My H22CL BAR'd! Thanks everybody. (Pics and long story)
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My H22CL BAR'd! Thanks everybody. (Pics and long story)
Got BAR'd in July 05, just been lazy to post it up. I know I should be posting this in the Hybrid section, but it's the folks in here that helped me out a lot. Here's the story and pics..
WARNING: IT'S A LONG STORY
I bought a 2000 H22 swap, everything included except the ECU, from a junkyard in July 04. Cost me $2500 (after tax I think it was $2800?) for the engine. Folks over there told me there was about 35000 miles on it, they weren't sure.
My dad and I planned on doing the swap in our garage ourselves. My main goal was to get it BAR'd so I don't have to pay some smog shop money to pass. I had a couple of doubts over whether my dad could do it (one of my friends kept tellin me to just bring it to a shop), but **** did he prove me wrong. It took over a year to do the swap because we did the swap little by little since my dad just did it when he wasn't working. Plus, we came across some problems: the tranny and the ECU. I did a whole lotta research and found that the tranny I had was for a Type SH, which wouldn't work for me because of that ATTS bullshit. So, I let the junkyard folks know and they said they would find me one.
SH Tranny
In the meantime, we replaced the timing belt and water pump. I would have done more work to it while it was out, but I was broke. We started disconnecting the F22, and we found the reason why my car was a little louder than usual. The exhaust manifold had a crack in it.
Damn this **** is rusty!
I also decided to look around for an ECU, since I needed one. It had to be OBD2, since my goal was to get it smog legal, so the OBD1 harness was out of the picture. Here's where my problem began.
You guys already know the deal with 97+ ECUs, they got immobilizers. Folks on here told me I could call up a dealership and they would reprogram the ECU for me.
I called around and everybody told me they wouldn't do it. ****. I was in trouble. Did more research and found that a 96 ECU would work, it was OBD2, had no immobilizer, BUT IT'S RARE. I looked on eBay and found one. The guy had 1 pic of it, and it looked ok to me, so I bought it.
****. I got that ****, and 1 mount was broke. Dude had packed it with garbage bags. Plus, he didn't know **** about what he had. He bought it from a junkyard, who said it was a 96 USDM ECU. I found out it was a JDM one. I was ****** pissed. The top sticker had been scratched out, but I eventually found out what it was a 4 wheel steering Manual JDM ECU. I had my dad's friend at his job weld the broken mount back on and eventually sold it, because I found out it was another rare ECU.
Looked around some more and came across a cool guy here. He sold 1 to me that he didn't need anymore. Finally I got the ECU.
Also, I needed a driver's side mount from a 92-96 Prelude. Found that easy.
Well after waiting a month or so, the junkyard still didn't have the tranny. They couldn't give me a refund for it, just junkyard credit. So I kept waiting. I went to school down at UC Riverside (which I hated, but that's a different story) and still waited. I even tried to find someone to buy my SH tranny so I could buy the right one. Finally, I called one day and they finally got one. My dad picked it up, got that **** and slapped it on the engine.
After a couple of weeks, I went to Vegas to visit my cousin and his family. I called home to check up on the progress, and my brother said "yeah the engine's in the car already, we put it in today." I thought he was bullshittin, but apparently with the help of my brother and my lil cousin, he rented a crane and dropped it in.
I hated UCR and I came back after 1 quarter, and I was back and able to help with the swap again. We came across some problems while finishing the swap. The Prelude downpipe didn't fit too well with my exhaust; it was a little long and the holes for the bolts didn't match. Amazingly, my dad cut the Prelude downpipe, cut the end of the CL downpipe, and had his friend weld it together at his job (sorry I don't have pics of that).
The CL power steering line didn't fit correctly to the Prelude power steering, so my dad made it fit haha. It's pretty secure and I thought it was creative.
Also, the firing order in the cheapo Haynes and Chilton Manuals were WRONG. When we first tried to fire it up, it would only turn. I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE HAD A HELMS MANUAL, BUT I WAS BROKE HAHA. Eventually, my dad figured it out and we started that bitch up! I was excited as ****. Couldn't wait to drive it. More little problems came along.
I had to buy a new stock exhaust. The one that came with my CL had holes in it. My dad tried to patch them up, but there were too many. Bought a stock exhaust from an stock aftermarket parts site. Slapped that **** on.
Check Engine Light was still on. All we had to do now was add 3 wires to the ECU. My dad amazed me again and did it. I came home from work one day, started it up and the light was OFF. DAMN! He did it.
And you guessed it, more problems came along. The CEL would come on after a while of driving. It would flash too and the idle would jump. We would pull a certain spark plug wire while the engine was running and there was no effect on the car. My dad fixed it..or so I thought.
