I am putting a 97 gsr motor and trans into my 97 civic dx hatch. I have the motor and trans. I know I also need mounts and axles. I was told i can use a 96-98 civic ex harness with mild modification on this motor. Its an obd2a car and motor and i would like to keep it that way. can anyone confirm if that harness is usable? Also does anyone know the code for a 96-98 obd2a gsr ecu? The information would help a ton. Thanks in advance.

 

the ecu should be a p72. and the motor harness from the gsr should b ran in ur car. not the civic harness. idk if ppl have hacked harnesses to work but i always use the right harness for the motor

 

Thanks for the ecu code, And the guy i walked to about this told me i wouldn't be able to use the gsr harness, that it wouldn't be plug and play. Can anyone confirm this?

 

You can't use the integra harness. I did a GSR swap on my 96 CX hatch and just reused the stock harness. You will have to add a few wires but not really that big a deal. If you use an EX harness it would be easier just get a 5-speed harness.

 

I was told its all plug and play with an ex harness except you need to extend one clip on the intake manifold and run the o2 sensor to the back side of the exhaust manifold. aside from whats listed is there anything i am missing?

 

Also can i use integra shift linkage of do i need an aftermarket setup?

 

i have a obd2a 96 civic and am running a 2000 gsr harness. obd2b , all i had to buy was a jumper harness or buy u know p72 from a 96 gsr works fine for me

 

Integra linkage is what you want for the tranny.

 

People do it both ways. Personally, I thought it was easier to modify the Civic harness, but mine's OBD2b, which is a little different. Actually, a little harder I think.

96-98 Civics don't have the shock tower plug, do they? If not, I'd say modify the Civic harness.

Also, you'll want to replace the fuel return softline with a longer one while the engine is out. The Civic line isn't quite long enough, and it's a major pain to replace once you have the gsr engine in the car.

 

Thanks guys I appreciate the help.

 

Yes. You just have to mod the harness a bit and add some plugs. This is easy because the 96+ civic harness comes completely out of the car. This means you can mod the entire harness from engine to ECU while the engine/harness are sitting on the ground instead of being constrained to an engine bay or having to crouch into the kick panel. Bonus.

Unloom the fuel injector harness and just place the plugs where they need to be. You'll have to source a IAT plug and you'll have to source a 2 wire EACV plug. Along with the knock sensor plug, the VTEC plug and the butterfly plug(s).

Go to a junkyard. The Knock sensor, VTEC, and EACV plugs are all the same. You can also use CTS plugs for those functions. So find a honda and cut off some plugs.

Or ask the guy who stole the engine to see if he still has some plugs.

You'll also want to ask for the EACV motor.

teamintegra.net has ECU pin outs. This website has a FAQ on engine swaps. So research on there as to where the pins/wires go.

Use a OBD2A P72 ECU. So 97-99 GSR. You can also use the 97 ITR ECU.

Use the Driver's side upper mount bracket for a 99-00 Si. Or buy an aftermarket drivers side upper mount with 3 prongs that fits into a 96+ civic chassis.

Use the rear T bracket for a 99-00 Si.

Use the trans bracket from a GSR/ITR/99-00 Si.

Use the CR-V or Del Sol VTEC AC compressor bracket if you want to keep your D series AC compressor. You'll have to use some weird belt. Probably a CR-V or Del Sol VTEC belt.

Use the ITR/GSR/99-00 Si shift linkage. The Integra shifter itself is nice. It's a dual bend.

ITR/GSR/99-00 Si/Del Sol VTEC axles. The GSR/ITR has ABS rings if you want/have ABS.

The GSR header is weird. Some of them are short and some are long. The long one will bolt up to your exhaust but you won't have a cat. The short one may have room for a 96-00 civic EX/Si cat...but I'm not sure. The 97 GSR had a long design, IIRC.

 

My car has a y5 in it thats why i opted to use the ex harness so i dont gotta wire vtec ect. and the motor is legit, its coming from my boys gsr, he is going h22. Lucky bastard

 

as far as the rear t bracket goes it it only the 99-00 civic t bracket or will the 94+ teg bracket work as well?

 

The integra T bracket won't work in a 96-00 chassis.

You'll also need the PS pump from a 99-00 Si. Forgot to mention that.

 

I am in the process of doing my first swap also but with a b16a2. I would keep the wire harness and just mod it. Its really not that hard. Follow
https://honda-tech.com/forums/hybrid-engine-swaps-18/gathering-ek-wiring-information-558245/ and http://www.ff-squad.com/technet/
I got it running with no check engine light. I was told you had to extend your o2 sensor but i got into my harness and just moved it down a bit which works perfectly for a b-series because of the cats location. If you need pictures let me know.

 

Thank you. I would appreciate a before and after if you have them.

and my car is a manual rack. no ps. never liked ps at all.

This is all very helpful everyone, I am hoping to have this in and done by sunday.

 

New question, I am told i need to wire the butterflies on the gsr manifold? How do i go about doing that?

 

You wire in the 2 wire connector and run a small subharness through the firewall. You plug in the pins at the ECU. Just like the other functions you needed to add (VTEC, Knock).

Or you can leave the canister unplugged, remove the vacuum line from the butterfly solenoid. Then plug the vacuum line or the vacuum port on the black box underneath the manifold. The butterflies will always be open.

Or get an aftermarket manifold. I discovered a way to keep the GSR throttle body/cable/bracket AND keep room for a stock GSR/EM1 strut tower brace with an aftermarket manifold.

Mainly because I'm a genius/amazing person.

 

So big update, that hatch was stolen on wed and thank god the swap wasn't in yet, so i now have a 95 ex coupe i want to put the ob2a gsr into, does that change the parts list a good amount or no?

 

Yes. In 92-95 Civics, the harness splits at the shock towers. So all you'd need to do is use a 96-99 Integra GSR harness and it will be 100% plug and play. I'm not too sure about mounts, so someone else can chime in...

 

94-95 is obd1 and 96-99 is obd2, the motor is obd2 does it matter if the motor is obd 2 and the harness is obd 1?

 

https://honda-tech.com/forums/showth...highlight=swap

That's where I'm getting my info. If the motor is OBD2, that means the distributor is OBD2, the Alternator is OBD2, etc. Instead of using an OBD1 harness and having to convert all those plugs, you can just use a 96-99 Integra harness and it will be 100% plug and play.

 

But the 94-95 teg is obd1 isnt it?
So 96-99 gsr harness?

 

Yes, my mistake. You are absolutely correct. 96-99 GSR harness.

 

I would just run the obd2 harness. No converting plugs.

If the coupe wasn't VTEC before, I think you need to get the other half of the harness from a VTEC.

I have heard that some 92-95 civics came prewired. But I don't know what years/models.

Also you won't need the mounts that are used for the 96-00 chassis. The integra stuff will work.