mods for stock LX-i motor?

[lxi_newbie89]

i want to start doin some small stuff to my 89 accord lx-i but i dont know anything about it other than its a 2.0liter 120hp engine. anyone have some ideas for me to make it a little quicker?

[Tdurr]

check out the stickys.

[charliekuney]

its a 2.0liter 120hp engine.

Was. After twenty years...

[ShyBoyCA6]

yup engine lose power overtime...

try doing a rebuild on it maybe you notice a bit of a diff.

[Tdurr]

[ShyBoyCA6]

[MessyHonda]

buy my headers...it will give it more power

[lxi_newbie89]

rebuild sounds like a good start.. thanks for your input guys

[jpetrovic]

if you want to keep the motor, i would do a rebuild, while doing the rebuild you can port polish, performance cam, rebuild the head. Better Plugs and wires, MSD and get a new clutch and like messy said get His Headers :P There are soo many things u can do, but yet is soo limited as well just depends on how deep your wallet is. also Oils in the trans and engine can effect horse power more then you think, Go synthetic. and good luck

[Vanilla Sky]

There's a lot you can do on the cheap. These cars have a restictive intake tract, so going with an ebay 2nd gen Integra CAI is a good start.

Make sure your throttle cable has the right amount of play in it. Check out the online repair manual for that spec.

Get yourself some good spark plugs, fresh wires, new coil, new cap and rotor. You can go with an E-core coil from any reputable manufacturer and be golden. For plugs, I've always had the best luck with NGK copper V-Power plugs in the A20. No need for anything fancy, because we have a low compression motor.

Move the air intake temp sensor from the manifold where it gets heat soaked out to the air intake where it stays cool.

I see you have an 89. I have an intake manifold that I'm willing to port out for you if you compensate me for it. Or better yet, find a b16 manifold. A stocker will be better than what we have and should cost very little.

We had an 87 LXi hatch that we ran on a GTEC Pro, and the unmodded power was around 115hp. After a few simple mods, we got it up to about 125hp with similar weather. The mods to that car cost less than $100.

[dacantu]

unmodded power was around 115hp. After a few simple mods, we got it up to about 125hp The mods to that car cost less than $100.

more info plz

[Vanilla Sky]

10HP isn't much.

Moving the AIT temp sensor cost us about $5, I had a spare sensor, but we had to go out and buy the wire and the shrink tube.

We pieced together the CAI from ABS tubing from other cars. Junkyard charged us $1 a section. I think we needed like 6 sections to get the bends we needed. We got a K&N filter on clearance for like $20.

The coil was another junkyard part. I can't remember where it came from, but I want to say it was from a Camaro. It was like $5 and looked brand freaking new.

The plug wires were Neuspeed eBay specials. I think they were $15 shipped or so.

The plugs, cap, and rotor were another $30 or something like that.

The eBay 'teg intake would cost about the same as what we used, but at the time they weren't nearly that cheap. The upside was that it looked like it came from the factory like that.

Another thing that we did was adjust the timing. We had it pretty far advanced. We advanced it until it pinged under WOT, checked the timing, backed it down a degree, and that was it.

We also did countless other small things that I can't think of right now. We cleaned up the casting marks in the manifold runners as best as we could and did minor port matching, port matched the throttle body to the manifold, and opened the mouth of the throttle body as much as we could.

For as little work that went into that motor, it ran like hell. Too bad that car ended up under a log truck. Pity. At least I have that knowledge.

[A18A]

^^ oh hay you finally got your moderator status, congratulations

[shadowvox6]

10HP isn't much.

Moving the AIT temp sensor cost us about $5, I had a spare sensor, but we had to go out and buy the wire and the shrink tube.

We pieced together the CAI from ABS tubing from other cars. Junkyard charged us $1 a section. I think we needed like 6 sections to get the bends we needed. We got a K&N filter on clearance for like $20.

The coil was another junkyard part. I can't remember where it came from, but I want to say it was from a Camaro. It was like $5 and looked brand freaking new.

The plug wires were Neuspeed eBay specials. I think they were $15 shipped or so.

The plugs, cap, and rotor were another $30 or something like that.

The eBay 'teg intake would cost about the same as what we used, but at the time they weren't nearly that cheap. The upside was that it looked like it came from the factory like that.

Another thing that we did was adjust the timing. We had it pretty far advanced. We advanced it until it pinged under WOT, checked the timing, backed it down a degree, and that was it.

We also did countless other small things that I can't think of right now. We cleaned up the casting marks in the manifold runners as best as we could and did minor port matching, port matched the throttle body to the manifold, and opened the mouth of the throttle body as much as we could.

For as little work that went into that motor, it ran like hell. Too bad that car ended up under a log truck. Pity. At least I have that knowledge.

Any chance you can post pics of your intake, and relocated AIT sensor?
Also, what vehicles might I find the b16 intake on? Any modifications to install it?
In installed an Accel Super Coil yesterday, and it is running really nice.
Already have NGK V-power plugs in it.

[Vanilla Sky]

That car is long gone. When my buddy had that car, neither of us had a digital camera. This was all years ago.

[ecogabriel]

Moving the Air Temperature sensor should not be that complicated; I wonder if moving it to the air filter box would be enough cool.
I noticed that our gayota has the sensor installed in the air filter box. In that case the box is farther away from the engine than in the 3Gs, but on the other hand it seems pretty easy to move it there... I wonder how much improvement would come out of it (if you remember)

[Vanilla Sky]

To be honest, it didn't help at all when the engine was dead cold. It did make a bit of a difference when the intake manifold was heat soaked, making that sensor read hotter than it should.

[dacantu]

thats some pretty good info vanilla!

and to shadowvox6: that b16 intake manifold can be found on a 2000 Civic SI, or a Civic Del Sol SI, or found on craigslist....

[ecogabriel]

To be honest, it didn't help at all when the engine was dead cold. It did make a bit of a difference when the intake manifold was heat soaked, making that sensor read hotter than it should.

It makes sense. Good tip

[Vanilla Sky]

Yeah, that was just poor placement for that sensor.

I really do wish we had a real dyno test instead of that GTech.

[shadowvox6]

FWIW, With the Accel Super Coil, I gapped the plugs (NGK V-Power) at .050", and the car seems to like it.

[rjudgey]

Making sure you have a 4-2-1 exhaust system and not the 4-1, if you do have the 4-2-1 then you can port out the inside of the manifold and smooth the insides out, the important bit though is to really make the two ports that meet the downpipe bigger so they match the downpipe as they are tiny and get yourself a exhaust system madeup from mandrel bent tubing 2" should be fine for upto 160bhp.

If you can't be asked with that then just get pacesetter header and system still better than stock but the above is pretty much free plus cost of gaskets to put header back on the car.

[shadowvox6]

Got the timing adjusted....went +5* and it feels great!!
Going to start looking for a B16 plenum.
Tomorrow, the car is getting a CAI!!

What cars have the 4-2-1 manifold?

[Vanilla Sky]

The 88 and 89 LXi and SEi in the states have the 4-2-1 manifold.

[shadowvox6]

The 88 and 89 LXi and SEi in the states have the 4-2-1 manifold.

Sweet, that's good to know. That means my 89 should have one.



I got the new intake on the car today....