1996 Civic Engine Rebuild advice

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

AKhan87

Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Messages
1,920
Location
Villa Park, IL
so a few days ago I finished rebuilding my D16Y7 engine in the 96 civic, the car does seem a tad bit more responsive, not sure if it has to do with completely cleaning the throttle-body(little dirty), Idle air control valve(already clean), or Intake(full of sticky oil residue from having the PCV valve completely disconnected for about 10k miles when I first bought the car and was clueless regarding maintenance). Problem: The bearings already on the vehicle looked good enough and the crankshaft looked really good as well, but the mechanic (he is well in his 60s & and still working on cars) who sometimes helps me if I get stuck, strongly recommended replacing all the main & connecting rod bearings. I figured no harm could be done and I went ahead & bought Sealed Power bearings. After installing the new bearings, I had the oil pressure light on and had a loud rod knock around 2k rpms (the car was not driven around), I opened up the bottom end and saw quite a few metal shavings in the pan and the when the bearings were removed, they had quit a bit of wear on them. Apparently the were the wrong size...I ordered standard. I put back the original bearings back in and no more oil pressure light on and no more knock. Something odd though, every time I start the car now the oil pressure light comes on for a second, goes off then comes back for a split second and then goes off & doesn't return. I don't have any plastique(some material stated in the OEM repair manual) to measure the bearing size, nor the equipment to really measure it. This oil pressure light did not exist before the rebuild (the split second oil pressure light when it comes on the second time). Should I leave it as is and keep driving since it definitely is more responsive then before? or should I try to replace the bearings with the right size this time? The identification on the back of the original (main & connecting rod) bearings was "ACL 0.25", I'm not sure if ACL is the OEM supplier? maybe that writing means ACL 0.25mm over-sized/under-sized? Please do advice on what you guys think, I rather have it right then wrong because the piston rings and all the seals/gaskets are new. Please let me know if "ACL 0.25" stands for over-sized/under-sized ONLY if you are 100% sure. Again the crankshaft looked in really good condition each time I had to take off the bearings.
 
Last edited:
You have to identify the numbers and letters on the crank/block to know what size bearings you will need. It will tell you what their exact measurements were from the factory, every rod and main will be slightly different and require you to order individual proper bearing sizes according to your block stamps if you want to be 100% "oem" (Honda defines the sizes by colors and you can order them individually for your block) If you choose to go a universal size with aftermarket ones just choose a size that will properly clear all the exact clearances according to the marks. Heres a link of how to identify what bearing sizes you need on a stock d series engine. http://www.civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=21
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Did you change the main and connecting rod bearings with the engine still in the car ?
yes.
 
Originally Posted By: Brenden
You have to identify the numbers and letters on the crank/block to know what size bearings you will need. It will tell you what their exact measurements were from the factory, every rod and main will be slightly different and require you to order individual proper bearing sizes according to your block stamps if you want to be 100% "oem" (Honda defines the sizes by colors and you can order them individually for your block) If you choose to go a universal size with aftermarket ones just choose a size that will properly clear all the exact clearances according to the marks. Heres a link of how to identify what bearing sizes you need on a stock d series engine. http://www.civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=21
mine are all mixed up from being taken out, can't really acquire the correct color code now without taking measurements and I don't have the tools for that now.
 
Last edited:
What you did is not really an "engine rebuild". The block should come out and go to a builder to be properly checked and assembled. That's the right way to do it.
 
Originally Posted By: 01_celica_gt
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
Did you change the main and connecting rod bearings with the engine still in the car ?
yes.
That's what I thought. You basically skipped steps 1 through 99 and went straight to a 100.
 
Do you own a Micrometer? Without one, you are shooting in the dark. To be honest, what you are doing, the way you are going about it, you are NOT rebuilding an engine, you are throwing some $ at it and hoping for the best. Results may vary.
 
Originally Posted By: expat
Do you own a Micrometer?
He doesn't need a micrometer if he's not taking the engine out of the car. Step 1 would be acquiring a factory service manual that lists all the acceptable dimensions and tolerances. Step 2 would be acquiring all necessary measuring instruments. Step 3 would be taking the engine out of the car for disassembly.
 
Originally Posted By: expat
Do you own a Micrometer? Without one, you are shooting in the dark. To be honest, what you are doing, the way you are going about it, you are NOT rebuilding an engine, you are throwing some $ at it and hoping for the best. Results may vary.
Lol okay, worked with great results the last 5 times, appreciate the the thought though. No I don't own one myself but I could get my hands on it, wouldn't I need OEM sizes to determine what size to order? Honda codes for what to order from them, not the actual sizes to order aftermarket.
 
Originally Posted By: 01_celica_gt
.No I don't own one myself but I could get my hands on it, wouldn't I need OEM sizes to determine what size to order? Honda codes for what to order from them, not the actual sizes to order aftermarket.
What you do is subtract the main journal diameter from the main bore diameter to determine the required bearing size. Same with the connecting rod journals. But that's AFTER you've determined the crankshaft main journals and main bores are within the out-of-round limits. If the crankshaft journals are out of round, the crankshaft has to be turned on a crank grinder. If the main bores are out-of-round, the block has to be line bored. If the connecting rod bores are out-of-round, the connecting rods have to be resized.
 
Originally Posted By: Brenden
You have to identify the numbers and letters on the crank/block to know what size bearings you will need. It will tell you what their exact measurements were from the factory, every rod and main will be slightly different and require you to order individual proper bearing sizes according to your block stamps if you want to be 100% "oem" (Honda defines the sizes by colors and you can order them individually for your block) If you choose to go a universal size with aftermarket ones just choose a size that will properly clear all the exact clearances according to the marks. Heres a link of how to identify what bearing sizes you need on a stock d series engine. http://www.civic-eg.com/viewtopic.php?t=21
This would apply if his engine was untouched. According to his post his bearings are ACL .25, so the crank has been ground .010" or .25mm. The only ways to salvage this is either to buy new .25mm ACL bearings and Plastigage it to determine clearances, or pull the block and mic the crank prior to ordering bearings.
 
Originally Posted By: 01_celica_gt
Originally Posted By: expat
Do you own a Micrometer? Without one, you are shooting in the dark. To be honest, what you are doing, the way you are going about it, you are NOT rebuilding an engine, you are throwing some $ at it and hoping for the best. Results may vary.
Lol okay, worked with great results the last 5 times, appreciate the the thought though. No I don't own one myself but I could get my hands on it, wouldn't I need OEM sizes to determine what size to order? Honda codes for what to order from them, not the actual sizes to order aftermarket.
Once you have the bearings clean the crank with some carb cleaner get it oil free and dry then use Plastigage on the bearings. Its not as accurate as an inside and outside micrometer but you can tell if your within the ballpark.
 
If you have to spend more than $250 to fix whatever you've messed up just forget that bottom end. Your best bet would be to check your local CL and find the guy with a good d16 bottom end for $100-$200...
 
oh man, this thread so painful. in short 01_celica_gt, you are 110% guaranteed to have a blown engine the way it was "rebuilt". just stop where you are and buy a junkyard engine and you will be far better off.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

I
Pinion seal leak after rebuild, yoke sleeve?
Replies
6
Views
515
PontiacHO
D
Alternator rebuild parts? '08 F150
2
Replies
26
Views
1K
chemman
J
2002 Jeep liberty engine blown question
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
D60
L
Low Oil Pressure light came on in a 1994 Honda Accord
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
dumkid
A
Kitchen counter valve body rebuild
Replies
9
Views
615
KrisZ
Top