Wow I got screwed...

[blknpurple]

So I've always wanted a hatchback and have finally gotten one. My plan is for it to be a daily driver with a little bit of power. So I found this 98 ek with a SOHC Vtec swap, motor mounts, ps and ac delete, new clutch, Tokico whites with Ground Control coilover sleeves and Bilstein springs, CF duck bill, and Si cluster. CEL was on when I bought it and the owner told me probably because of a cracked header, which he showed me, and told me CEL probably go away with a good header. So after purchasing the car, I bought a stock header (withcat of course) from CL. Disconnected the batt to reset the CEL. AFter a day of driving and the CEL off, it came on again the next day. The car has always idle funky and had a lot of vibration. I thought the vibration were from the motormounts (innovative mounts) since they are stiffer, and the idle I thought maybe the IAC. Upon further inspections, I saw the head is block is D16Y7 so I figured it has a mini me swap. I traced the wires from the Vtec solenoid and found it leads to no where, well, a harness jumper. Then I checked the ECU, turns out it's a P2E, not a P28 from the research I've been doing...Needless to say, I've gotten played, big time, of course the prev owner wont talk to me. Now I gotta pass smog and reg the car, but with the aftermarket intake and CEL, there's no way that's gonna happen.....And I found that all the evap system has been removed, the canister by the firewall, etc...Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure...If you see any discreptancies, please help!!! FML

hose is in pic is from valve cover just venting freely for the smeeling pleasure of the driver and the world, also you can see the wires for Vtec

valve cover doesnt seem like a y8 head, not even sure what it is...

Pics on the side of head, any idea what head this is?

Jumper harness

Where the vtec wire feeds into, this is the yellow/black wire, not green/yellow

Anyone has any idea where the exposed plug and hose go?

Got a plugged nipple on the IM, you can see part of the intake, that's the only thing that has a hole in it, the rest is just a pipe with a filter at the end of it....

Any suggestions or advices or point out anything thats wrong in the pictures will help guys...thanks in advance...FML...

 

[Puma]

Tip #1---demand him to take you to an autozone to have a FREE diagnostics test done w/ said car you intend to purchase. You find out all CEL codes instantly right then and there. You could have easily avoided all of this by just doing that.

I had similar issues when I bought my coupe but the guy was up front w/ me and wasn't sure what the CELS were. I ended up having to track down a charcoal canister, new EX harness b/c the one in the car was hacked, new injectors, one o2 was bad on the stock manifold so O put on an aftermarket header w/ a high flow cat..jesus I can't even remember everything I had to do on top of swapping heads.

EDIT:: I have yet to hear of anyone passing emissions and not throwing a CEL of some sort w/ a mini me unless they rewire the entire car. I don't pass but I cheated the system and got tags anyhow, and I removed my light b/c I was sick of seeing it.

 

[blknpurple]

yea...dumb mistake, I'm still kicking myself in the ass....I'm reading up on as much as I can find on mini me swaps, what I get for trusting people these days....FML

 

[2slo4u]

that plug might go to some sensor on the intake manifold
why didn't you open up the hood and check and make sure everything was there before buying it?

 

[Kavika+]

Looks like your hose off your valve cover or intake is not plugged in. It doesnt have to be but I though I'd point it out

 

[Mr.Baker]

If you're not knowledgeable enough or mechaically inclined, this is why you stay away from buying modded Civics' with a CEL on.
You should have had it checked out BEFORE you bought it.

 

[mymmeryloss]

Ouch!

 

[JohnS.]

Wow that thing looks HACKED....

The head is either a 95 Z6 or D15B. I guess they're pretty much identical and the only real way to tell the difference is to take out the cam and measure the profiles.

 

[blknpurple]

So my next plan of attack is to get a P28...how do I know which wiring harness do I have there? Also either put a filter on that valve cover gasket vent or route it somewhere cuz the smell is getting to me. Anyone has any idea why that nipple on the intake manifold is plugged? Can I just route the valve cover vent into that nipple?

 

[2slo4u]

Your probably smelling gas? It's not coming from the valve cover. It's coming from the evap system that you don't have. There is probably a hose the previous owner tucked somewhere. I guess the only way around it is to get an evap system and plug everything back up.

 

[alex_n/a]

In the state of Colorado (where I live) the previous owner MUST provide a emission test paper showing the car passes. it is ILLEGAL to sell a car that does not pass emission. check your state laws and if he does not want to comply. get your money back. If he refuses, take him to court. you will win. Unless you are stupid enough to sign a "sold as is" paper.

 

[MistahJuice]

1st: Yeah if u actually had him write the actual bill of sale price on their then you can sue him for ur cash back cuz technically here in Cali the car must be smogged before he can sell it unless you fill out the paperwork saying it's sold as is.

