MOTOR IS DONE FOR! :(

Well i was driving home tonight and my motor just quit. Its had a knocking rod for probably a month, so it was about time for it to go. Tried starting it again and it just didnt sound good haha... So if anybody wants to help me pull it and has a donor motor let me know.

wow that sucks sorry to hear. but on the other hand why were you driving it if you knew it had a rod knocking?? you could have possibly saved the motor at this point its pretty much done for. after losing a rod bearing its metal on metal. thats why the motor stopped. im so confused

its time for something new anyways, that motor had some problems and never really ran as good as it should. the whole thing was put together poorly, turbo kit and everything...

Been there and done that. I have to agree with Shawn about this, why did you keep driving it with the knock? Is that your only means of transportation? I am not passing judgement as I did the same thing with the Dragon in the past, I was just wondering.

Feel bad for ya, you week has been shit.

DoodieHead wrote:

Been there and done that. I have to agree with Shawn about this, why did you keep driving it with the knock? Is that your only means of transportation? I am not passing judgement as I did the same thing with the Dragon in the past, I was just wondering.

Feel bad for ya, you week has been shit.

Yes its my only means of transportation. You have to remember some of us are a little less fortunate than others. We all cant afford multiple cars, let alone nice cars...

get another ls brian they are great for boost and cheap too!

I've been recommended to build a b20 vtec, which would be better as a daily driver. Any other opinions?

first reccomendation, buy a $150 to $200 dd. i will gaurentee you can find atleast 20 of them intown. the best $40 i spent was on my accord.

88civichatch wrote:

I've been recommended to build a b20 vtec, which would be better as a daily driver. Any other opinions?

vtec=overrated, drop a solid running ls into it with a size appropriate turbo and a good tune, you will be happy!

jdmsolutions wrote:

88civichatch wrote:

I've been recommended to build a b20 vtec, which would be better as a daily driver. Any other opinions?

vtec=overrated, drop a solid running ls into it with a size appropriate turbo and a good tune, you will be happy!

He said its a daily driver. And you want him to put a turbo and a good tune on it?

Just me...... But I have yet to see a Honda in this town that was never designed for a turbo..... have any good reliable Daily driver success..... Every single one I've seen has it's skeletons that the owner has to deal with.
Now I have seen some very decent turbo installs for guys that just play with their Honda as a toy but have a different daily driver. But None of them have ever been refined to the point that I've seen where they are very clean well engineered installed that are totally reliable and dependable for the street day in and day out in all weather situations.

I would opt for a N/A build in the case of building a fun daily driver. But maybe that's just me.

King motor sports has proven time and again that a B20vtec can be very potent and dependable as a DD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyLNSGCRd0Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ4ojPBfMoU&feature=related

i daily drove my 12 second boosted setup through all seasons for 2 years, and i know boostenek did exactly the same on his turbo hatch also, turbo fwd is nothing to be afraid of in any season, yes there is probably a higher number of boosted setups with problems, but if the owners actually took the time to make sure their parts were quality, and their tune was up to par.. there should be no problem.. just because something was build for a reason, doesn't mean that purpose cannot be altered

BoostenEK daily drives the shit out of his car, reliably and the only reason that its apart is because he wants to go faster than jdmsolutions. He did buy another car for a DD, but really its too nice to be a DD, lol... Any setup if done properly can be reliable as hell. Spend the time and do it right the first go around and you theoretically have nothing to worry about.

Fox, your car is reliable now that you got some little (no engine related) quarks figured out. I just can't see myself saying that it can't be done reliably, as long as it is done right.

jdmsolutions wrote:

i daily drove my 12 second boosted setup through all seasons for 2 years, and i know boostenek did exactly the same on his turbo hatch also, turbo fwd is nothing to be afraid of in any season, yes there is probably a higher number of boosted setups with problems, but if the owners actually took the time to make sure their parts were quality, and their tune was up to par.. there should be no problem.. just because something was build for a reason, doesn't mean that purpose cannot be altered

hmmmm....... what car was it that blew up before it got to Redlodge for the BTR 2008? I'm pretty sure it was a red ED hatch..... but which one? they all look the same and can get mixed up so easily.... IDK...


