civic vx buying tips

[k.civic.f4i]

hey. i landed on some money and am looking to either swap in a d15z1 into my current dx hatchback OR buy a used vx.

To all the vx owners:
do you have any tips on what to look out for when buying?
warnings or caution when buying?
what are some common problems you've experienced?
how much did you pay?/ what's a reasonable price (assuming it has low miles and in good condition)?
is $3.5k too much

To those who have done the swap:
is it just like any other swap(as far as drop in motor+trans and plug in the harness?
did you splice plugs into your existing harness to make it work?
how long did it take to find a donor engine+trans+harness+ecu(folks make it out to seem like people are just throwing away these engines but i've had no luck at all)?
cost of the entire swap?

thanks in advance for the feedback. i've been haggling another member for info(i'm sure he's tired of it) but i am just trying to make sure i don't get ripped off. i don't want another frankensteined car

[coletrain777]

As a brand new vx owner I'll bite:

As far as what to look out for, one of the real problem areas for vx's is rust behind the rear wheel opening and around the wheel well in general. Now being from Cali that probably won't be an issue for you, but just remember people (and shops) make some pretty substandard repairs. If you want to make sure that you aren't getting yourself into trouble there, just make sure that there have been no previous repairs to the area (or if there were that they were done correctly). As someone who runs a part time paint and body shop let me tell you this type of repair work can exceed the value of the car in a hurry. Anyway you probably won't see that problem.

The one common problem I see with vx ownership is sooner or later the o2 sensor (LAF) fails. Then you have to pony up the dough for a new one which can range from $80 to $450 depending on where you purchase it (most say go with a genuine dealer item, or at least L1h1).

As for what to pay... A car is only worth what YOU are willing to pay for it. A car really is both a head and heart decision. That said, if it is a real low mileage clean car I would say $3,500 wouldn't be too much ( I paid $450 for mine but admittedly it needs some TLC). Just think of the potenetial fuel savings over the next 100K miles!

All in all I love mine so far, and think I will only grow to like it more.

As for the swap I have never done one, but it looks fairly simple all things considered. Someone else with experience will weigh in on this I am sure.

Cole

[Ryland]

My first vx had some rust, nothing fatal, a 10" chunk missing from the front bumper and 205,000 miles on it, right away I replaced the o2 sensor, timing belt and did a much needed tuneup as the guy I bought it from drove it for 100,000 miles without doing anything other oil changes, I paid $1,200 for that one when it was 12 years old.
My 2nd vx came from a rust free state and is rust free, it had been backed in to 3 times so it has some minor dents, cracked rear bumper and missing door bumper/trim from one of the dents, that one needed an o2 sensor and a muffler and I paid $1,100 for it when it was 16 years old.

I figure that any civic vx I look at is going to need a timing belt every 100,000 miles or the engine will be scrap metal, a $200 o2 sensor if it has any dead pedal feel, a $3 pcv grommet under the intake manifold that you need someone with very very small hands to replace if the engine bounces at idle.

[k.civic.f4i]

thanks for the replies

these are 2 that are being sold locally.
95 civic vx

Honda Civic VX 94
Civic Vx '94 - ADZphoto's Photos- powered by SmugMug

the first one looks nicer and has a clean title but looks like it may have been riced out at some point with some rotas and h.i.d.s. the second one is missing the oem lip and is a salvaged title but looks to be more original in condition with its original rims. they are both selling for about $3.5k. i'd really rather do the swap but my search for donors isn't looking good. (anyone have an engine on sale by chance?) i have yet to check them out in person but i am already setting up appointments to do so.

there is only rust if you live by the beach(wish i did).

[k.civic.f4i]

oh man. i'm so excited. i think i just found a donor from an auto recycler. they have the motor, ecu and tranny but they are separate. is there a way for me to be able to tell if the transmission is a legitimate vx tranny? correct me if i'm wrong but is the cx tranny the same?

[Ryland]

I would look a the 2nd one with the salvage title,wait a week then talk the guy down in price, the mildly riced one is going to have more issues then one with repaired body damage as long as the tire wear is even, it goes straight down the road and nothing looks crumpled up on the underside.

[tim3058]

In my opinion finding a VX would be far, far easier. My car's previous owner swapped in the VX motor (so I can't vouch for ease/difficulty of swap), and looks like he did quite a few re-wiring tricks to get it all set up, and it still didn't run right til me and my cousin went through with multimeters and new crimp connectors. Have you crunched the gas numbers vs. the cost of upgrading to the VX motor? My car's combined EPA was 36... my lifetime average after 5800 miles is 44.3 mpg... total saved: $83... far less than the cost of the motor, trans, ecu, and misc. VX parts. I'm just recommending you consider the up-front costs vs. mpg return. You might do well selling your DX, take the money and buy a clean non-riced VX if its what you really want. My DX was ghetto-riced out at some point, and I'd never touch a riced car again. Ricing is like an iceberg, you can only see the tip of it, but there's mountains of problems underneath. Broken/stripped bolts, torn suspension bushings (from all that "high-speed" drifting), a smoked clutch (mine had turned blue from the heat) and birds-nest wiring hacks are just a few...

I don't know much about your DX, is there more you can do to boost mpg as-is without a motor swap? Just swapping to the VX/CX transmission would be dirt cheap ($130??) and no electrical or computer hassles, just instant mpg improvement. Or going up to taller tires would act like taller gearing, upping your mpg's. $3500 sounds a lot for a clean 17 year old car, but not sure whats going rate in your area. Seems like $2k-2500 would net you a real clean original one, at least around upstate NY. Good luck

[k.civic.f4i]

i checked out the first one today. it wasn't all that good. it looked to be a frankensteined car but otherwise alright. definitely not worth the $3.5k in my opinion. the guy gave us this whole story about how he pulled the engine and all from his crashed vx into a clean body. i like the suggestion of just swapping a vx/cx tranny into my dx. would that be a straight bolt on? would i not need to get a p07 ecu still?

[k.civic.f4i]

Originally Posted by Hondork

Also, the Si wiring harness has no provision for EGR, in addition to the 5-wire O2 sensor problem mentioned earlier. Even if you get a VX engine with its harness, the body harness that connects the engine harness to the ecu is missing the extra VX only 6-pin connector that carries the additional O2 information as well as EGR info to the ecu. Then you also need to get the EGR control box (black box that mounts to the firewall with vacuum tubes going in and out) and wire that in as well. Honda for some reason sends the 2 wires that control this thing not through the engine harness but through the wiper harness that goes through the firewall on the driverside. Annoying.

'93 Civic Si hatch D16Z6 engine w/ VX transmission? - GasSavers.org - Helping You Save at the Pump Hypermiling and Fuel Efficiency Forum


can anyone verify the thing about the body wire harness?

[greasemonkee]

What part? There is an extra connector on VX only chassis harness.

The easiest thing to do is make an auxiliary harness for the extra Vx related items. Look at the Helms and you'll see which wires need to be shielded - generally O2 signals and ignition related lines. Ground one end of the shielding, preferably to the same ground as the other shield grounds, but do not stack the grounds.