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d15b2 re-ring question

PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:08 pm
by rusty_eg3
First off, I'm sorry for posting such a silly question but I need guidance and I would like to know your oppinion rather than reading general information on the internet.

My plan is to re-ring the d15b2 which has 122k miles. Burns like a quart of oil every 1000 miles, give or take, depending how high I rev it. Does not smoke under 3-4k revs though. I think the head is problematic so I'm rebuilding it because it's fairly cheap and while the head is off I can replace the rings also.

And now, the question: Is it stupid to do only the head and rings? Meaning that the bearings will remain intact. I'm willing to pay for head rebuild and re-ring but a complete engine overhaul would set me back a few bucks because I can't do it myself. (I already have the cambelt, tensioner and waterpump laying around so obviously those will be replaced too.)

Pls don't laugh, I know d15b2 is a crappy engine and all that so please stick to my question. Thanks everyone!

Re: d15b2 re-ring question

PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 5:16 am
by chrono404
If your planning on getting your head rebuilt you should consider a "mini me" swap. You would replace your head with a newer sohc vtec head and then wire in vtec. It will cost less then getting your old head rebuilt and make more way more power as well.

We have a diy article on how to do this mod here: viewtopic.php?t=10

If your looking at spending more then 600-800 on your repairs you might consider buying a d16z6 or zc vtec(jdm version of d16z6) and have a much better engine.

Re: d15b2 re-ring question

PostPosted: Tue Aug 01, 2017 2:18 pm
by rusty_eg3
I might or might not do the mini-me swap, I haven't decided yet, the electrical part is what scares me the most :D .

The question was more about what is a proper thing to do: re-ring + head rebuild VS a FULL rebuild of the engine (bearings and whatnot).

Also please bear in mind that I live in Europe so the repairs won't go nowhere near 800$. 5-600 $ sounds more accurate (necessary parts, head rebuild, re-ring labor), however the full overhaul with new pistons and bearings will obviously cost more.

With 800 GBP I could buy a full B16 swap from UK but as I've mentioned in my other posts, swapping engines like that is kinda sketchy form a legal point of view in my country and in other european countries as well.

Thanks!

Re: d15b2 re-ring question

PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 1:43 pm
by teal_dx
Chrono404 - good to see ya on here man! More old timers have been popping in lately :thumb:

rusty_eg3, don't let the electrical aspect of the mini-me scare you, as it's the easiest part of the swap. :werd:

Back to your original question... with 122k mi, the bearings should be fine. (You'd be hearing noise if the bearings were going bad.) Since you're going to unbolt the rods when doing the piston rings, you'll be able to get a good look at the rod bearings to confirm.

BTW, the way to see if you're burning oil through your rings vs valve guides/seals is to do a compression test - the #'s should be low. Then squirt some oil in each cvlinder through the spark plug hole and re-do the test. If the #'s come back higher, then it's the rings. If not, it's the valves. The oil in the cylinder will help seal the gap for the second test. :thumb:

Re: d15b2 re-ring question

PostPosted: Mon Aug 07, 2017 6:24 am
by rusty_eg3
Thanks for your answers, you really helped me decide. I will wait another 30k miles (1 year +/-) since the car does not smoke bad (only on super high rpms) and after that I will probably rebuild the whole engine either with mini-me or at least an MPI swap. Right now I'm searching for a super cheap EG4 hatch just like mine to buy it for parts.

Thanks again!