Honda L13A engine (L13B)

  1. Specifications
  2. Overview, problems
  3. Performance tuning

Honda L13A/L13B engine specs

Manufacturer Ogawa plant
Also called Honda L13
Production 2001-present
Cylinder block alloy Aluminum
Configuration Inline-4
Valvetrain DOHC
4 valves per cylinder
4 valves per cylinder
2 valves per cylinder
Piston stroke, mm (inch) 80 (3.15)
Cylinder bore, mm (inch) 73 (2.87)
Compression ratio 10.5
Displacement 1339 cc (81.7 cu in)
Power output 63 kW (86 HP) at 5,700 rpm
69 kW (95 HP) at 6,000 rpm
72 kW (98 HP) at 5,800 rpm
72 kW (99 HP) at 6,000 rpm
80 kW (110 HP) at 6,000 rpm
Torque output 119 Nm (87 lb·ft) at 2,800 rpm
123 Nm (90 lb·ft) at 4,600 rpm
157 Nm (115 lb·ft) at 1,500 rpm
127 Nm (93 lb·ft) at 4,800 rpm
167 Nm (123 lb·ft) at 2,500 rpm
HP per liter 65
Fuel type Gasoline
Weight, kg (lbs) 100 (220)
Fuel consumption, L/100 km (mpg)

Honda Jazz
6.6 (36)
4.8 (49)

5.5 (43)
Turbocharger  Naturally aspirated
Oil consumption , L/1000 km
(qt. per miles)
up to 0.5
(1 qt. per 1200 miles)
Recommended engine oil 0W-30
Engine oil capacity, L (qt.) 3.6 (3.8)
Oil change interval, km (miles) 5,000-10,000
Normal engine operating temperature, °C (F)
Engine lifespan, km (miles)
-Official information

300,000+ (180,000)
Tuning, HP
-Max HP
-No life span loss


The engine is installed in Honda Civic
Honda Fit/Jazz
Honda Brio
Honda City
Honda Insight

Honda L13A (L13B) engine reliability, problems and repair

Honda L13A i-DSI engineL13A engine was launched in 2001 specially for the smallest Honda cars. This engine replaced the D13 and D14 engines.
This engine used an aluminum cylinder block with thin sleeves. A long stroke (80 mm) crankshaft was used here; the pistons size was only 73 mm. Thus resulted in the displacement of 1.33 liters, which was quite enough for a subcompact car.
Various cylinder heads were used here, depending on the engine modification. The most popular was the 16-valve SOHC VTEC head, as well as the 8-valve non-VTEC SOHC and 16-valve DOHC head.
Below you will find the main differences between versions of the L13 engines.
The camshaft is rotated by a timing chain, it is quite reliable and usually does not cause problems.
Valves should to be adjusted after every 30,000 miles. Cold L13A valve clearances are the following: intake 0.15-0.19 mm, exhaust 0.26-0.3 mm.
Honda L13 engine is part of the L-series, and has several related models: the 1.2-liter L12 and the 1.5-liter L15.

Honda L13 engine modifications and differences

1. L13A i-DSI is an engine with two spark plugs per cylinder, and 8 ignition coils. This engine was created for reducing fuel consumption, increasing the low end torque and improving the environmental performance.
An 8-valve SOHC head was used here, the compression ratio was 10.8, and the power was 86 HP @ 6,000 rpm, and the torque was 119 Nm @ 2,800 rpm.
This engine was used in Honda Civic 7 gen and 8 gen., Honda Fit, Jazz and City.
2. L13A i-VTEC was a variant with a 16-valve i-VTEC SOHC head. The compression ratio was 10.5, the power was 99 HP @ 6,000 rpm, and the torque was 127 Nm @ 4,800 rpm. It was installed in Honda Fit and Civic.
3. L13B was the modification with a 16 valve DOHC head. The compression ratio was increased to 13.5, and this engine was running on the Atkinson cycle. It has the power of 99 HP @ 6,000 rpm, and the torque was 127 Nm @ 4,800 rpm.
4. LDA-MF3 was an engine for Honda Civic Hybrid 7 gen and Honda Insight 2 gen. This was an analogue to L13A i-DSI with i-VTEC.
This engine worked together with an electric motor with the power of 13 HP, and improved the low end torque. The engine power was 98 HP @ 5,800 rpm, and the torque was 157 Nm @ 1,500 rpm.
5. LDA-MF5 (LDA2) was an engine for Honda Civic Hybrid 8 gen. The gasoline LDA engine was modified and got a 3-stage i-VTEC system, this allowed reaching 95 HP @ 6,000 rpm. It also had a VCM system that could disable all 4 cylinders, leaving only the electric motor running.
The engineers improved the electric motor, its power increased to 20 HP This made the total of 110 HP @ 6,000 rpm, and the torque was 167 Nm @ 2,500 rpm.

Honda L13A/L13B engine problems and malfunctions

It was an excellent motor, with high reliability without weaknesses. The only thing you need remember replacing all spark plugs in i-DSI engines, rather than only 4 spark plugs, as people often do. Otherwise, it has no problems, the engine should be services in time, one should use a good engine oil, and everything will work for a long time.

Honda L13 engine tuning

The ways of improving such small engines were described in the article about L15A HERE. The same applies to your 1.3-liter L13A, too. But whatever you do with your engine, L15A with the same mods will always be better.


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