So, I made an appt with the smog referee at Contra Costa College in San Pablo. I was nervous as ****. JUST as I parked and stopped, you already know what happens. CEL CAME ON. WHAT THE ****. Called my dad for help. He was at work, and he told me to press down on the spark plug wires, because he said they would get loose sometimes. Tried, reset the ECU, CEL still on. Damn. Told the ref that the CEL came on. I already knew what he would tell me, that I would automatically fail. But he told me I could just take the test anyway, so I could find out what was wrong. Unfortunately, the CEL was flashing, and he said he couldn't test it because it means that the engine is misfiring, and they don't want to mess anything up. Went home frustrated.
Once again, my dad fixed it. He found out that the vacuum lines for the Prelude were a little different, and he moved them to the right places. Back to the referee..
Nervous again, they tested it. They were doing the visual, and he asked me to come over. The ref asked me to look for this one part called an Evap canister, which I needed in order to pass, but I didn't have the right one. Failed the visual. Fortunately, I passed the smog part of it.
Left. Went to the junkyard, got what I needed. Went home, dad slapped it on. The CEL would come on after a while, saying it's running to rich or lean (probably because of a bad O2 sensor), but I went back to the ref and said **** it. Got there, and they put my car on the dyno. They left it running, but for some reason, the engine would just die. ****! ...didn't matter, because I passed! They started it up, checked the visual, put it on the dyno, and passed smog! Once I heard him say, "Find a place to put the sticker" to his assistant, I was happy as ****. My dad did it.
Here's what I needed to pass, installed.
This was a great accomplishment for me and my dad. I guess it's safe to say I'm the first smog legal H22 CL. I'm in Cali by the way, and everybody knows smog is strict out here.
Thanks to everybody on here who helped me out. Big thanks to the dude who got me that 96 ECU, he knows who he is.
WARNING: IT'S A LONG STORY
I bought a 2000 H22 swap, everything included except the ECU, from a junkyard in July 04. Cost me $2500 (after tax I think it was $2800?) for the engine. Folks over there told me there was about 35000 miles on it, they weren't sure.
My dad and I planned on doing the swap in our garage ourselves. My main goal was to get it BAR'd so I don't have to pay some smog shop money to pass. I had a couple of doubts over whether my dad could do it (one of my friends kept tellin me to just bring it to a shop), but **** did he prove me wrong. It took over a year to do the swap because we did the swap little by little since my dad just did it when he wasn't working. Plus, we came across some problems: the tranny and the ECU. I did a whole lotta research and found that the tranny I had was for a Type SH, which wouldn't work for me because of that ATTS bullshit. So, I let the junkyard folks know and they said they would find me one.
SH Tranny
In the meantime, we replaced the timing belt and water pump. I would have done more work to it while it was out, but I was broke. We started disconnecting the F22, and we found the reason why my car was a little louder than usual. The exhaust manifold had a crack in it.
Damn this **** is rusty!
I also decided to look around for an ECU, since I needed one. It had to be OBD2, since my goal was to get it smog legal, so the OBD1 harness was out of the picture. Here's where my problem began.
You guys already know the deal with 97+ ECUs, they got immobilizers. Folks on here told me I could call up a dealership and they would reprogram the ECU for me.
I called around and everybody told me they wouldn't do it. ****. I was in trouble. Did more research and found that a 96 ECU would work, it was OBD2, had no immobilizer, BUT IT'S RARE. I looked on eBay and found one. The guy had 1 pic of it, and it looked ok to me, so I bought it.
****. I got that ****, and 1 mount was broke. Dude had packed it with garbage bags. Plus, he didn't know **** about what he had. He bought it from a junkyard, who said it was a 96 USDM ECU. I found out it was a JDM one. I was ****** pissed. The top sticker had been scratched out, but I eventually found out what it was a 4 wheel steering Manual JDM ECU. I had my dad's friend at his job weld the broken mount back on and eventually sold it, because I found out it was another rare ECU.
Looked around some more and came across a cool guy here. He sold 1 to me that he didn't need anymore. Finally I got the ECU.
Also, I needed a driver's side mount from a 92-96 Prelude. Found that easy.
Well after waiting a month or so, the junkyard still didn't have the tranny. They couldn't give me a refund for it, just junkyard credit. So I kept waiting. I went to school down at UC Riverside (which I hated, but that's a different story) and still waited. I even tried to find someone to buy my SH tranny so I could buy the right one. Finally, I called one day and they finally got one. My dad picked it up, got that **** and slapped it on the engine.
