H22A4 swap into 97 Accord LX
 

Hello all. My name is Rob and I just did an engine swap for a friend of mine named Pete and we're having some issues. The car is a 97 Accord LX with an auto trans and a F22B2 and I swapped in a H22A4 out of a 97 Prelude keeping the auto trans (which I despise).

Anyway, I asked Pete probably 40 times before we decided to give it a go if he had everything needed to successfully complete the swap with the least amount of headaches as I've never performed this swap before. A long time ago I had a 92 EG8 LX with the D15B7 and a manual trans and I swapped a JDM D15B into it but it was already prewired for VTEC and all I had to do was plug the harness in and turn the key. This swap proved to be a little more involved.

The new engine came with a P13 ECU, the engine bay harness, and the factory Prelude mounts and that's all Pete said he was told that he needed. So swap day came. We backed the car into the garage and I pulled the old engine and trams out together. I prepped the H22A4 and swapped the flexplate onto it, then the trans and torque converter, no problems there. I transferred the engine harness from the F22 onto the H22 with the exception of cutting the injector plugs off of the H22 harness and soldering them onto the F22 harness along with the different EGR plug and oil pressure sender plug. The timing belt side mount was only swapped on with one bolt in it because it was totally different (that's OK for now, Pete's on an EXTREMELY tight budget but it will be replaced with the correct one eventually). We got the engine in the car and started but I have a few questions. One, doesn't the H22 have saturated injectors and doesn't need the resistor box whereas the F22 did because it had peak and hold? The reason I ask is because it takes forever to start. Also, I know which wires I need to run to the ECU for VTEC but I haven't wired in the Knock sensor or the IAB yet. I had a little bit of a hunting idle at first but I found vacuum leaks and it's fine now. I'm getting some codes though and I figured that maybe y'all had some insight on them. The codes are: P1655, P1259, P1508, and P0118.

Thanks in advance for your help guys. I know this may sound intermediate to y'all but I'm not a specialist and I kind of do this stuff as a hobby. I've never done a full on wiring nightmare swap like this.

Re: H22A4 swap into 97 Accord LX
 

P1509 IAC Valve Circuit Failure

P1259 VTEC System Malfunction

P1655 CVT-FI TMA/TMB Signal Line Failure

P0108 Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) Sensor Circuit High Voltage

Wire up the VTEC, reset the codes and see which ones come back. Also list your ECU serial code with the P13 numbers. What color are the wires going to your MAP sensor?

Re: H22A4 swap into 97 Accord LX
 

Here's the thing, when I pulled the engine apart from the transmission we drained the torque converter and didn't refill it when we installed the transmission onto the H22. I would've thought that the transmission would've refilled it when the pump started running. We broke the shifter cable when we pulled the F22 and we just replaced it today and the car now goes through the gears but it has a sluggishness to it. It almost feels like a CVT when it starts from a stop. I have never worked on an automatic but I've done swaps with them before and I've never had this problem. The guy that he got the engine from only have him the exhaust manifold and not the downpipe so we have no exhaust and the car is really loud and my neighbors love to call the cops on people so we can't really drive it around much. It goes through all of the gears when it's just sitting still.

Re: H22A4 swap into 97 Accord LX
 

Re: H22A4 swap into 97 Accord LX
 

Well I feel like a huge dork...you can tell that it's been a long time since I had my EG8 or my DA because he bought a P5M and the dude admitted that he sent him the wrong ECU. We were trying to use a manual ECU on an auto and I feel like a tard. We put the original F22 ECU back in and it shifts like a champ without the 1655 code. I don't have the car at my house anymore so I can't tell you what color wires are on the MAP sensor but I can tell you that I used the F22 throttle body on the H22 because the TPS on the H22s was busted and we used the F22 harness. That created another problem, I know which wires that I need to run to the ECU for the knock sensor, the IAB, and the VTEC but what do I do with the second wires that are on the IAB and the VTEC oil pressure? Just to clarify, from what I see there are 4 wires that need to be ran to the ECU, but I don't understand where I need to run the other two wires in the two pin plugs for the IAB and the VTEC oil pressure sensor. Like I said guys, I didn't do much research into all of this because I strayed from Hondas for a long time and I was under the impression that this dude had everything that he needed for this swap. The last swap that I did myself was a built 4G63 turbo engine into my 92 Dodge Colt and I made absolutely certain I had the correct adaptor harnesses, ECU, and mounts and my buddy reassured me 20 times that hr had EVERYTHING except for the tools, a place to do it, and the fact that he had never done an engine swap before. I should've known better.

Anyway, thanks for understanding and not flaming me for not researching more into this swap before I agreed to do it.

Re: H22A4 swap into 97 Accord LX
 

I have a little bit of a problem with this swap. We found out that the P5M ECU will not work as it only uses 3 plugs and doesn't have a built in TCM. We are trying to find an ECU that will run the full potential of the H22 and still be able to control the automatic transmission that the car came with. We were thinking of getting an ECU out of a 96 F22B1/auto Accord at the junkyard and I have a Xenocron socket/P28 chipping kit that we can try to use but as far as the OBD2A cars go, I am clueless as to what ECU we can use that'll both run the engine to it's full potential and still run the automatic. Any help would be appreciated.

Re: H22A4 swap into 97 Accord LX
 

OK, past the majority of the teething problems, VTEC is officially wired and working with the aid of a newly purchased (but temporary) ECU out of a 97 Accord EX (F22B1), so that's a plus. We are still throwing an IACV code even though we swapped two different throttle bodies and eventually settled on the original H22A4 unit and are still experiencing the hunting idle syndrome. The good thing is that with this ECU we are still sticking with OBD2A for emissions testing here in PA, the transmission is shifting flawlessly with the ECU, and our trans code is gone. The only codes that we are throwing now is the knock sensor (we don't have the original plug for it because the owner cut/broke it off of the harness when he pulled the motor), the O2 sensor (because he bought a used quality header and it doesn't have the proper threads for the stock O2 sensor), and the IACV (which we can't figure out for the life of us). All of this work swapping this car has rekindled my love for Hondas and I'm currently searching for one so you'll all be seeing me around more often. Just hopefully it'll be with less stupid questions.

Re: H22A4 swap into 97 Accord LX
 

Hunting idle is 99% of the time a vac leak, no matter how well the owner thinks he's tested for leaks. And considering one of the codes is for IACV, I don't doubt it. Many 96+ Hondas use a 3-wire IACV while obd1 cars/engines use a 2-wire IACV.

The knock sensor code will usually prevent vtec from working. You will have a uphill battle ever finding an ecu that will shift the trans AND give you near what the h22 has. I think the only option is a JDM ecu or wiring in a Prelude's tcu, and even then it won't be a simple plug&play.