I have a b16a that has been nothing but problems for me. i just replaced the rings and the head gasket, i got the head resurfaced and there is a oil leak coming form the front of the head by the tranny. I don’t want to pay to get the block resurfaced and iam sick of everything going wrong. I know a mechanic that will swap me an LS engine with low miles and free labor for exchange of my b16. I don’t have much money to do an ls vtec either. Is it worth swapping an ls back into my car? Iam sick of the oil leaks, and the lack of torque. I need some input. Thanks for the help.
I wound just deal with it and fix it…If you go back to an ls your going to wish you had your b16. The oil leak are you sure its leaking from between the head and block? I bet he’ll do it for free so would i. Dont trust mechanic’s… trust me. He probably know whats really wrong. And trying to get a free b16.
I agree, the mechanic would definitely benefit there…a cleaned up PR3 head alone would get him a decent amount of money, while LS longblocks are a dime a dozen. Personally I think the choice between an LS and B16 is hard. If you already have one I don’t think it is ever worth it to swap to the other. But that debate is a huge can of worms. What tranny are you running with the B16? If you a VTEC tranny and everything else is in decent shape I would concentrate on getting the B16 back into shape. Swapping in a different LS block isn’t going to guarantee that you have no more problems.
i know the mechanic would make some profit but Iam really sick of the oil leak and the lack of torque. I have been through like 5 different trannies from redline and they havent given me the right b16 tranny yet, so my gears are as long as an ls. I love vtec, but iam sure the leak is coming from the head, i checked everywhere else and i cant see any signs of leaks.
In regard to that oil leak… an oil leak from the head gasket is actually surprisingly rare. But quite often there are leaks elsewhere that will drip down the head and then collect around the head gasket. Then people assume that its a leaky headgasket.
I suggest you check your vtec solenoid gasket, cam seals, cam end plug, and distributor o-ring. If you clean up the leaked oil really well, and hopefully your engine is relatively clean to begin with… you can run the engine and check for the leak before it drips down to where the head and block meet.
Definitely worth a try before pulling the engine or doing any major work.
yeah it’s most likely a leak from the VTEC Solenoid spool valve system. it’s notorious for that…
Thanks for the help you guys. You two are gods! I cleaned my engine up a little and started the car and i saw a line of oil that was dripping down the side of the vtec solenoid. It leaks directly down to the front of the head gasket. So i put some good sealant around the solenoid and slapped it back on and that did the prob. I just thought it wasnt the vtec solenoid because i replaced the gasket for it but on one of the holes i had to put an insert in do to over tightening and the shop breaking a tap in it lol, so there was a gap from the insert that needed some gasket. Thanks for the help guys, I will be keeping my b16 and hopefully next week i finally get the right b16 tranny.
change the gasksets on ur vtec solonoid. i need to do the same.