1988 CRX DX, D16Z6 Swap

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erikespo

Senior Member
Sold my 1993 Civic EX and bought a 1988 CRX DX. I have the engine from the EX and want to put it into my CRX.

I don't know what wiring harness I should get to wire it properly. I know I need a P28 ECU. I think I can still get that from the 93 Civic. That car was an auto. the CRX is a manual. Will that make a difference. The speedo is also cable driven when as the 93 was electronic. Any specail wiring there?

I just want to know what my best bet is to buy?

Thanks,

Erik

1988 Honda CRX
92 HP!!!! Wah-WHO!!!
 
I have the same swap in my crx. It's an easy swap to do. You pull the motor and put the stock harness on the motor. You'll have to visit the Hybrid pages (http://hybrid2.honda-perf.org/tech/4gdxtozc.html ) to get the wiring for the Multi point fuel injection to make it work in your crx, but otherwise it's real straightforward. I would try to get your hands on a CRX Si trans, as the gear ratios are better, but it really doesn't matter that your old car was an automatic. Just bolt the manual trans up to the motor. Same with the speedo cable, just plug the stock speedo cable into the trans and you'll be good to go. The only real thing that you'll need to change will be the injectors. You'll need a set of OBD0 injectors from a 1988-91 Civic/CRX Si, or out of a 90-91 Integra. They are peak and hold injectors, wherease the ones from 92-up are saturated injectors, and won't work right with your obd, unless, of course, you run the obd conversion harness noted below...

Also, you don't need the P28 ECU, although it would be nice to use it for the vtec engagement. If you want to use it, however, you'll have to get a wiring harness like this one ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...7915859793&rd=1 ) or else become a wiring genius and wire up OBD1 by yourself, which is a HUGE job. So, what I recommend is just to simply get yourself some sort of vtec controller and use that to activate your vtec. I know that it won't change your timing like the P28 would, but you don't have to mess with running your car on OBD1, which is a serious pain in the butt, since the car is an OBD0 by nature. I really like my Z6 swap, and have found that it's a peppy ride in my CRX. Feel free to email me at josh@wiredspeed.com if you have any other questions. I have done this same swap a dozen times, so I should be able to answer any questions you have. Good luck!
 
OK Thanks for the info but I am definately converting to OBD1. I don't want to use the ECU from the DX. I don't know what ignition timing is or what fuel maps it has. When the VTEC engages the edu is supposed to switch to different fuel maps and ignition timings. So in reality the ecu from the CRX isn't going to work well with the new engine. So any p28 will work eh. SOunds good. I will let you know the progress.

Erik
 
Alright, then that's easy, you'll need a 4 wire O2 sensor, OBD1 injectors
(which you probably still have in your 93 motor), the OBD1 conversion harness, and I think that you have to omit the injector resistor box, but I have not done that in a while, so I'll check on that for you. I believe that's all you'll need to do. If you're using a P28 ECU, I'd look into a Hondata chip for it, since they're the very best, but yes, any P28 will work once you get converted to OBD1. You're right, the CRX stock ecu won't work, since it's a DPFI ECU, however, the Si CRX ecu, PM6 works pretty well if you use a vtec/fuel controller like the Skunk2 or A'PEXi VAFCII. Its maps are nearly identical to the P28, except that it lacks the VTEC engagement, obviously, and it's very easy to chip and modify. If you need a P28 ECU, I have one for $100+ship that I can sell you.

Good Luck!
 
crx.jpg


Also here is a picture of the car.. Needs some body work.. Alittle paint, some new wheels but other than that is it in good shape

Update to my Swap Progress... THings aren't going as fast as I would like them to go, Mainly because my other car's head gasket is toasted to I had to use my swap fund for a down payment on another car. (which by the way, is a 2005 Honda Civic EX Special Edition)
Anyway. I have the wiring harness to the d16z6 engine from the firewall forward. Can I just get a p28 and a conversion jumper and everything will hook up right? or is there anything else i need like main cabin harness?

Also is it possible to pulled the Diff out of my 1993 EX auto tranny and put it in my 88' L3 tranny?
 
Originally posted by erikespo@Jan 3 2005, 03:27 AM
Anyway. I have the wiring harness to the d16z6 engine from the firewall forward. Can I just get a p28 and a conversion jumper and everything will hook up right? or is there anything else i need like main cabin harness?

Also is it possible to pulled the Diff out of my 1993 EX auto tranny and put it in my 88' L3 tranny?
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Sorry to hear about your recent troubles.

You can't just plug in and go. You need to add the wires for your 3rd and 4th injectors, along with a few other things. Search for "DPFI to MPFI conversion" and you'll get all the info you need. Once you have that done, you can plug in the OBD1 converter and use your P28 ECU. You'll still have to run VTEC wires though. By the way- modifying your stock engine harness will be easier than trying to use the Z6's engine harness. There aren't that many wires to change.

I don't know if you can swap the differentials between the S20 and the L3 transmissions.
 
Gotcha. So I should just pull the wires i need from the z6 harness and run them to the coversion jumper? Sounds like this is going to be easier then i thought.
 
Originally posted by cheese9988@Jan 3 2005, 09:49 PM
Where abouts from western ny are you erikespo? I live in alden.
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I leave about an hour south of you in a "city" called Olean
 
A "city" huh, like ours is a city only because of the inmates in the two correctional facilities there. :)
 
Originally posted by erikespo@Aug 16 2004, 03:03 PM
Sold my 1993 Civic EX and bought a 1988 CRX DX. I have the engine from the EX and want to put it into my CRX.

I don't know what wiring harness I should get to wire it properly. I know I need a P28 ECU. I think I can still get that from the 93 Civic. That car was an auto. the CRX is a manual. Will that make a difference. The speedo is also cable driven when as the 93 was electronic. Any specail wiring there?
[post=377552]Quoted post[/post]​
Click to expand...


You will first need to convert to MPFI. Then, you will want to convert to OBD1 via an OBD0-OBD1 conversion harness. You will be able to run the OBD1 ecu, distributor and 4 wire O2 sensor. As for the ecu, you will want to convert it to a manual ecu. The VSS from the cable tranny will want to be reused and you will not use the electronic VSS sensor. If you need a harness or convert that auto P28 to manual, let me know if I can help out.

Jason
OBD Conversion Harnesses
 
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