NCDS

UPDATE: Found my heater cable snagged and pinched the red wire of the harness hooking up to the TPS. Also, I looked at my knock sensor and only saw one wire going to the plug which is wired directly to my ECU. Is one wire normal for the knock sensor?

I have looked for a GSR swap write up in the FAQ's, but the c-speedracing link is no longer available, so I've tried other sources. I also tried using the B18B Civic swap write-up as a reference point.

Car: 93 CX Civic Hatch
Motor: OBD1 95 GSR/B18C1
Mods on Motor: Has AEM intake and GReddy Headers. Running with OBD2 distributor, OBD2 intake manifold, OBD2 fuel injectors, and OBD2 alternator. Wiring harness is OBD2. However, it looks like there were some splicing done to the harness. VTEC is wired up.
ECU: Stock P72

Note: Plan to BAR Certify by early next year.

Motor came out of a '98 Integra, which is why I'm listing the OBD2 parts on the OBD1 engine block and cylinder head.

Problem(s): VTEC does not kick it at all, however it did work for 2 days. It doesn't anymore, and has not since July. CEL comes on, after I drive it for more than an hour, and comes on more frequent at night with all accessories on (heater, lights, radio).

When the CEL does come on, or is about to, I feel a slight bogging of power on acceleration. That slight bog is a tell-tale sign that my CEL is about to come on. And I also hear some sort of clicking sound coming from the driver side air vent when it does. I used to run it even with the CEL but now there's the chance that the car dies on acceleration, starting first with lot RPM, then eventually dying off, no matter what I do with the gas pedal. The distributor's ignitors got replaced about 2 weeks ago.

I've tried pulling codes off the CEL, but to no avail. I even tried pulling the codes after pulling over when it comes on, leaving the engine run. No codes flash, and when I start my car again, it comes back after maybe 5 minutes of driving.

From the research I've done, GSR swap into 92-95 is pretty plug-n-play, except for wiring up the VTEC. I've read about the IACV, but I've no idea what that acronym means, nor where to look for it.

Question is, would VTEC even make my car die like I just described? I don't think so, from what I'm thinking.

I have on hand an OBD1 GSR harness, with connectors for the OBD2 parts from Rywire, which I was going to try replacing the OBD2 harness that's on the engine. But I wanted to get some feedback before going that route. If that's not it, I'm going to check the vacuum lines.

Thanks for reading, and any info would help.

BlackCivicEX

iTrader: (1)

are you using the stock obd2 p72 ecu? Try to get a obd1 p28 or p72 and see how it works.....

HondaPartsHero

You're clicking sounds like it might be the main relay indicating you may have a ground loose (thermostat mainly but I'd check all your grounds under the hood: battery, ground to frame, ground to engine, etc). How did you wire the VTEC to the ECU? How were the IAB's wired to the ECU? I'm assuming you're running the OBD1 P72 correct? Otherwise you'd be throwing a slew of other codes.

new_game88

it the knock sensor

NCDS

Thanks for your input. In reply to your questions:

ECU is OBD1 P72.

Checking my grounds/wiring was the last thing would've thought of. I'll try that.

VTEC was wired up by a shop. I had an acquaintance take a look at the wiring and he confirmed it's wired correctly. Looks like it goes from the VTEC solenoid straight to the firewall to the ECU. The same can be said about the IACV and knock sensor. Oh, and the green wire of the VTEC solenoid was spliced into the wire to the firewall. There is no connector on the green wire. Ground is on the solenoid itself. I'll take pictures to help illustrate it.

Knock Sensor looks like it is hooked up, but it was a shop that did it. I'll check with the manual in inspecting the knock sensor.

Looking thru the shop manual, I'm also gonna look at the IACV. I'll give your suggestions a try. Thanks again.

Former User

When you turn the key from off to ON(II), does the CEL turn on and then off after 2 seconds? If you do the same thing with the service connector jumped, does the CEL remain on steady?

NCDS

Yes, exactly. That's exactly what happens. Right now I'm taking off all dead end wire from all the neon/rice accessories that were on it. I do remember my TACH would jump after I installed my foglights, but that was prior to the swap about 3 years ago.

Upon inspection today, I saw the diaphragm for the IACV was ziptied. It was holding the stopper/arm connection, but there was nothing that showed it needed it.

NCDS

Updated OP with what I've found so far. I'll be giving it a road test soon..