I wanted to post this just because I’ve been doing my B16A SiR swap (OBDI) in place of my B17A that threw a rod. I ran into a lot of unforseen problems that don’t seem to be incredibly common, and I think it would be very helpful for those like myself who hadn’t previously swapped an engine. I wanted to make this a collective problem guide for people to be able to expect the worst of a motor swap, so that way it leaves no surprises of what could go wrong. If anyone has any problems not mentioned, or has experienced some of mine, please post it for the sake of others. Maybe we can make this into a guide and to Dan’s swap guide in the Teg Tips. Thank you in advance all participators.
Here are my unforeseen problems:
-Axle nuts would not come loose. We heated them with a propane torch. We used about 5 ft of extensions on the breaker bar to loosen them and with no luck. I also soaked them for 2 days while we worked on other things. We ended up using a reinforced dremel cut off wheel and a chisel to cut the nut off of the threads… I highly suggest NOT doing this if at all possible. This was a last resort, and makes for even more of a pain if you have not done this before because there is a technique about it. Also, you must have full new axles because you will most likely damage the threads on the existing axles. I had new axles so it was not a problem. You will also probably end up hitting your hubs with the dremel, so try to keep the damage minor.
-I spent about an hour trying to get the transmission and engine apart. Aside from the fact that I’ve heard the two dowels on the engine side can freeze the tranny and engine together, I could not figure out how to get the two apart. Possibly by my oversight in working with the Helm’s, I did not see that you have to take the starter off to pull the block off. I figured the starter mounting bolts could in no way be long enough to mount into the block but one of them is!
-The shift pin was also was an unexpected time wasting. I was aware that there is an 8mm shift pin underneath a boot directly by the transmission, but that 8mm pin holds on for dear life. I ended up driving it out with a slightly undersized bolt (I tried using a punch, but with no luck) after about 15 minutes of striking it.
-Lastly, the ball joints were an unexpected waste also. I’ve witnessed my roommate at school use a 6" crow bar to pop his lower ball joints loose from the lower control arm. I was using a 12" pickle fork, and banged and levered it for a good hour. Nothing was working, so we went and bought a puller. The puller I used was like the one in the helm’s manual with adapting arms to different sized jobs. We broke the arms on this. We then rented a pitman arm puller from Autozone which had fixed arms and a much beefier bolt. We wrenched that on there and at an estimated 70 lb-ft the ball joints finally let go.
I assume you aren’t using any air tools?? An impact gun with 600 ft-lbs of reverse torque should have no trouble removing an axle nut. Shift pins usually come out okay, but getting them back in is usually a bitch and takes a couple tries with a center-punch. As for lower ball-joints, you have two options, I’ve always used a reinforced C-clamp that uses a ½" ratchet to tighten it down. I’ve done that on many of the older Acura’s (and countless RL’s since they’re under recall). Some of the guys I work with use an air chizel and get behind the boot and just chizel it out.
comes right out when using the right tools. 1/4" roll pin punch.
as for getting the lower ball joint out, take a big hammer, and bang on the LCA. Just beat the **** out of it, and almost always, the balljoint pops right out. If that for some reason does not work, take a big ass chisel (mine is like 1" square) and wedge it in between the spindle and teh LCA, and beat it into that space. The spindle will pop right up.
Once you get the system down, motors come out and go in under 45 per ordeal…
Originally posted by battlecat as for getting the lower ball joint out, take a big hammer, and bang on the LCA. Just beat the **** out of it, and almost always, the balljoint pops right out.
Tried it.
[B]
If that for some reason does not work, take a big ass chisel (mine is like 1" square) and wedge it in between the spindle and teh LCA, and beat it into that space. The spindle will pop right up.[/B]
Tried that too. The puller was the only thing that would break it loose. Those CV joints look like the originals which mean they had plenty of time to seat themselves in the hub. (164,000 miles and 10 years later).
Won’t using a pickle fork on that ball joint damage it? It’ll definately destroy the dust boot.
Whatever you do don’t hammer the ball joint bolt. I used a air hammer on the bottom of on and it smooshed it. That was a real stinker to get unsmooshed.
this is how i’ve been doing it. I use a two jaw threaded puller hooked on those side ledges (always needs some dremelling to flatten the tops). I make sure the castle nut is half off the balljoint bolt so the puller won’t slip off. I tighten the puller as tight as i can with the little wrench, then just hold a propane torch on the lower control arm until the joint pops out.
Somtimes it can be a real bugger to get the puller tightened without the arms slipping off (shoulda been a 3jaw) and once i melted a hole in the dust boot, but it’s worked every time.
Originally posted by daver Won’t using a pickle fork on that ball joint damage it? It’ll definately destroy the dust boot.
Whatever you do don’t hammer the ball joint bolt. I used a air hammer on the bottom of on and it smooshed it. That was a real stinker to get unsmooshed.
I “smooshed” mine too but I always thought that it would have helped to just keep the castle nut on the end of it while hammering as reinforcement. I never got a chance to try it though. Anyone know if this worked for them?
Originally posted by chingro
[B]the swap might be a charm for some, but what about after it is in…and runnin…what problems do u face…
for me…(burn too much gas…and gear ratio is too close for highway driving) [/B]
Yeah! I got a B16 with a YS1 cable tranny and it revs at about 4k when I’m doing 70. it does mean an advantage if I gotta drop to 3rd on the freeway, my rpms are much higher.
putting it in wasn’t so bad, but getting it wired and running sucked cuz I went from non-OBD ('91 integra) to OBD1 on my engine. if anyone had told me before hand what a pain that would be, I’d have gone with the Gen1 b16. I still gotta get an ECU for the thing to get my VTec hooked up.
I’ve got a 3/4" drive Snap-On ratchet head I hook a 4’ bar to. So far I haven’t found an axle nut my 200# arse couldn’t get loose. Sometimes someone has to stand on the brakes but they always give.
My swap was not to bad…if you consider a A/T to M/T swap easy…LOL Anyway my problem was making my own trans mount, the A/T and M/T dont match up. SO i made my own out of 1"sq steel tubing. It worked out great!
NAb16teg: why did you convert to obd1? if you’ve read the swap guide then you would know that you only needed to get a non obd distributor, ecu, and injectors. All those parts will bolt right into the engine and car and allow you to run non obd for less trouble and cost of running obd1.
also, i have a question. Exactly how did you go about running obd1 in your non obd car?
