issues..issues..issues

[Billyclub]

what's up everybody? I hope I can find some help here. A friend and I just took out his F22A1 motor out of his 92 accord. This motor was trashed. He was not looking for massive performance upgrade just an "easy" swap. With a little research, we choose an F22B JDM Prelude motor. I am told it is the equivilent of H22 or H23A USDM. Long and short...Installed motor, bought P29 ECU (might be P39). Motor was running shitty with old ECU. New ECU masde a difference, but when I went to time the motor, #1 cylinder is firing sporadically with no pattern. I put the light on each of the other cylinders and they all seem to be firing properly. I feel like the distributor is the problem. I changed the wire on #1 and the plug. I also checked the cap and rotor. We had to buy a coiled distributor for this motor because the one off of the F22A1 wouldn't fit and the one that came with the new motor was coiless. We bought one for an H series with a coil. so, any ideas or confirmations?

The next problem is the vacuum lines. The old motor had a different system than the new motor. Furthermore, the JDM had a different system than the USDM system. I imagine it's all about emmisions. How can we route the vacuum and return lines without having to introduce a bunch more emmision control components that the wiring harness is not equipped for? I think there must be a way to close the circuit or route without all the emmisions stuff because the JDM motor didn't have half of it on it to begin with. Any useful information would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[reikoshea]

this really goes over my head, but for the question about the number 1 cylinder randomly firing, i actually had that problem when i FIRST dropped the engine in. The cap was a weird one to find (cause i didnt know what to look for), so it was a lil crazy. Thats part 1. Part 2 was i was using the wrong spark plugs. I started off using bosch single points (they suck btw) and my engine ran like shit. Then i moved to NGK Platinums...those ran better, but still not smooth. From there i moved to NGK Iridiums. We had a winner. When i made it to NGK Iridiums the engine ran a lot smoother and the timing light was predictable enought to finally get the engine timed. Aside from that, the only other thing that would make that one cylinder fire weird is the cap (the coil would make all of them irradic).

The ecu should be a p39, i will say that as well.

The only way i know to disable the emissions components is to purchase a chipped ECU (i dont think you have IABs, so the p28 is a good choice) and just disable stuff like the egr valve. If you have emissions tests in NY, id either find someone that can pass you for a C note (or less if hes a good friend) or have two maps setup. I know a guy that has a gsr civic with no emissions stuff at all, and he passed with flying colors using a 14.7:1 fuel map (of course we switched it right back to the 13.1:1 map right after).

ive really got no clue about the vacuum stuff..id say get it as close to the h23 as you can.

 

[Billyclub]

Thanks a lot! I will try some different plugs and maybe a new cap. I agree that the misfire in one cylinder is not coil related because all the coil knows how to do is fire. It doesn't pick and choose when and if all cylinders are firing properly except one then I guess that's why I think distributor. Especially because I changed the wire and plug. When i put a bosch Platinum 4 in there, it seems to change slightly, but still not right.

The vacuum lines are going to be an issue unless we go get all the stuff off of a junkyard dog and mount it up in there somewhere. Anyway, thanks again and if anyone else has any ideas, I'm listening

 

[tab]

I would route your emissions the way your car was originally, or as close as possible until you can reprogram and ECU and tune.

 

[Billyclub]

hey tab,
Thanks for the reply. Actually, yesterday, we figured out that all of the componants that are seprately mounted in the prelude are actually contained within the "control box" in the accord. We were able to route a manifold vacuum right to the new intake we installed and capped off a couple of non-functioning returns. My misfiring was being caused by a rookie mistake. When changing caps and wires, I managed to cross 1 and 4. The weird part was that the car ran almost fine and 4 was flashing normally with the timing gun. A bit misleading, but we caught it. I drove the car yesterday and it pulled like a freight train! Much better. thanks to all who looked and those who replied.

If anyone has problems with this swap, feel free to write, I have a much better handle on it now than I did last week.