A TURBO charged engine can be very reliable IF tuned correctly. But who around here has the knowledge, time, and money to use the good quality parts as you suggest and properly tune the car? I would say a very select few. And whoever may be the select few blew up how many engines before they became the select few?

That'd have been JP's if I remember correctly, but that year I wasn't able to make it on the cruise so I could be wrong.

And yes people blow up cars... that's all part of the learning curve. It sometimes happens just by chance, its one of the risks any of us takes in building a car.

And there are a couple people around here who can properly tune a car. Much of them not advertising their knowledge is so they don't have to deal with people who halfass their cars, and don't have everything setup properly. I can't blame them. Had I the knowlede to properly tune a car, I too would have nothing to do with it if it wasn't 100% ready to go and built properly. BoostenEK's car was tuned by a local and put down respective numbers, has been beat on and ran great up until he pulled the turbo off of it for his new setup, and that's solely because he was limited as to what could do with what he had bolted to it.

The big thing is money. It takes money as well as dedication and time, and to be honest most just don't have all 3 of the requirements covered to do things properly the first go around. But a reliable, daily driven, boosted car can be had. Shit, there's stock block 600HP K20's being DD'd out there, although a lot of time and money was dumped on tuning it properly...

Um.... I thought JP was driving the Blue 99/00 Si?

But since you bring his up..... it made it as far as Laural for the same 2008BTR. And it was turbo charged too.

But I am getting old..... so maybe I'm remembering wrong. Someone help me remember.

Dr.Auto wrote:

jdmsolutions wrote:

i daily drove my 12 second boosted setup through all seasons for 2 years, and i know boostenek did exactly the same on his turbo hatch also, turbo fwd is nothing to be afraid of in any season, yes there is probably a higher number of boosted setups with problems, but if the owners actually took the time to make sure their parts were quality, and their tune was up to par.. there should be no problem.. just because something was build for a reason, doesn't mean that purpose cannot be altered

hmmmm....... what car was it that blew up before it got to Redlodge for the BTR 2008? I'm pretty sure it was a red ED hatch..... but which one? they all look the same and can get mixed up so easily.... IDK...


A TURBO charged engine can be very reliable IF tuned correctly. But who around here has the knowledge, time, and money to use the good quality parts as you suggest and properly tune the car? I would say a very select few. And whoever may be the select few blew up how many engines before they became the select few?

Well considering that motor had over 15k miles on it, was abused daily, was the first motor i ever build having no previous knowledge of engine work, and didnt actually blow up... my previous statement still stands...

as for time and money... i build my first setup while i was working full time (for basically minimum wage) and also going to school full time, so dont say it cannot be done.

the knowledge is there for anyone willing to look for it, honda-tech has thousands of write ups, there is tons of guys willing to lend a few mins of information..

and why the dick response? obviously you knew it was my car...

Sorry Man,

It was a dick response... I admit. That would be my dry sarcasm showing up... I need to stop that on the net.


Just saying guys..... This engine is for Brian.... he ain't made of money. Never tuned a engine before. And although he is eager and willing to learn...... we all started somewhere. And look how many mistakes it took to learn. Brian doesn't have the money to learn the hard way right now. That's all I'm saying.

And what I am saying still stands.... I have yet to see a Turbo Honda last. Only one that even made it the whole BTR2008 that I know of was Matt R..... and he was right behind me the whole time. And since then he has had nothing but problems with the turbo.

My idea of reliable.... When Ryan Holly and I built up his ZC for his white car. That was 2005.... it's on it's third owner since then... has been auto-x. Has been to the Redwood Forest. has been at Lewistown a few years in a row (with no less than 150miles on the track in a one day event getting 17MPG racing! lol) is a DD..... and this year it finally broke down...... yup. the transaxle mount broke.... at Lewistown of course..... trip into town and it was going again.

Oh... and that little ZC has alot more than 15k on it since I last tightened down the main and rod cap bolts.

