toddhunter

I have a 2010 Odyssey Touring with the 3.5L J35A7 VCM motor. Timing belt tensioner broke and bent valves, possibly a rod based on what repair shop says.

Bottom line I got hold of motor from 2012 Acura engine code J35Z6. Has 35 more horsepower and 29 more torque. I don't plan to race, but thought it might be a fun upgrade if not too much work.

I want to know if I can put this motor in the Odyssey with minimal fuss and what I would need to keep from old motor and new.

I am worried it being different and the what problems I may encounter.
Will the Odyssey ECU work?
Should I used the old Injectors and throttle body or ones with the J35Z6 motor?
Will the J35Z6 rockers work with VCM?
Anything else I should know....

I posted this in another forum before I realized this would be more appropriate.

Thanks,

Todd

DumpdEJ6

I hope someone here is knowledgeable on this subject, but I suspect that most (such as myself) will not be. Have you tried looking at any forums specific to the Odyssey? Sorry that this reply isn't of more help.

hondamark35

I have done a little digging into the idea of a non-VCM engine in an Odyssey. the most notable difference is VCM vs VTEC both mechanically (valve train/cylinder head assembly) and electrically/electronically (engine wire harness and ECU/software). in large part, the performance difference comes from this trade off (more power and less MPGees with VTEC compared to VCM).

I don't have a lot of first hand experience with late model factory engine management so maybe someone else could chime in, but if the Acura ECU and wiring harness can be installed in the van without too much trouble, there's a good chance of this set up working.

toddhunter

Unfortunately, the wiring harness and ECU are not available.

In the end I opted to rebuild the top end of the existing motor. I have too little experience in this and there were too many unknowns.

I got the heads back from the shop yesterday. We adjusted the valves last night and the motor will be going back together over the next couple days. Had to replace all of the intake valves as every one was bent. While I’m in there I had the head shaved to raise the compression ratio and I’m going to do some porting on the intake manifold. Actually less porting and more polishing and port matching. This is all for fun and I dont plan on making big horsepower gains. I did some porting and turbo installs when I was younger and figured I would clean things up before putting it all back together.

For posterity or anyone else who’s interested in this transition. After looking closely at the two motors I think the long block of the non VCM motor could be used by swapping out the camshaft and rocker arm assembly. As Hondamark35 said, the bulk of the VCM components appear to be part of an extended valvetrain which, through oil pressure switches, disables rocker arms/intake and exhaust valves to shut down cylinders. I am not absolutely sure about this but it appears to be the case.

Jaronh19

Can you use the j35a7 non vcm block with vcm heads?