanks again everyone, this forum is great. Lots more knowledge than the BS you find on other forums.


-Ethan

 

[Koots]

I'd just use a good proper headgasket, i'm not sure on how much better thinner headgaskets are at sealing or if they are worse. So i wouldn't go that route, not unless you've got a perfectly milled head and decked block.

So if you want to go with higher compression, you'd need to have it machined. That's my opinion but others may have had good luck with what you suggested. It depends on how flat you're head to block mounting surface is.