Hi,

I bought this car out of desperate need a few years back (I was also very broke at that time). It smokes at higher rpm's or when I just start it... it burns quiet a bit of oil (like 2 quarts a month) the oil is always very black. The fuel economy is good. The smoke color when I noticed the last time was kinda blueish... (if it matters) and some black liquid is always around the muffler tip.

I dont want to get rid of the car i.e. sell it or give it away because I do need a second car. The condition of the rest of the car is great.

my question is that should/can I get the engine rebuilt? or does it make more sense to replace it? if so I dont have any knowledge of what to do, I would ofcourse have it done by a mechanic but it would be nice to know some basics before I approach someone for pricing...

also are there options that I can/should consider such as a different type of engine?

any help would be appreciated!

 

I forgot which motors are in the 89 tegs, is it the 1.6 dohc? If so then you might want to consider picking up a b18a1 which is from a 90-93 integra for pretty cheap and throwing it in there because you may be able to get one for what a mechanic could charge to get rid of that..... the black around the muffler is normal as its so old and has all the buildup, and it using oil is probably associated with its age. The black smoke however, could be attributed to it running to rich or just because the age of the motor. IMO I would look into a swap before starting to replace things that add up or taking it to a mechanic.... you could take it to a mechanic and see if they will at least tell you what is causing it, on my 93 LS i had the same prob and couldnt get rid of it so I ended up replacing the motor instead of replacing a lot of parts, how much are you looking to spend on another motor/tranny?

 

thanks for the reply,

its a 1.6 DOHC, I want to spend least amount of money on it. I am not good with working on the cars so I would have to get a mechanic to do it. The clutch on the existing 5-spd manual was just replaced and it works fine (the whole transmission) if I go with a 1.8 will I also have to get another transmission?

 

you should get another tranny unless yours is in good condition, im not sure if yours will just bolt onto the b18a1 but most of the time when you find a motor it will be complete with the tranny also so you just put the whole thing in, I have seen people find b18a1 motors complete with tranny for as cheap as 500 dollars to 800 dollars in so cali here, problem is if you cant do the install on it then it will be pricey.... however.... if a swap was going to be your choice, then I would say run the wheels off your motor and get the most miles out of it that you can and then do the swap.... I talked to someone else about an hour ago about your smoke problem, they said it is MOST likely attributed to the car running rich, as most honda motors do... and they do more so when they get older. my 99 prelude has 50K miles on the motor and runs rich, when i get up to high rpms my friends following behind me say they can see a small puff of black smoke......

 

Thanks for the response!

Those prices are good, I just hope I can find the same kind of prices here in Washington state. Yea I agree I should probably drive the car til the engine totally gives up.

Thanks for the ideas. Apprecieated.

 

I'm pretty sure you need new engine mounts to put a B-series engine in that car. About $600 from HASport, I think.

 

yeah new engine mounts to put that engine in are over $600, plus you need wiring and linkage problems. Keep that engine, buy a ZC if you need upgraded performance, or even just a newer engine. That'll bolt right in and be pretty cheap.

 

any Idea what would be the costs involved if I were to replace it with a same kind/type of motor? just an estimate?

 

Lots of mis-inforamation flying about in here. Lemme clean it up a bit.

1) Your original problem you described about your engine smoking on start-up and on top-end, resembles a case of bad valve seals. Depending on the milage and wear on the engine it may just need a valve job. Which normally runs about $200 if you pull the head and take it to the engine tech/machinist doing the work. I'd suggest you try and pull the head yourself, it'll be a good learning experience since you confessed to not knowing much about working on cars. This will also save you some money over having someone else do it. That engine is relatively cheap to come by, you could prolly pick it up from a yard for around $400-500.

2) The 86-89 Integra uses a 1.6L DOHC D-series engine, the 90+ uses a 1.8L DOHC B-series engine. The D-series and B-series transmission/clutches are NOT interchangable. There is a good bit of difference b/t the 2 engines as well as their respective chassis'. Swapping the 1.8L engine to the 1.6L chassis would be more complicated of a process than what I think you would like to undertake, given the concerns you've expressed about time/money constraints.

3) Here is a simple chart that will let you determine what smoke means what.

Blue Smoke - Normally cuased by oil in the combustion chamber. This can result from worn engine components letting oil into the combustion chamber(CC). Smoking of this color on cold start and high RPMs in usually valve seal/guide related. Smoking all the time is normally rings on high wear/milage engines.

Black smoke - Air/fuel mixture, caused by an excessively rich combustion process.

White smoke - Coolant in the CC. This is usually an easy indicator of a blown head gasket. The gasket that seals the block to the head has a crack in.

 

Thank you very much! for you very valuable reply.

By reading your post I am thinking that its either the valves or the rings. Because the way it is the car smokes when you first start it up and then as the rpms go up. It burns oil like 2 quarts a month. The coolant level stays the same. The oil color no matter how many times I change it immediately turns black.

What you think?

I have all the time so I have no problem learning to work on the engine I dont mind doing the work.

If you were in the position I am what would you do?

and thanks again for the help. I really appreciete it.