'99 Accord DX F23A5 - About to give up

I bought this car a little over a year ago. Was a bad move, 2 days after I bought, car overheated, head gasket. Took me 6 weeks to get it back together. At that point I was looking at motors for this car. Everyone was very unsure, couldn't give me anything definitive about the F23A1 vtec working in place of the F23A5 non-vetc due to being daily driver, has to pass emissions. Car has 170K miles, and now we're looking at oil pan gasket and rear main seal. I'm over this.

So, it's either a new motor or a different Accord.

I have opinions from two JDM sellers that the the A1 motors will work in the DX, but Vtec will just not engage. One suggested using the intake and exhaust manifolds from the A5 and otherwise would be plug and play. This just doesn't sound right to me, but then I don't know at what RPM Vtec actually engages on this car. If it's something like 5k, then maybe I'll never know.

Others have said that I'll need the correct harness and ECU flashing, pinouts to wire up the vtec. I really don't want to get into all that because there is ZERO info that i've for that stuff on this car/motor. Unless something has changed or new info is avail since last 12/13.

I can get a good clean JDM F23A1 from the LX/EX and tranny for $950. Good price for me. But I don't want to jump into a mess. I need this swapped out in a long weekend and back on the road. If I can't do this, I need to sell this car and get a different one until that motor craps out. Then, it will be easy.

Appreciate your thoughts.

Use a VAFC or similar for output. I think MSD even has RPM switches.

+12v is all you need for VTEC.

xci.ed6 said:

Use a VAFC or similar for output. I think MSD even has RPM switches.

+12v is all you need for VTEC.

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XCI - appreciate your reply. But that was all greek to me. I'll google it, but I 'll likely be back.

In my opinion (once again just a opinion ) changing an engine just for a rear main and a oil pan gasket is slight over kill... removing a Trans from a accord isn't hard in my opinion. I'd go with fixing the leaks if it was me. But hey to each there own.

lmayoral2191 said:

In my opinion (once again just a opinion ) changing an engine just for a rear main and a oil pan gasket is slight over kill... removing a Trans from a accord isn't hard in my opinion. I'd go with fixing the leaks if it was me. But hey to each there own.

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Sorry, I didn't add that the trans is original and starting to slip as well. I left out the number of other issues along the way. So the rear main seal and oil pan gasket are like the straw that broke the camels back as they say. As well the one engine mount I can't get to is bad and the damn thing vibrates at idle which really irritates me. I'm not throwing another dime at this motor.

Otherwise, I'd agree.

I understand your point, it's always the little thing that get too me also. But as you know if you're doing a remain seal you could install your new Trans.. I'm a firm believer don't change an engine unless you know it's bad... lost compression, burning coolant, large amount of oil consumption. I'm gonna assume you're talking about the rear mount? Should be easier too get too with the Trans out

lmayoral2191 said:

I understand your point, it's always the little thing that get too me also. But as you know if you're doing a remain seal you could install your new Trans.. I'm a firm believer don't change an engine unless you know it's bad... lost compression, burning coolant, large amount of oil consumption. I'm gonna assume you're talking about the rear mount? Should be easier too get too with the Trans out

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I'll consider your thoughts. It does seem to eat coolant, or leak it somewhere. I dunno.

Maybe a good question in this case is will a F23A5 head work properly on an A1 block? I don't personally know the answer but maybe this is the direction you should be headed...

My main concern with this question though is the condition of your current head due to a previous overheat.

xci.ed6 said:

Use a VAFC or similar for output. I think MSD even has RPM switches.

+12v is all you need for VTEC.

Click to expand...

Okay so set up the RPM switch to activate the solenoid. Other than that I can keep the current electronics (harness, ecu, etc.), correct?

james'99 said:

Maybe a good question in this case is will a F23A5 head work properly on an A1 block? I don't personally know the answer but maybe this is the direction you should be headed...

My main concern with this question though is the condition of your current head due to a previous overheat.

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The head was taken to a reputable machine shop, pressure tested, resurfaced, and valve job. It should be fine.