No... it doesn't do a 12sec 1/4...... but it works very well for a auto-x and track car at Lewistown...... and a DD

*DELETED* cuz this is a pointless conversation.. just because someone says you cant dd a aftermaket turbo car, does not mean its correct.. ill just let my hatch and boostneks hatch speak for themselves

Dr.Auto wrote:

Sorry Man,

It was a dick response... I admit. That would be my dry sarcasm showing up... I need to stop that on the net.


Just saying guys..... This engine is for Brian.... he ain't made of money. Never tuned a engine before. And although he is eager and willing to learn...... we all started somewhere. And look how many mistakes it took to learn. Brian doesn't have the money to learn the hard way right now. That's all I'm saying.

And what I am saying still stands.... I have yet to see a Turbo Honda last. Only one that even made it the whole BTR2008 that I know of was Matt R..... and he was right behind me the whole time. And since then he has had nothing but problems with the turbo.

My idea of reliable.... When Ryan Holly and I built up his ZC for his white car. That was 2005.... it's on it's third owner since then... has been auto-x. Has been to the Redwood Forest. has been at Lewistown a few years in a row (with no less than 150miles on the track in a one day event getting 17MPG racing! lol) is a DD..... and this year it finally broke down...... yup. the transaxle mount broke.... at Lewistown of course..... trip into town and it was going again.

Oh... and that little ZC has alot more than 15k on it since I last tightened down the main and rod cap bolts.

No... it doesn't do a 12sec 1/4...... but it works very well for a auto-x and track car at Lewistown...... and a DD

Thanks Matt! Like you said this is for me. Although I have enjoyed my boosted LS motor, I think its time for something new and more reliable. Something I can just drive and enjoy and not have to worry about breaking or always fixing. Like Matt said I'm not made of money nor can i really afford more than one car, this is my DD. So other than keeping on bickering, what seems to be the best option for me right now? Get a POS DD? Or fix my car in a hurry? I think I would much rather get another vehicle to drive right now, that way I could take time on my honda and do it right. Either way I dont have the finances right now, so I would have to get a loan.

jdmsolutions wrote:

Well considering that motor had over 15k miles on it, was abused daily, was the first motor i ever build having no previous knowledge of engine work, and didnt actually blow up... my previous statement still stands...

I'm not trying to be a dick really.... I'm just making a point.

A car with a turbo in it from the factory can easily last over 100k miles and years on end with no malfunctions.

And sorry dude.... just making a point..... But if your car seemingly has another engine in it since BTR2008...... Do you think that maybe..... not enough time has elapsed since then to be able to say that your setup will last like a factory turbo car setup? I mean.... that was just two years ago. And I would venture to say..... 12k miles a year is considered about norm for mileage? So.... 24Kmiles ago? maybe? But I doubt you drive it that much. IDK

Once again.... I'm not trying to be the jerk of the century. I am just being a little critical of the seeming mentality that well heck..... you can just slap a turbo on there cheap and pull 11's out your tailpipe on e85 AND it will last ten years past infinity and more miles than a trip to Jupiter and back.

I'm just saying..... maybe the last two years have treated you well. But I am a little skeptical that you could ever really obtain true factory like reliability.... At least..... not without blowing up a couple motors while learning...... and spending some good money to do it. Perhaps you have obtained that level of reliability with your car..... but.... um.... you just admitted that you yourself had some issues.... and possibly even have a different engine in there then as little as two years ago.

Now I am not downplaying your abilities..... or the powertrain setup you have. The fact that you can pull 12's out at Acton is impressive.....very impressive. But look what it took to get you there man.

Would you be willing to help Brian put the engine together? Or what about shoot him a price so he knows what to budget for his build? Or what about tuning it when he gets it put together?

This thread is ultimately about what is best for Brian and the use of his car.... both DD and whatever else he wants to do with it. we all have our own opinions.... i have mine..... and some swear by turbos.

But I really had alot of fun with Brian's car in 2008 when it was still mine..... and I had a supercharged ZC in it. But you know what? I had problems too.... my cooling fans weren't working and I had a boil over on the top of BTR when we all pulled over. But I made it through the whole thing fine otherwise. Only Honda on that run I remember having some real fun playing with was B.A. but he was running the N/A H22. And he had no problems at all.

jdmsolutions wrote:

*DELETED* cuz this is a pointless conversation.. just because someone says you cant dd a aftermaket turbo car, does not mean its correct.. ill just let my hatch and boostneks hatch speak for themselves

Fair enough.

