lithiumus

Hello,

I don't post here often but I know that there are a lot of knowledgable people here who may be able to help and would really appreciate some assistance... I recenly swapped my F23A1 motor in my 99 Accord due to a bad cylinder (25psi compresion and burning oil @ 1L+/1000km, sometimes spitting oil out the exhaust...).

I went with a 2001 H23A DOHC VTEC motor from a JDM Honda Accord Wagon SiR. Since I was OBD2 and this engine was also OBD2 with updated IACV and EGR it was a direct drop in. Other than the IAB not functioning it was straight forward at first...

My only issue was running the OEM PAA F23A1 ECU was not optimal and produced a 5 Cels... each piston recorded misfires plus one random misfire Cel. The check engine light would blink if I drove it too hard. When accelerating hard, I would hear a high pitched squeal but not when I drove VERY conservatively.

I did some research as I wanted to contionue to pass emissions and stay OBD2, I found that the only ECU from Honda that supports...

1. H series motor
2. 3 Wire IACV
3. 5 wire EGR (newer electronically controlled units)
4. Manual tranmission

Was the Euro Accord Type R PDE ECU. Took me a bit of time but I was able to source one.

Immobilizer
My only issue then was the immobilizer since all the Type R Accords from Europe had immobilizers. I brought the ECU to an Acura dealer to program my keys for it using the HDS unit but there was an error with the ECU communicating to the Immobilizer transponder. Turns out I needed a transponder unit from a Euro Accord to the match the immobilzer... what a mess.

I cracked open the PDE ECU as well as the PAA ECU and found that the immobilizer circuit boards were identical in layout. I figured they must be the of the same generation, took a risk and desoldered them both and swapped them.

Worked like a charm!

New Cels
Good news is that the old cylinder and random misfire codes are gone. Bad news is that I'm now getting a P0400 EGR Flow Malfunction code. It's not in any of the Honda manuals (starts at P0401) but obviously it's related to the EGR.

The car runs almost the same and still has that high pitched squeal and lack of power like it's bogged down or something. After about 5-10 seconds upon starting the car, I hear a ticking (2.5 tics/s) from the engine bay which is new. It does not seem to be corelated to RPM as it keeps a 2.5ticks/s when I rev the engine.

I've gotten pretty far... any help would be great. I have a feeling that it's something mechanical and was present ever since I got the motor, but it's interesting that the new ECU sees a P0400 that the old one did not...

2lude4u

Not sure if have the answer but just wanted to give you props for your problem solving abilities.

My only thought is since you're getting an EGR code & a non-rpm related ticking sound it may be the EGR ticking (like it is stuck or something). Maybe the wiring to the EGR isn't right so it's not being controlled properly.

P.S. if it turns out it is the EGR needing replacement, I think I still have one from my H23A swap that I could send you for the cost of shipping.

lithiumus

Thanks for the props man, I appreciate it. Also, thanks for offering the EGR. I really may need it... I'll PM you and update the post as soon as we figure it out. I'll try unplugging the EGR and see if the ticking goes away. I'll clean the EGR valve and cavity since P0401 resolution suggest that I do that and replace if that does not fix P0401.

I'm also wondering if my O2 sensors may be fouled up from all the Oil that was spitting out the exhaust with my old engine... it got so bad, I had to put a rag on the floor by the exhaust so there would not be a pool of oil on the garage floor!

Since the car has over 200k km, I might as well invest in a new set of O2 sensors anyway.

lithiumus

I decided to plug my Scan tool in to see what is going on. I noticed that the Primary O2 sensor was pegged at 1.275v and the Secondary O2 seemed to work fine. The Primary O2 sensor rarely dipped down while the Secondary was very active (as it should be) while driving but after driving for some time, the secondary sensor dropped down close to 0v. I assume it is trying to compensate for the Primary being pegged at 1.275v.

I got a hold of a Euro Type R Service Manual and spent some time mapping out all the ECU OBD2b pinouts and discovered that 4 wires require remapping that includes Primary O2 sensor heater control, EVAP Purge valve, Power steering and MCS.

I also discovered that 7 wires / functions are not supported on the Euro Type R but exist on the 99 Accord. The only ones that concern me are the EVAP bypass and EVAP canister valve control but they only need Batt signal so that's easy to solve, it's the Electric Load (EL) and ALTC signals that the Euro Type R alternator does not require but it seems the H23A may need it. I believe that to be the knocking sound... maybe an alternator that does not have ALTC and EL will be fine.

Since this discovery, I needed to swap back to my old PAA ECU and since I soldered my IMMO chip to the PDE ECU, I figured it was best to install a single row socket so I can pull my IMMO chip and plug it into either ECU as needed.

I'll post some pics when I have a chance.

blanktape

HI,

I owned the same engine as well. and I am from Vancouver.

Well, I do not know much about OBD2 swap but I think you can take advantage of being a Canadian by converting the car to obd1.

That is a lot easier then try to make Jdm h23a work for 98.

But from my guessing is your car AT?