After a couple of weeks, I went to Vegas to visit my cousin and his family. I called home to check up on the progress, and my brother said "yeah the engine's in the car already, we put it in today." I thought he was bullshittin, but apparently with the help of my brother and my lil cousin, he rented a crane and dropped it in.
I hated UCR and I came back after 1 quarter, and I was back and able to help with the swap again. We came across some problems while finishing the swap. The Prelude downpipe didn't fit too well with my exhaust; it was a little long and the holes for the bolts didn't match. Amazingly, my dad cut the Prelude downpipe, cut the end of the CL downpipe, and had his friend weld it together at his job (sorry I don't have pics of that).
The CL power steering line didn't fit correctly to the Prelude power steering, so my dad made it fit haha. It's pretty secure and I thought it was creative.
Also, the firing order in the cheapo Haynes and Chilton Manuals were WRONG. When we first tried to fire it up, it would only turn. I KNOW I SHOULD HAVE HAD A HELMS MANUAL, BUT I WAS BROKE HAHA. Eventually, my dad figured it out and we started that bitch up! I was excited as ****. Couldn't wait to drive it. More little problems came along.
I had to buy a new stock exhaust. The one that came with my CL had holes in it. My dad tried to patch them up, but there were too many. Bought a stock exhaust from an stock aftermarket parts site. Slapped that **** on.
Check Engine Light was still on. All we had to do now was add 3 wires to the ECU. My dad amazed me again and did it. I came home from work one day, started it up and the light was OFF. DAMN! He did it.
And you guessed it, more problems came along. The CEL would come on after a while of driving. It would flash too and the idle would jump. We would pull a certain spark plug wire while the engine was running and there was no effect on the car. My dad fixed it..or so I thought.
So, I made an appt with the smog referee at Contra Costa College in San Pablo. I was nervous as ****. JUST as I parked and stopped, you already know what happens. CEL CAME ON. WHAT THE ****. Called my dad for help. He was at work, and he told me to press down on the spark plug wires, because he said they would get loose sometimes. Tried, reset the ECU, CEL still on. Damn. Told the ref that the CEL came on. I already knew what he would tell me, that I would automatically fail. But he told me I could just take the test anyway, so I could find out what was wrong. Unfortunately, the CEL was flashing, and he said he couldn't test it because it means that the engine is misfiring, and they don't want to mess anything up. Went home frustrated.
Once again, my dad fixed it. He found out that the vacuum lines for the Prelude were a little different, and he moved them to the right places. Back to the referee..
Nervous again, they tested it. They were doing the visual, and he asked me to come over. The ref asked me to look for this one part called an Evap canister, which I needed in order to pass, but I didn't have the right one. Failed the visual. Fortunately, I passed the smog part of it.
Left. Went to the junkyard, got what I needed. Went home, dad slapped it on. The CEL would come on after a while, saying it's running to rich or lean (probably because of a bad O2 sensor), but I went back to the ref and said **** it. Got there, and they put my car on the dyno. They left it running, but for some reason, the engine would just die. ****! ...didn't matter, because I passed! They started it up, checked the visual, put it on the dyno, and passed smog! Once I heard him say, "Find a place to put the sticker" to his assistant, I was happy as ****. My dad did it.
Here's what I needed to pass, installed.
This was a great accomplishment for me and my dad. I guess it's safe to say I'm the first smog legal H22 CL. I'm in Cali by the way, and everybody knows smog is strict out here.
Thanks to everybody on here who helped me out. Big thanks to the dude who got me that 96 ECU, he knows who he is.
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 331
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From: irvine, ca
Re: My H22CL BAR'd! Thanks everybody. (Honda318dx)
just to **** u off im going to tell u, 99% likely u would have passed with the jdm ecu if u had kept it (u didnt say if the jdm was obd I or II, u prolly woulda passed if it was II)
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From: New Joisey
Re: (Sam1am26)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sam1am26 »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> 
I love the H-Series CL's...</TD></TR></TABLE>
true...i'd get a cl but they are too heavy
I love the H-Series CL's...</TD></TR></TABLE>true...i'd get a cl but they are too heavy
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Thread Starter
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From: Bay Area
Re: (SB tuning)
buffalo wings: Nope. 0% chance I would have passed with a JDM ECU. Trust me, I did a lot of research.
SB tuning: Yeah, CLs are hella heavy. I did it anyway because this is my first car, had some high mileage when I got it, and now it feels much less like a boat with the H22 hahaha.
Thanks everybody.
SB tuning: Yeah, CLs are hella heavy. I did it anyway because this is my first car, had some high mileage when I got it, and now it feels much less like a boat with the H22 hahaha.
Thanks everybody.
