So my daughter's 03 Accord's lower end starting coming apart (190K miles) k24. I found a JDM K24A RAA and bought it.

Outside of the bolt-ons. everything else looked good. The difference was her original head has a 2-lobe intake and single lobe exhaust.
The JDM has 3-lobe cams on both. Also the vtec solenoid on the JDM had one connector (for the solenoid), where my daughter's car has two (oil sensor?).
Anyway, since the solenoid connector was messed up on my daughter's, I used the JDM one and added the oil sensor so it would mate to the wiring harness.

Got it in, started like a champ. Went for a road test and I started to get a real jerky response around 2500 rpm and failure to shift. I backed off on the throttle and it shifted. Foot to the floor and it sputters and pukes.

It threw a P2649 code for the Rocker A high. I suspect the vtec solenoid may be bad.

Like a dumba$$ I didn't check the strainers while the engine was on the stand.

Any advice for this poor dad trying to help his daughter out?

 

Welllll that is a eruo accord or what we call a TSX in the US. Completely different engine.

That engine is more valuable so you should have no problems selling it and getting the correct US market Accord engine.

There still might be a chance you could find the correct PCM and do something like Hondata and load a matching tune. That TSX engine has about a 40hp gain over the Accord engine.

 

Thanks for the reply. That’s useful information. However on a tip from another farm, I bought a new VTEC solenoid spool valve assembly. Installed it and it runs great.

I probably will seek out some local shop that can analyze and tune the PCM/ECU or whatever to get the most out of it. Seems to be a rock solid motor.

 

Well, as many of you have already thought to yourself, there’s more to the story. Being a noob, I didn’t realize the ECM and wiring harness have to be changed. Does anyone know of a way around this?

I was hoping perhaps that the ECM could be re-programmed for the JDM motor. And since I don’t plan on racing or further tuning, is the wiring harness really necessary?

when I purchased the motor I didn’t realize just how different it is.

Any tuners in the central Arkansas area that might be able to give me a hand. Not asking for a handout, just a helping hand!

 

Why would you change the ECU and harness if its running great? Do you have check engine lights or issues? If not, leave it be! Plus, I'm not sure if you have emissions in your area but if you do, the JDM ecu will NOT register to the testing facility.

 

Sorry I wasn't more specific. Wide open, it scoots! But around 2200 to 2500 rpm it stumbles, and I do get a CEL for misfires on all cylinders plus random misfire. It acts like it doesn't want to down shift unless I really put my foot in it. It's almost as thought they timing for activating the VTEC solenoid is not timed correctly for the 3-lobe cams. This is especially noticeable when going up hill. Normally, a little extra throttle is enough to downshift and maintain speed. With the true VTEC installed, it just stumbles until I manually down shift or floor it. BTW, it is an A/T.