Civic EG

Hi Guys,

I'm a new member of this forum and I would like to ask help on how to check if the engine is a D15B VTEC engine or VTEC.

I am planning to buy a Civic EG and the owner said that it has a D15B VTEC engine.

How can I check the engine if its a VTEC by looking at the engine itself? Is there a unique identifier for this engine?

Please help.

Thank you.

If the spark plugs aim towards the back of the car, its non-vtec. No vtec head ever came that way.


Behind the distributor will be this, If this is here its a vtec engine.

on the front of the engine you will see a flat spot bewteen exhaust headers and transmission. it will look like the following, it could be covered in greese or dirt



if it says "d15b" the bottom end is a jdm engine, however could be a vtec economy engine or a performance vtec engine.

the way to tell bewteen the two engines is the imprints above the exhaust manifold imprinted on the head:
If it says "p-07" then its the slow fuel efficent VTEC-E engine
If it says "p-08" then its the performance SOHC VTEC engine.

If it says "d15z1" its a VTEC-E bottom end and most likely a full vtec-e engine. Check the code on the head to make sure its a vtec-e engine.

if it says "d15b2" "d15b7" "d15b8" etc then its a non-vtec bottom end with a vtec head installed on it. Normally if this is done its been raced on. Timing is almost always off on a "mini-me" as they are called in our community. If has any number after the "D15" you wont want that engine.

chrono404 wrote:If the spark plugs aim towards the back of the car, its non-vtec. No vtec head ever came that way.


Behind the distributor will be this, If this is here its a vtec engine.

on the front of the engine you will see a flat spot bewteen exhaust headers and transmission. it will look like the following, it could be covered in greese or dirt



if it says "d15b" the bottom end is a jdm engine, however could be a vtec economy engine or a performance vtec engine.

the way to tell bewteen the two engines is the imprints above the exhaust manifold imprinted on the head:
If it says "p-07" then its the slow fuel efficent VTEC-E engine
If it says "p-08" then its the performance SOHC VTEC engine.

If it says "d15z1" its a VTEC-E bottom end and most likely a full vtec-e engine. Check the code on the head to make sure its a vtec-e engine.

if it says "d15b2" "d15b7" "d15b8" etc then its a non-vtec bottom end with a vtec head installed on it. Normally if this is done its been raced on. Timing is almost always off on a "mini-me" as they are called in our community. If has any number after the "D15" you wont want that engine.

wow, this a cool I have another question for you though. Could you enlighten me with this statement or maybe if you have a sample picture for this statement

"the way to tell bewteen the two engines is the imprints above the exhaust manifold imprinted on the head:
If it says "p-07" then its the slow fuel efficent VTEC-E engine
If it says "p-08" then its the performance SOHC VTEC engine."

I am a bit lost on how to check on that so it would be helpful if you could also post some pictures.

Thank you so much

twickn29zero wrote:

chrono404 wrote:If the spark plugs aim towards the back of the car, its non-vtec. No vtec head ever came that way.


Behind the distributor will be this, If this is here its a vtec engine.

on the front of the engine you will see a flat spot bewteen exhaust headers and transmission. it will look like the following, it could be covered in greese or dirt



if it says "d15b" the bottom end is a jdm engine, however could be a vtec economy engine or a performance vtec engine.

the way to tell bewteen the two engines is the imprints above the exhaust manifold imprinted on the head:
If it says "p-07" then its the slow fuel efficent VTEC-E engine
If it says "p-08" then its the performance SOHC VTEC engine.

If it says "d15z1" its a VTEC-E bottom end and most likely a full vtec-e engine. Check the code on the head to make sure its a vtec-e engine.

if it says "d15b2" "d15b7" "d15b8" etc then its a non-vtec bottom end with a vtec head installed on it. Normally if this is done its been raced on. Timing is almost always off on a "mini-me" as they are called in our community. If has any number after the "D15" you wont want that engine.

wow, this a cool I have another question for you though. Could you enlighten me with this statement or maybe if you have a sample picture for this statement

"the way to tell bewteen the two engines is the imprints above the exhaust manifold imprinted on the head:
If it says "p-07" then its the slow fuel efficent VTEC-E engine
If it says "p-08" then its the performance SOHC VTEC engine."

I am a bit lost on how to check on that so it would be helpful if you could also post some pictures.

Thank you so much

Where the green stripe is on the engine. look on their for the stampings. There will be a few including when the engine was assembled,etc. One of them will be say "P-07" or "P-08" You can use that to determine which head is on the car.