2nd: Like said above the head is off a 95. That being said having a vtec engine some smog guys may refuse to smog you since you're car did not come with it and it's not bar'd for that engine I'm assuming

3rd: Since your car is obd2 you can't use a p28 or they will not smog you, since you went from a 98 motor to a 95 and thats technically illegal, you must use the obd2 Vtec ecu so a P2P ecu is the correct one you will need. Also it will have to be and obd2a so they don't realize the head is older from the car.

4th: If he was using the P2E at least you know all the wiring to the injectors etc is obd2 spec so you wont have to worry about that. Just jump the ecu service connector and see what codes its giving you and figure out what you need to fix. Then get the correct ecu and hope the smog guy doesn't realize you have a 95 vtec motor in a newer non Vtec car.

 

[evilrilla2]

the guy above is right. dont beat yourself too much. Seems like the guy that sold it to you knows he screwed you over. this type of thing happens to everyone, the good thing is that i strongly believe you can get some cash back. seems like the guy is ignoring you, basically leave him a message and tell him he failed to sale you a car that will pass smog, demand your money back or you will take him to court. tell him he has 1 day to reply or you will take him to court, small claims. its going to cost you like $50 bucks or something for the paper work. then the court day will be in a month or 2. you are stuck with the car in the meanwhile. dont drive it. convince the judge why you should get your money back.

 

[2slo4u]

i dont think small claims would be as easy as it may seem..he could just fire back that you should've driven it and checked it out before buying it, which is true, or that he had everything working perfectly fine and it was you who changed things up..

this might be a sucky situation but i think its your, as the buyers', fault..should ALWAYS check when buying a car..looking at the distributor again you can tell its really messed up too..its not even bolted to the head correctly

 

[blknpurple]

So I didnt sign a sold as is paper, but i did let him just fill out the top part of the title, so he can mail it in to DMV. We agreed on the set price of $450, but of course I paid him cash more than that...as far as the legal thing, Im not sure there's much I can do, since on paper, I paid him $450 for the car. I still have the CL ad that had what he claimed was in the car.

The smell isnt a fuel smell, it smells more like an oil smell, that's why I thought it was coming from the valve cover gasket, I'm gonna have to take a whiff and see. So with the P2P route, what do I need? I'm gonna go read some more about that. Here's what has been my reading material http://www.ek9.org/forum/engine/11861-has-anyone-here-done-mini-me-build.html

P.S. can anyone tell me which jumper harness I have? Sounds like with the P2P, I wouldnt need a jumper harness right? just kinda figure out all the wiring and stuff.

EDIT: so I found some more information, looks like I need wiring for knock sensor, IACV, and Vtec. I found info on the IACV and Vtec. Is the knock sensor wiring already integrated in the harness for my non-vtec? So just get a knock sensor and I should have a plug somewhere in my wiring harness for it?

 

[blknpurple]

BTW thanks guys for all the inputs! I found an ad on CL some guy was selling parts from his civic, and there was a picture with the valve cover on there, looks like mine too. I asked him what year is the y8 head and he said that was 2000. So could mine be also 2000 or not a chance? I think you guys are right because I have a friend who has a 99 Ex coupe and his valve cover gasket just says HONDA across...here's a link to the CL ad: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/pts/2792320971.html

 

[XpL0d3r]

EDIT:: I have yet to hear of anyone passing emissions and not throwing a CEL of some sort w/ a mini me unless they rewire the entire car.

I passed after my mini-me with no issues whatsoever. No CEL's at all. Of course, I had the correct ECU and had to do SOME rewiring, but it didn't take more than maybe an hour of cutting and splicing wires. My s**t was so ghetto I didn't even solder them...

OP, I know it's a shitty situation, but if you get the right ECU, and assuming you have a vtec head, you can just finish the mini-me. Looks like most of the parts are there, so you shouldn't be in too much of a pickle. Sounds to me like the previous owner didn't know what he was doing, and just gave up on it and sold it as-is. Still a douchy thing to do though.

 

[RonJ]

Also either put a filter on that valve cover gasket vent or route it somewhere cuz the smell is getting to me. Anyone has any idea why that nipple on the intake manifold is plugged? Can I just route the valve cover vent into that nipple?

The two items circled in red are disconnected components of the PCV and EVAP system. The hose on the right is the breather hose (front end of the PCV system). It ultimately should connect to the air intake system so that clean filtered air is drawn through the crank case. The vacuum port capped off is for the EVAP system. A hose should run from there to the EVAP purge solenoid. The hose above the capped nipple is the PCV hose that should run to the PCV valve and ultimately to the breather box above the oil filter. It too is disconnected.

These, however, are not causing the smell of gas. For that, check for a leaking fuel filter or fuel line, as well as disconnected EVAP system hoses under the hood.

 

[blknpurple]

XpL0d3r, thanks for the word of encouragement. So my plan of attack now is to get P2P ECU, get a knock sensor, do wiring for Vtec (solenoid and pressure), IACV, and eventually scrap together a whole EVAP system...

 

[RonJ]

You can pull the CEL codes yourself at home by jumping the service connector -- click CEL link in my signature. Jot the codes down and then reset the ECU to see which codes repeat after driving the car.