Once again..... I'm not trying to beat you up or make fun of you or dis-credit you or anything like that. I'm just speaking from my own experience and what I've seen over the years.

i don't think i said you could "slap" a turbo on and run 11s....and my motor never actually blew up, it cracked a sleeve..which can happen to any open deck cylinder motor, and yes its a fresh motor in my car, with the same exact rotating assembly from my first build, which is made possible from the good tune my motor had, and i never stated i could tune an efi civic either.. i said with a good tune...and yes my civic has had motor troubles... but so does any car...ive grenaded stock motors also,... and yes i did actually drive it alot, i stated it was my dd through all seasons for 2 years until i bought a 4wd jeep ....it didnt actually take much at all to run 12s on my first setup, it was a motor with aftermarket pistons and rods, an ebay turbo and all used parts basically... i had less money into that setup than most people pay for a stock motor...

Brian,
I think the POS DD is a great idea. Then you can research and figure out what would be the best option for you. Get the money put together to make it happen. Then find the people, place, and time to make it happen. Like has been said already..... do it right the first time and you theoretically won't have any problems. Whatever route you choose. Just don't make the mistake that many people including myself have made..... think it will take (x) money and (x) time and run out of money and time halfway though the project to either finish it correctly... or at all. Short cuts at that point is just cutting your own throat. Over budget the project.... lol.... it might help. lol

whatever, i just tried to suggest an alternative.. i guess if your just gona pick every little thing apart and even go as far as to make rude comments about my vehicle then ill just go back to honda-tech and keep my opinions off this website.

jdmsolutions wrote:

i don't think i said you could "slap" a turbo on and run 11s....and my motor never actually blew up, it cracked a sleeve..which can happen to any open deck cylinder motor, and yes its a fresh motor in my car, with the same exact rotating assembly from my first build, which is made possible from the good tune my motor had, and i never stated i could tune an efi civic either.. i said with a good tune...and yes my civic has had motor troubles... but so does any car...ive grenaded stock motors also,... and yes i did actually drive it alot, i stated it was my dd through all seasons for 2 years until i bought a 4wd jeep ....it didnt actually take much at all to run 12s on my first setup, it was a motor with aftermarket pistons and rods, an ebay turbo and all used parts basically... i had less money into that setup than most people pay for a stock motor...

Right on man!

Once again.... not trying to start anything. If anything.... I'm trying to put things in context.. or build credibility for whoever deserves it. When you don't know the whole story you can't do that. I have always been skeptical of aftermarket turbo setup's and have yet to really lay any stock in them for a good DD setup for a Honda. So.... when it comes to convincing someone.... I'm a little on the tough side to convince. lol sorry.

But I am still curious at least for my sake.... how much money you spent to make it happen, and..... you say alot of miles.... about how many though?

And it may be one thing for you or me to "slap" a turbo in a car..... because we have an idea what that entails. But to some folks it may sound REALLY easy and REALLY cheap. But without experience it can be REALLY expensive and REALLY hard.

jdmsolutions wrote:

whatever, i just tried to suggest an alternative.. i guess if your just gona pick every little thing apart and even go as far as to make rude comments about my vehicle then ill just go back to honda-tech and keep my opinions off this website.

That's not what I'm trying to do. Sorry if that is how it's looking.

I'm just saying. There are different levels of experience and expertise here on this site. Just don't take for granted that anyone can put together a turbo B18 and tune it properly... or even know who to go to to tune it properly. I just don't want to see someone jump into a good project with not enough experience, not enough money or time, or tools, or a facility and have to give up before it's done. I'm not trying to down play your car at all... but please don't down play the work it takes to make a car like yours work for a different experience level.

ok....
Sorry.... I didn't want this to end on a bad note you know. Although I'm sure you may think I'm quite the jerk... which is easy to think given my twisted sense of sarcasm that continually gets me in trouble because reading whats said just is not the same as being there.