Thanks Chrono404 that's very informative. I will be checking the car in an hour and will get back to you for update. I hope that is a VTEC performance engine.

Hi Guys I finally got my EG with D15B VTEC engine I have a question since I am excited to test this great engine. Is it possible that my cylinder head will get damage? What is the "safe rev limit" for this engine? Engine is still stock and no modifications haven't done yet.

I heard also that some have problems that their EG is overheating. Is this normal? What are the things to check to avoid this?

Any prevention tips from you guys to avoid damaging my engine?

Thank you

I also have another question regarding my engine. I noticed that there's a wet part on top of cylinder head. The middle bolt of cylinder is damp. Is there a problem that is waiting to happen?

It's a manual EG honda civic and the stick shift is not quite tight. Unlike those manual transmission engine, when you are in neutral and push it forward, it goes directly to third gear. This one, you have to estimate where the third gear is. What do I need to do/replace? Will that cost me a lot?

Thank you in advance.

twickn29zero wrote:Hi Guys I finally got my EG with D15B VTEC engine I have a question since I am excited to test this great engine. Is it possible that my cylinder head will get damage? What is the "safe rev limit" for this engine? Engine is still stock and no modifications haven't done yet.

I heard also that some have problems that their EG is overheating. Is this normal? What are the things to check to avoid this?

Any prevention tips from you guys to avoid damaging my engine?

Thank you

the d15bv revs to 7200ish i believe
but hondas are made a lil destroked so they can rev high
so id say a safe rev would be 6500-6800 rpms,

and it will only overheat if u dont take care of it
make sure the water pump, thermostat,radiator fan and radiator are good
i have a d16z6, purrty much the same motor u have and i take it to about 7000rpms and drive kinda fast with a leak in my radaitor(not every time i take off, just gettin on the freeways i take it to 7000rpms to get up to speed) and i do not over heat, just take care of it and ur fine, but as mention dont take it that high everytime u shift, take it to about 2500-3000rpms between shifts, it saves the motor and better mpg

twickn29zero wrote:I also have another question regarding my engine. I noticed that there's a wet part on top of cylinder head. The middle bolt of cylinder is damp. Is there a problem that is waiting to happen?

It's a manual EG honda civic and the stick shift is not quite tight. Unlike those manual transmission engine, when you are in neutral and push it forward, it goes directly to third gear. This one, you have to estimate where the third gear is. What do I need to do/replace? Will that cost me a lot?

Thank you in advance.

the wet spot is oil
and its the rubber seal around the bolt is bad or just a lil oil got there and is sitting, no prob is gonna happen, ur not gonna lose any oil, so its not a major need to fix, but something to do when u got some time and are bored

and it should go into the 3rd when u push stright up, but underneth the car there is a 12mm bolt that might be lose or the bushing for the shifter is bad, but as long as it goes into gear nice and smooth, not fighting it or grinding gears, your transmission is fine

i hope i could help
anymore question just ask and ill try my best to help

hi twickn29zero, please post your EG bro para makita namin.

this ones for 94 jdm ferio, my trans sometimes won't go into gear if i first start it up, or sometimes at a stoplight. I usually have to push in the clutch and shift thru a couple gears sometimes. but it doesnt grind or do anything of that sort. i can shift really fast without grinds or popouts without problems. it just seems to be stuburn at stops every now and then.

Mabee some sychromesh will help, or some new oem trans fluid?

whats best. PS. not tryin to thread jack but the question came up with the trans so thought i'd put my problem up.

if its a prob OP just let me know thru pm n i"ll erase the post.

eg-guy wrote:this ones for 94 jdm ferio, my trans sometimes won't go into gear if i first start it up, or sometimes at a stoplight. I usually have to push in the clutch and shift thru a couple gears sometimes. but it doesnt grind or do anything of that sort. i can shift really fast without grinds or popouts without problems. it just seems to be stuburn at stops every now and then.

Mabee some sychromesh will help, or some new oem trans fluid?

whats best. PS. not tryin to thread jack but the question came up with the trans so thought i'd put my problem up.

if its a prob OP just let me know thru pm n i"ll erase the post.

I'd start a new thread about this in the transmission section

yeah. i agree with pacs! show us your EG bro!

How would i know if he engine is sohc vtec or the 3-stage one?

well if the vtec solinoid has just two wires then its most likely the dual (should also have two top hats ) the single solinoid looks like what is pictured above however due to the way people are some throw the y8 single solinoid on it because they feel its far to hard to put the dual vtec into a car...and make it run right.....but if you pop the valve cover off compared to a single vtec engine theres alot more springs and such for sure wish i had pics but hope this helps