I have an 88 crx with a LS vtec swap. Only thing is i dont know the year of the motor Or if it even came from a manual or automatic. The check engine light is on so i got the codes and it told me my distrubter was bad also. Not sure if its spitting out the right codes cause im not even sure if the ecu goes with that motor. Its a 1.6 ecu and im not sure if my motor is 1.8 or not. Any help is nice but i wouldnt mind somthing i could use to determine the motor year and if it was from a manual or not.

 

um wow this will be tricky what ecu is it? what obd is it wired to? what is the block last #
being from a manual or not won't matter.

what codes are you getting?

 

You need to check for the code stamped on the front of your engine. It should say "B18A1" or "B18B" on it if it is a LS/VTEC.

 

i just went out side and looked... dunno if im looking in the right spot. I looked at it head on. from the top and from both sides didnt see any numbers other then 88 with a circle around it but i highly doubt thats anything. and my top cover is just block with the honda logo on it. but i know it had Vtec. the car was running fine for a while.

 

Look to the left of the exhaust manifold in between the transmission and engine block. You block code will be there. Also check the bar code on the ecu for a series of numbers and letters. The middle alphanumeric sequence is the ecu code.

i.e. PR4, P28, PR3, PM6, etc

 

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EcNo13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">and my top cover is just block with the honda logo on it. but i know it had Vtec. the car was running fine for a while.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Does your "VTEC" valve cover look like this?

 

LOL, mine does.

 

yeah pretty much looks like that.im looken. do i have to move anything? can i see this from just looken straight down on the motor?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EcNo13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im looken. do i have to move anything? can i see this from just looken straight down on the motor?</TD></TR></TABLE>

You can see both the engine family code and the valve cover from just popping your hood and looking real quick.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EcNo13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah pretty much looks like that.im looken. do i have to move anything? can i see this from just looken straight down on the motor?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well you have been fooled or someone stole your LS/VTEC That picture shows a LS valve cover which does not bolt to VTEC cylinder heads.

 

i feel really dumb. I was looken around again and i saw the part you posted and i looked a bit closer and realized it was there just Extremely dirty whiped it off. I have a b18A1. and my valve cover has 4 plugs each with only 1 wire comming off of each plug. So how do i tell the year of the motor from this? O and where is my ecu code
Modified by EcNo13 at 12:42 AM 4/13/2005


Modified by EcNo13 at 2:13 AM 4/13/2005

 

ok i now i really know i have a b18A1 ls vtec. Now how can i tell what year its from .. or does that matter when im getting an ecu? is it 1.8 or 1.6?

 

if your valve cover looks like the one pictured then you do not have vtec and someone lied to you

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRX_1.8T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

</TD></TR></TABLE>

if you have this valve cover you have a normal l/s with no vtec

 

yup... if you have that valve cover its just a regular ls.... unless it says vtec on it.... or you can check what is stamped on the head itself... recommend taking a picture

 

well at just around 500k rpm my car pulls and changes engine pitch. im fairly sure i have vtec with just a different cover. thats of course when it was running right.


Modified by EcNo13 at 5:21 AM 4/13/2005

 

vtec is better at 1 million rpms. 500k is kinda low.

but if your engine looks like the one in the pic its not vtec, the pitch change could be a resonance thing or something. get a picture of your engine.

 

does your head have pr3 stamped on the front of it?

 

where is that pr3 stamp? i will look for that. well at 5.2 on the tac the engine changes tone. i was told by someone else who has a ls swap into a civic hatch that i had a vtec motor even though the cover isnt right.* it was rebuilt* i will get a picture tomarrow some time.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EcNo13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well at just around 500k rpm my car pulls and changes engine pitch. im fairly sure i have vtec with just a different cover. thats of course when it was running right.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It is normal for an engine's note/tone to change when it hits higher RPM's. What you are probably hearing is just a DOHC growl.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EcNo13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">where is that pr3 stamp?</TD></TR></TABLE>

On the head, above the header, in between cylinder 1 and 2.

b18a/b block w/pr3 head=lsvtec
b18a/b block w/pr4 head=no vtec

 

Non V-t3k y0!

Your block is B18A1. If you had Vtec, you would have a VTEC valve cover on that head. Its normal for your engine to growl above 4500 rpm due to it sucking in lots of air and combusting lots of fuel.

Engine code can be found in the picture above. The head well, it has the casting number for the year.

If you don't have vtec, just put it on yourself xD

-Jon

 

This thread made my head hurt..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LSVTEC 91 Civic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This thread made my head hurt..</TD></TR></TABLE>

same here