That is quite the yoga workout for that cat though. lol

I didn't take the time to read all the shit cause I'm on my phone. But I dailyd mine for two years and took it on the baertooth run and nvr had any problems with and I also took it to missoula and back twice! That's on a built bottom end gsr turbo. The only reason I bought another reliable honda is cause I just didn't wanna put any extra miles on it and since I had cash I always wanted a teg so why not. And that's was locally tuned as well. And its still running like a top. It ccan easly be done! Just don't drive like an idiot on icy roads cause when u do u deserve to crash.

sweet

so how much did it cost? who did the work? and can Brian get those people to get his done?

I think we can all say. Just depends what kinda parts u wanna puut in it. Id say thousand just for piston n rods u can get cheaper that's ur choice and I had a local shop put it together name of the guy is cal. And for tuning that's not for me to say.

So I've been thinking about things and I think I'm either gonna try and sell it and just get a new car or trade jesse kinder for a black hatch with zc in it (your old car matt)

I wudnt waste ur money on building a zc. Just my two cents

ok so after reading this whole thread... honestly if you wanna stay with a honda get on honda-tech you will learn more than enough on which setup motor etc you wud wanna go with. you just cant be lazy about it though you gotta search for it and plp will flame you if u just make a post cause ur lazy.
i wudnt waste my time with a zc i guess if you can get it for free why not. but since you already had an ls why not just put another in and dd it for a while till you save money? even a b20 wud be decent to have alot of tq for a stock motor so it wud be fun and get a stock ecu of course and ur set....i wudnt wanna boost a stock b20 bottom end just cause their sleeves are thinner than any other b-series.
fk you can through a single cam in there and then save money to boost it and make easy 300hp outta it. hondas are cheap in general. yes there are expensive parts but find another import company or car in general with that small displacement that can take alot of abuse and hp! i put down 396whp on my 9:1 gsr with stock head without anytiming. and i prolly have 15,000 miles with turbo on it and prolly 20,000 before i put my kit on.
shit just doesnt happen over night. for the most part you pay for what you get. plp make shit work on cheaper parts there is no doubt about that most of it is just in the tune and how it was put together.
if i were you id just put a stock ls or b20 in ur car and dd it! u can find those anywhere! and cheap! and then start saving and researching on what you want to do.
like i said before i DD'd my civic forever and nvr had problems with the motor. o ya i had to change my IACV once haha. so id say my car is reliable. fk i was gonna take it to Washington for a meet. and i wudnt of been worried about it breaking down at all. and i have for sure beatn on my car i took it to the track id say four times and only problem i had was snapn axles so i bought a good set of axles for it DSS.
again easy enough throw a stock b-series in it even a single cam, save money and see what you wanna do.

Boostnek6206 wrote:

ok so after reading this whole thread... honestly if you wanna stay with a honda get on honda-tech you will learn more than enough on which setup motor etc you wud wanna go with. you just cant be lazy about it though you gotta search for it and plp will flame you if u just make a post cause ur lazy.
i wudnt waste my time with a zc i guess if you can get it for free why not. but since you already had an ls why not just put another in and dd it for a while till you save money? even a b20 wud be decent to have alot of tq for a stock motor so it wud be fun and get a stock ecu of course and ur set....i wudnt wanna boost a stock b20 bottom end just cause their sleeves are thinner than any other b-series.
fk you can through a single cam in there and then save money to boost it and make easy 300hp outta it. hondas are cheap in general. yes there are expensive parts but find another import company or car in general with that small displacement that can take alot of abuse and hp! i put down 396whp on my 9:1 gsr with stock head without anytiming. and i prolly have 15,000 miles with turbo on it and prolly 20,000 before i put my kit on.
shit just doesnt happen over night. for the most part you pay for what you get. plp make shit work on cheaper parts there is no doubt about that most of it is just in the tune and how it was put together.
if i were you id just put a stock ls or b20 in ur car and dd it! u can find those anywhere! and cheap! and then start saving and researching on what you want to do.
like i said before i DD'd my civic forever and nvr had problems with the motor. o ya i had to change my IACV once haha. so id say my car is reliable. fk i was gonna take it to Washington for a meet. and i wudnt of been worried about it breaking down at all. and i have for sure beatn on my car i took it to the track id say four times and only problem i had was snapn axles so i bought a good set of axles for it DSS.
again easy enough throw a stock b-series in it even a single cam, save money and see what you wanna do.

