Im looking into buying a motor swap from a friend of a friend. Its a d16y8 outta a 96 sol SI. Motor has 120 on it, the 99 ex trans and clutch have 25k on it, and axels and ecu for $400. He has no need for it, and the friend so go cheap to him. BUT anyway, we got to talking he sayed it smoked greyish smoke he could barly see out he rear view mirror, he was racing someone i guess and was at 5500 and wide open when he saw the smoke. My concern is it is a work headgasket, but he also says there he oil is dark brown, nothing outta the usualy i guess and it doesnt burn oil. so i, sorta puzzled, maybe you guys can ease my concerns.

 

the vtecs always run rich at high rpms, a little gray smoke isn't anything to worry about -- if its a bunch of blueish -- you may be blowing some oil

 

umm... if the oil looks like a chocolate milkshake dont buy it.... if its dark brown that is bad, and my D16Z6 never smokes at all durring any race or RPM. My A/F ratio stays the same untill I hit 3200 and then both the air and fuel mixture go up, and when that happens there is no smoke.... If you are geting the engine for 400, I would replace the stuff that is easy to replace while the engine is out of the car, like the head gasket, timing belt, water pump, and check the valve seals, they may need to be replaced. Also check the condition of the coolant, what color is it and ask him if the engine has ever over heated?

 

check the oil, also if its running rich maybe there was an O2 sensor wiring issue in the car it was in before.. I would definetly check the oil condition though, and also see if there is any oil contamination in the coolant.

 

Just curious...what car are you going to throw that hunk of shit in? IMO, don't even bother.