Johnny Racer

Hey everyone... I am new to the forums and really new to Honda's in general. I just recently purchased a 1992 Civic hatch 5 speed with a VTEC d16y8 swap to run in a 4 cylinder stock car class at local tracks in Indiana and Illinois.

My question is this, with the VTEC d16y8 motor swapped into a non-VTEC donor, I know the VTEC Solenoid has to be wired up to the ECU which I found the "How To" on that but what I am wondering is, the correct ECU for the VTEC should be the P28 and I want to purchase/install it but is it specific to engine type? I know they are for auto or manual but not sure if I need one specific for the d16y8 motor in the car.

Any help would be greatly appreciated... thanks in advance guys.

Mike

Former User

I think you can buy a D16Y8 engine chip for the P28 ECU.

Johnny Racer

Being that I know nothing about Honda's (sorry old school carberation GM Big Block type of guy)... So that means there is no specific ECU for D16Y8 motors???

Really I have zero clue about this stuff. Hahahaha Gimme a big block and carburetor and I can make a 1000+ horsepower and tell you everything wrong with it by sound.

Former User

The original D16Y8 ECU is OBD2 (P2P). You could use the latter, or chip your OBD1 P28. It's up to you.

tony_2018

p28 will do.

Johnny Racer

Sorry but I'm afraid I'm not following. Is the computer in a non-VTEC Civic different than one with a VTEC? Is it a P28 computer or is that what I should be buying for the combination currently?

I guess what I am really trying to accomplish is having the current VTEC d16y8 motor in the car function as it should with the VTEC solenoid wired up and to use the proper computer for the motor thats in between the fenders.

Sorry but like I said, anything Japanese I have no clue about being a die hard classic American muscle car guy all my life. LOL

Former User

If you seek the perfect fit for your engine, then these^ are the two options.

TomCat39

I feel your pain. Just to give you a little extra info as I know what it's like being fed information in a non laymen format when you are just starting into something.

The engine D16Y8 is an OBD2 engine. The ECU as RonJ pointed out for that engine is the P2P. The challenge with the P2P is that it is not programmable in any way.

To make it work you will have to have every sensor and part in place the P2P requires to run (injectors, distributor, EGR etc etc).

Your P28 is an OBD1 ecu. With an adpater harnes you can easily hook it up to your D16Y8 motor.

The power in the P28 is that it's an OBD1 ecu and OBD1 Honda ECU's were the programmable ECU by adding a chip.

This allows you to turn off sensors you don't need, run custom base fuel/air maps etc.

This is why RonJ gave you the two "proper" options to get your motor running the most efficiently.

To get a better understanding of what people mean by chipping the OBD1 ECU, you can get some detailed information at Xenocron Tuning: Fuel Management and DIY Tuning Resource Center for Honda and Acura Performance - Hondata, eCtune, Neptune, Crome, TurboEdit, Uberdata

Hopefully this addition will help you get a little better understanding of the various bits of information you are receiving.

Cheers and welcome to the ingenuity of Honda.

tony_2018

Yes, non-vtec ecu is different from vtec ecu. Vtec ecu has a couple additional wiring fuel maps are different (for vtec).

If you only have a non vtec ecu it will run, but is not recommended.

Johnny Racer

Thanks for the info. This helps clarify things a bit. I am wanting to get the most of the engine without a doubt as the 4 Cylinder Stock Car Class I'm gonna run has limited rules (no header, no modifications to the motor, no upgraded suspension mods, etc) so having the VTEC motor in the car, I need to squeeze every inch of horespower out of it. The motor swap was done already and the car runs and drives just needs the VTEC Solenoid hooked up according to the previous owner and someone said something about the ECU and replacing it.

Gator417

The stock P28 will run the Y8, but not as good as a P2P. It was originally put on cars with a Z6. They are slightly different, enough to notice, especially when racing. Sounds like your class is pretty restrictive, so you might check to see if you can even run a chipped ecu at all. Good luck & btw, this is a great place to learn about your new mistress. There is a wealth of info here & its a much better place than some other forums.