Honda N22A (2.2 i-CTDi / i-DTEC)

Honda's 2.2 diesel — badged i-CTDi and later i-DTEC — in the Civic, Accord and CR-V.

It was Honda's first diesel and it is an all-aluminium common-rail design, which was unusual at the time and is the reason it revs and behaves less like a diesel than its contemporaries.

⚑ Its defining problem is the particulate filter, and the mechanism matters more than the symptom. Short journeys never let the filter reach regeneration temperature; the fuel injected trying washes past the bores into the sump, and the oil level rises. A rising level on the dipstick is the warning, not a servicing error — and once the oil is sufficiently diluted the engine can run on it, which is how these fail catastrophically.

The later i-DTEC engines are the same family with different emissions equipment, and the badge is the only place that is written down. i-CTDi and i-DTEC are refused as designations in this catalogue's own tooling for exactly that reason: they name marketing, and this page is what they mean.

Beyond the filter it is a conventional modern diesel: EGR carbon, swirl-flap wear in the inlet manifold, and injector seals. The oil interval is what protects the turbocharger, and on a car used for short journeys it should be shorter than the book says.