Help I've broken down in Hell and Need an Engine+ ASAP!!!

[SimonT]

Help Guys. I'm in the middle of a road trip from Washington State to Florida and Just kinda blew my stock A20A1 Engine in Colorado. Its an 89 DX Auto with 190K that I've had since new. :uh:

I had always planned on upgrading the car at some point when I could leave it for a few months but due to the sudden engine failure am trying to figure out if now is the right time to do it.


After 3 expensive tows to Garages that had never even seen a Honda I now have it sitting at a Honda Mechanic's shop up in the mountains West of Denver waiting for me to deliver him a replacement engine for installation.
My gut feeling is that the existing engine is probably quite fixable (overheated at 12,000 feet) but the Mechanic doesn't even want to try to fix it (he'd rather sell me a used Civic) and dropping in a replacement engine is the only solution he's up for short of me towing it out of State or paying a Denver Honda dealer around 5K and another $400 for towing it there.

So my choices (I think) are as follows:

a, Get an engine with about 70-80K for $350 from a local scrap yard on Monday and pay him around $1200 to install it and get back on the road in time for me to drive to Miami for my best friends wedding.
Obviously this is the fastest solution but I'm not happy about it as the engine will probably be in much worse shape than mine was and I will be paying a lot af labour costs for a temporary fix.

b, Fly to Miami and have a better engine/Upgrades delived to this Mechanic ( in Silverthorn 80 Miles West of Denver) while I'm away and return in a few weeks hopefully to the Car I always Wanted. Downside is he appears to be a bit lazy so something like a B20A conversion would probably be too much effort for him so it would have to be a pretty simple bolt in replacement.

c, Tow her out of state to someone who knows what they are doing and can turn her into the Car I aways wanted her to be


I've email Sean to see what he has to offer but if anyone else can recommend a better Quality replacement engine than what I can get here from a local scrap yard that would be great.

Can i put a stock Engine from an LXi into the DX?????? Some scrap places are telling me this is not a problem and I may be able to get a lower milage engine that way.

What would I like ideally????

More power of course but for long distance highway cruising NOT racing.

I want something street legal, low maintenance and reliable that I can drive cross country in hot climates without fear and also still leave parked up for months at time while I'm travelling and have her start first time when I get back.

Want to keep my power steering and AC which is original stock but running on Freeze12 these days and don't want a muffler thats much noisier that the stock Honda one. Also would rather not have to relocate the Battery to the trunk as I need all the space back there.

Want to keep the Auto Transmisson so need something that will not fry it. I'm not one to burn rubber at the lights though.
Realize I'm Carbed and have limited options but converting to Fuel injection seems like a lot of work when simply putting on a Webber appears to do the job more easily and cheaply though there seems to be some debate on its reliability and legality ??

The B20A solution seemed ideal as I have a Japanese friend who visits Japan regularly and can get me parts when needed but timing wise ive called all the Suppliers mentioned in the B20A threads and no one seems to have one in stock right now.

As I have to decide something by Monday would appreciate your help as I love my old car and would hate to vandalise her.

Cheers,

Simon

[88accordhb]

b. is the ideal option, however i don't think that mechanic will do the efi swap, then do the b20a, plus it'll be impossible to find one in 3 days. just fly to miami and deal with it later, when your in a rush, you'll just end up wit more problems than when you started. just don't rush it man.

[Gregg86DX]

Wow, what a disaster, I feel for ya. So a couple of thoughts: first, the engine core will swap with any 86-89 Accord, DX, LX, LXi, SEi. Whoever does the swap will need to move your intake/exhaust and accessories to the replacement motor. Second, have you considered renting a u-haul and a tow dolly and taking it back home? That might give you more flexibility.

Do you know what is really wrong with the car? Did it blow a head gasket? What are the symptoms? Does it run? $1200 to swap a motor sounds pretty steep. A decent mechanic should be able to do it in a day.

If you are serious about a B20A/auto, I know they are out there and could probably help you find one.