Agreed.

All except the don't waste ur time on a ZC thing.... But once again it depends on what you want your car to be when your done.

Ultimately I think we all said something that points in the same dirrection. Brian, get a POS DD and save some money for your project car, figure out what you want to do, and do it.

i guess it cud be fun... not to disagree cause i im tired of reading agruing shit. but no one runs zc''s anymore and there is a reason for it. sohc vitara however its spelled. is hella cheap and will pwn a zc. so i wud stay away from a zc IMO

just sayn be carefull if you go that route

If you want a CHIMO van (GMC Cargo Van) for cheap, PM me. It needs a fuel pump, and I need it out from behind my house...

Lmo all haters

I never like the zc because they are underpowered, and (correct me if I'm wrong) but they cannot be converted to obd1 because of their cam angle sensor, so that rules out most engine management programs

would anybody want to buy my car? I'm honestly thinking about just getting out of the honda scene and just getting something I can drive and not have to worry about fixing all the time. I dont have the money nor the time to swap anything or build anything and I really need something to drive!

You can build a DD boosted Honda and have it realible..Search the web so many guys running stock motors with 6-9 psi and putting tons of miles on them! Its all in how you do it and the tune!!

As for your budget what I would do is throw a stock LS back in it..Shit can get one cheap enough.. and then when day comes that you have saved enough money to build something you can decide then which route to go..Might have different interest at that time!!

But if ur wanting to keep rolling a ef hatch.. My opinion is keep urs buy a stock ls and roll it n/a.. Dont go with zc not that I have anything against them they were great motors back in the day.. But think long term and if your wanting to eventually build a Honda.. The parts and support is way better for a B18 then a ZC

Just my opinions!!

Good luck in which ever way you go

Well put ben

Mine is obd1

Let's me get started. Of all things why is everyone going way off topic (even a mod. No offense matt). I belive if u want to talk shit or duke it out start. Anew thread or pm. Just pisses me off to have to scroll through a bunch of garbage. Noone cares who's car blew up on btr 08. Its the past we are tying to forcast the futchur. (Spelt wrong) As for a build, I also would reccomend throwing a stocker ls back in and saving money up to build the car correct. That's just my .02 though.

Chris my junk is better than yours.....lol

SoOn_To_TuNe wrote:

Yes indeed they have dennis over at mini motors has one and they make hella good power he says and are super reliable if you dont do forged pistions and keep oil in it lol...
I still say turbo on 7-9 psi thats what i am doin!!!!

Why am I even responding to this thread anymore? idk

No offense Zane.... but I really doubt that Denis said this "and are super reliable ".

he may have said the rest of that.... but he would be the first one to tell you to not turbo a DD. He should know.... just ask him how many times he had to fix the turbo stuff on his blue civic with the cage in it. oil lines breaking.... bolts falling out of the turbo... had to safety wire them all to finally fix that.... on and on.... this is all the stuff I'm talking about when I refere to the reliability factor.

But does this matter anymore?

Looks like Brian is trying to sell his car now.

Dude, Brian. quit talkin to these dudes on here and let them have their thread. The opinion you really want is a phone call away. Use your head too. Ask yourself about money, then where you wanna be with your life in 5 years, then use your common sense and make the right decision. Especially without all these guys that want to just tell you what to do. I mean, dude, my serious opinion is that you should put a stock ls motor in and use it as your DD as in Demolition Derby. Then buy a Cobalt SS and spend years unsuccessfully trying to make it cool. Just sayin, do what you want bro.

I'm not trying to tell him what to do, I'm just giving my advice from years of experience with these cars. I never said any of us knew it all, but all of this is moot now - because as someone said, he's selling it it looks like.

Zane, did you ever drive an accord?

Post deleted ->just saw the for sale thread