OK, heres the delio. Im helping out a friend with his car bc he's not to mechanically inclined. He had a B16 swap done in his 96 Civic Ex. The place that installed it used the stock EX harness. The place he bought it from told him is was an obd2 b16a2...im like wtf, that place doesnt even sell that motor. So I told him it was obd1. He was running his stock EX ecu bc the new ecu they sent him wouldnt fit the harness. So i look up the ecu codes, they sent him a pct obd2b ctr ecu. Well thats a no go since his harness is obd2a and the ecu is 2b.
Well I had originally had him buy a skunk2 obd1 conversion harness before i looked at the ecu, and obviously it wouldnt fit. Now I'm not sure if he has an jdm b16a2 obd2 motor or not due to the ctr ecu coming with the car. The engine code stamp thing says B16A, so I know its not a usdm si motor.

Anyone know if theres any differences on the the obd1 and obd2 jdm b16a2 model stamp? Also, should he just go ahead an buy an obd1 ecu sine he's got the conversion harness, or try to figure out the correct ecu. His stock ecu would make the car jerk violently and woudlnt allow the car to go over like 40 mph after it got out of the warm up stage, thats why we took it off. Sound like an ecu problem, or a mechanical problem?

Sorry this is so long but I couldnt figure it out cuz im confused as hell and didnt find any answers in search.
Oh, the stock wiring harness that came with the B16 is chopped in pieces and was cut off at the firewall so reusing anything from that is little or no luck.

 

first of all if its a b16a then u can use a ex wireing harness and just have to wire the knock sensor and ground it if its possible or just hook it straight to the ecu.. i had the same problem with ur buddy too with a b16a and i had to use my stock dx wiring harness but had to wire up the vetech to the ecu and the oil pump thats all...

 

well he bought a b16a2 but the motor says b16a. pretty much what i want to know is what ecu to use so the motor runs properly and how to tell if its an obd2 b16a2 or obd1 b16a2 bc the ctr ecu wont work at all and using the stock ecu makes the car do all kinds crazy stuff...or is the real problem bc he didnt have a knock sensor wired?

 

ok did the b16a motor he bought come complete with complete head to tranny to block?? if so is the valve cover still black and stock??? if it is then, to tell if its a b16 sir1 (first gen) the "DOHC" on the valve cover should be larger then the word" VTEC" under it....if its a b16a sir2 then the "VTEC" should be larger then "DOHC"...i searched for it b4 and thats what i found..hope it helps.

 

look above the exhaust port between cylinder 3-4. You'll see a number such as 9/0 or 9/4....That's the year of production


I'd convert to obd1 and run a p30 ecu

 

ok, thanks for all the replies. maybe im wrong with this, but when i was asking about engine code, i was talking about the differences between the b16a2 that came in the jdm 92-95 civics and the jdm 96-00 civics. I believe one was obd1 and the other obd2? also, has anyone else ever heard of the stock ex ecu making the car run awful? thanks again for all the input

 

and yes, he bought the motor as a complete package, which the motor looks just about brand new, but the shop he bought it from is really shady and wont return any of his calls...which isnt unusual these days with a lot of engine dealers.

 

well if his car is OBD2a or b originally and now he has the obd1 motor in, he can just get a jumper from obd2a or b to obd1 and get a p28 and chip that for DOHC..if he does that then he would still need to do some wiring to the motor to the ecu..if the motor was a b16a2 from the 99-00 SI then it would of been easier to just get a SI ecu and use that and no need to do wiring, but since its obd1 then yea he needs to do some wiring.....Im currently doin the same thing..i have a 98 hatch CX and have a obd1 jdm b16 and using a p28 and i didnt lot of wiring for that and its not running yet becuase i cant figure out wuts wrong wit my fuel pump relay...but good luck on ur friends car