Gregg

[SimonT]

Thanks for the support Guys, If I'd known this forum existed before now I'd probably have the B20A installed already but its great to know that Any A series engine block off of an 86-89 Accord will work.

Greg I am serious about a B20A with Auto transmission, and if I could get hold of a decent one and thought I could get it complete with all the bits ready for installation I'd definately do it but I'm afraid of missing bits that might take months rather than weeks to sort out (unless your experience shows otherwise) which is time I don't have right now as this is my daily ride.

Sadly renting a Uhaul and dolley to get all the way home to WA would run me almost the same as this Mechanic putting in the Scrap Yard A20A1. Yes the Mechanics out here know they have me by the balls (I got a quote from elsewhere for $475 labour to do the engine swap) but would have to tow it there first so its almost a wash in the end.

She's been a faithful friend for the last 190K and toured all the way from way up above the Arctic Circle in Canada and Alaska and down through Central America. I just managed to fuck up her otherwise still smooth running, non oil burning engine by driving her over a 12,000 foot mountain pass with no water in the Radiator thanks to a busted Heater hose, which was the only hose that I hadn't replaced in 15 Years as none of the Honda dealers ever had it in stock while I was doing regular maintenance, ARGGGG!!!!

I stupidy thought the engine wasn't that hot or the coolant that low as I did not see that the Hose had bust nor did the Temp guage rise ( is there a fix for that??? like a place to put a another temp sensor in case or Airlocks, even my 56 Opel has that ) so I just poured some water into the radiator and was treated to a spectacular Explosion of Water as it came flying back out of the radiator.
After that it started but would stall and became progressively harder to start and so I had to get a tow. I cleaned the plugs and The Distributor, and fixed the hose and refilled in the morning but the water in the Radiator seemed to go somewhere ???? Checking the dipstick the Oil level looked way high and looked a bit milky tan colored and and after starting it a few times it eventualy would only turn over occasionaly and randomly. One mechanic thought there was now water in the pistons preventing compression but thinking about it he did not remove the spark plugs to check. I Looking in the top of the Oil filler and the Oil did look kind of milky there as well and the valve cover seal had melted a bit in the middle and once I loosened the nuts holding the Valve cover a few drops of water escaped the seal when I tried to start her. The Honda Mechanic I have it with now did not even check that far just told me to get a new Engine period.

Thanks once Again and if anyone can source me a clean engine or recommend the best upgrade path I still want to hear from you.

Simon

['A20A3']

Damn, you blew a head gasket.

Good luck to you man, it just takes time, so have patience. :D

[HondaBoy]

wow, that sucks some big ass! i'd say you have shit luck eh? man, i wouldnt know what to do if that happened to me. or maybe i'd just get it towed home to washington. i think you should try and rent a U-haul truck and towing trailer. that would be the cheapest thing to do now. as for those mechanics not knowing shit about a honda, they ought to be slapped! you dont even need to know the car that well to work on it! its quite easy to work on. anyway, really, get it back home and work on it from there. i'd say go looking at some junk yards for a 3gee with the same engine, that will be easiest to put in if its a carbed engine. unless you wanna spend some extra money and time on the FI swap. good luck with what ever you do man.

[shepherd79]

if i was you i would fly to the wedding.
come back home and buy yourself another car.

[SimonT]

Thanks for all the advice Guys and Especially the engines that were offered to me. :)

Sean was very pursuasive but unable to get me an engine built for a few weeks and I was on a time crunch so I went the Junkyard route for $300 and found a Chinese Engine shop who did the install for $475 so for a lot less than a tow back home I'm now up and running with an engine with 120K less miles on it the one I had last week. Its shifting a bit late so I guess I need to adjust the Cable or something but other than that it running great and got me to Miami :cool: (2,400 miles in 3 Days) and will hopefully last me long enough to plan my future upgrades.

[88accordhb]

ummm is it a an a1 or a3?

[SteveDX89]

I have an A20A1 that I have no use for. Everything is complete except for some hoses, bolts, and ps pump.

EDIT - Nevermind, I didn't read your last post.