Ok, so I'm super anal about changing my fluids. Change oil every 3500miles and tranny and diff fluids ever 2nd or 3rd oil change. Syncromesh for the tranny, Full Synth 10-30w for the engine, and amsoil(sp? the red stuff) for the diff.

Got the car at 50K miles and now its about 68K on the clock. Thankfully i bout the 24K extended warranty with the car.

I was driving the car couple weeks ago and i heard a slight ticking noise from the engine. I then proceeded to do a valve adjustment (no adjustment needed, all within spec), full fluid change and new sparkplugs. After everything the ticking was still there around 3K-4K rpms and would dissapear higher. Anyway, was on the highway and hit vtech and around 8grand the engine made a HORRIBLE noise and cut out (around 80mph in 3rd). Rolled over to the side of the road and restarted, now the ticking noise was much louder but still drivable. Didn't want to risk it so i towed it to Blake Automotive in Georgia (Suwanee).

The following are pictures of what happened. Turned out the vtec solenoid failed and bearing went. The insurance company (warranty company) could've just replaced the shortblock but instead are replacing the entire longblock (probably best). This wasn't an overrev since there was no damage to the valves and whatever else goes wrong with an over-rev. Now i do drive spirited, i'm sure i didn't cause the damage in the 12K that i owned it but i'm sure i did spur it along. The previous owner probably didn't take care of the car which cause the wear on the engine.

So far i've replaced the
-headlights
-soft-top with glass
-wheels (got 05 wheels on an 01, which is a whole other drama story)
-engine
-and now clutch (since the engine is out anyway)

My baby being towed


Engine coming out



Rod bearing in cylinder #2 pounded flat and metal shavings



Old engine and tranny out of car.


Clean engine bay


I'll update it as i get more pics, currently i'm waiting on a engine to be shipped in from cali or japan or wherever they keep 'em :-P

 

You always ran 93 octane? Sounds almost like you had heavy detonation and it beat the rod bearings to death.

What's the motor going to end up costing? I'd do the same thing you're doing. Buy one.

 

jeez. that does not look like fun.
sorry to hear you are having so much trouble with your car

 

Upgrade to 2.2!

 

Same exact thing happened to me, only my warranty company wouldnt honor it, now I have to get my money back through court and lawyers..

 

Yup always ran 93, pretty sure it wasn't a detonation. Never got a misfire or knock sensor.

The CEL did fire and got a "Vtec solendoid failure" as the code.

Not sure on what the engine is costing, warranty company is taking care of it. It's a remanufactured so should be better than what i got.

And about getting a 2.2, i did think about it but i'd have to replace a whole bunch more stuff (ECU, tranny) and I'm sure the warranty company wouldn't go for it. Right now i'd be happy with a engine that worked :-P

 

gee that suckz

 

So since my engine is out of my car, I was thinking about having the clutch replaced. Should i get a whole new clutch or would replacing just the friction plate be good enough? I'm wouldn't mind getting rid of the clutch buzz while i'm in there.

Is there an aftermarket clutch that you guys prefer? Or is the OEM one good enough? I plan on keeping the engine pretty much stock.

Friction Plate - $110
Whole Clutch - $440

 

What warranty company do you have if you dont mind me asking..

 

You'll want the whole shebang. Pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing and disk.

Sounds like your ticking might have been a rod knock then. It's one of those things where you want to stop driving as soon as you notice because, sometimes you can save the motor.