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 9,429
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From: New Joisey
Re: (OutlawCL)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by OutlawCL »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">buffalo wings: Nope. 0% chance I would have passed with a JDM ECU. Trust me, I did a lot of research.
SB tuning: Yeah, CLs are hella heavy. I did it anyway because this is my first car, had some high mileage when I got it, and now it feels much less like a boat with the H22 hahaha.
Thanks everybody.</TD></TR></TABLE>
lol yeah i bet it does
SB tuning: Yeah, CLs are hella heavy. I did it anyway because this is my first car, had some high mileage when I got it, and now it feels much less like a boat with the H22 hahaha.
Thanks everybody.</TD></TR></TABLE>
lol yeah i bet it does
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,260
Likes: 2
From: SoCal
Re: (SB tuning)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SB tuning »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
true...i'd get a cl but they are too heavy </TD></TR></TABLE>
a 1997 Acura CL 2.2L coupe in 5spd weighs 3009 lbs, which is only 55 lbs heavier than a 5th gen Prelude 5spd
true...i'd get a cl but they are too heavy
</TD></TR></TABLE>a 1997 Acura CL 2.2L coupe in 5spd weighs 3009 lbs, which is only 55 lbs heavier than a 5th gen Prelude 5spd
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Joined: Feb 2005
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From: New Joisey
Re: (Type SH)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Type SH »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
a 1997 Acura CL 2.2L coupe in 5spd weighs 3009 lbs, which is only 55 lbs heavier than a 5th gen Prelude 5spd </TD></TR></TABLE>
which is too much...my 4th gen weighs 2556 with me in it
a 1997 Acura CL 2.2L coupe in 5spd weighs 3009 lbs, which is only 55 lbs heavier than a 5th gen Prelude 5spd
</TD></TR></TABLE>which is too much...my 4th gen weighs 2556 with me in it
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 68
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From: Bay Area, CA
Re: My H22CL BAR'd! Thanks everybody. (OutlawCL)
OutlawCL, Congrats on getting your car BAR'd. There was an easier way to get your car to pass than hunting for a 96 P13. I was able to get my 97 Accord BAR'd at the ref station in San Bruno. I swapped in a 98 H22A4 but used my original 97 Accord ECU. They plugged their computer into my car and all the readings were fine.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by buffalo wings »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just to **** u off im going to tell u, 99% likely u would have passed with the jdm ecu if u had kept it (u didnt say if the jdm was obd I or II, u prolly woulda passed if it was II)</TD></TR></TABLE>
buffalo wings, what you're saying might not work. I had a 97 JDM ecu and when they'd plug into my car's computer, they would get no reading. I've heard thats the way all JDM ecu's are. A far as I know, most CA state refs plug into your car's computer. Before CA changed their smog procedures with the rollers, my car would pass smog with flying colors when I used the JDM ecu.
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by buffalo wings »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just to **** u off im going to tell u, 99% likely u would have passed with the jdm ecu if u had kept it (u didnt say if the jdm was obd I or II, u prolly woulda passed if it was II)</TD></TR></TABLE>
buffalo wings, what you're saying might not work. I had a 97 JDM ecu and when they'd plug into my car's computer, they would get no reading. I've heard thats the way all JDM ecu's are. A far as I know, most CA state refs plug into your car's computer. Before CA changed their smog procedures with the rollers, my car would pass smog with flying colors when I used the JDM ecu.
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Joined: Mar 2003
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From: labcabincalifornia
yeah, but they check the engine against the ecu against the chassis and the ecu has to match the engine which has to match the year of the chassis...o_O *scratches head how you still passed*
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,357
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Re: (iakona)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iakona »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, but they check the engine against the ecu against the chassis and the ecu has to match the engine which has to match the year of the chassis...o_O *scratches head how you still passed* </TD></TR></TABLE>
The motor can be the year of the car or newer... You just can't put an older motor into a newer car...
The motor can be the year of the car or newer... You just can't put an older motor into a newer car...
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From: socal
Re: My H22CL BAR'd! Thanks everybody. (OutlawCL)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I went to school down at UC Riverside (which I hated, but that's a different story) and still waited. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Its not that bad..
Its not that bad..
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 121
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From: Santa Fe, NM, Usa
Re: (iakona)
Dang man.woW good looking out yo...hey I wanna give a BIG shout out to ur dad ..if it wanst for our dads we would pry spend LOTS a $$$$$on other kids dads doing work on our cars!my dad is tha **** he helps me no matter what!well maybe cuz my mom tells him too.jk.but hey do a lil something special 4 him ..jus to let him kno ur there when he needs help,or needs help fixing his 52'chevy pickUP truck lol.but hey good to hear ur story!
