Well as some of you who remember any of my last topics here, I have an 01 sh. The engine is a leaking sieve with no power and my clutch was troublesome.

Turns out the guy I bought the car from redlined the sh*t out of the engine before it was even broken in, and the guy who built the engine may or may not have known wha the hell he was doing.

So, I have opted to go clean slate, and buy a new engine.
(my clutch problems have been narrowed down to dirty fluid and a master cylinder mounting stud that came loose and is no longer holding the m/c in place, allowing it to move)

However, I have never done an engine swap before, and even with my buddy who just recently did a swap on his 5th gen lude helping me, I still have some questions and concerns.

1. The easiest swap for my H22a4 would be a jdm H22a (I think) although I wouldn't mind swapping in a bluetop. However I heard I would have to swap out the whole wiring harness and ECU as well. Is that true? How hard is the swap? And is a bluetop a better/more powerful engine than a H22a?

2. My lude is an SH, and I assume it has an atts unit, but I've never seen the light kick on, and I do some pretty good cornering. I've also heard that the atts unit weighs about a hundred pounds, which if it doesn't work anyway, thats 100 pounds of dead weight i dont need. How can I tell if it even works or hell, if i even have one? and could i just take it off or would i have to buy a new trans? and what would i have to do to make a non-sh trans work with either a bluetop or h22a?


any help is appreciated, but i would prefer concise, clear, detailed answers in layman's terms...i'm not up to date on all the jargon.

 

No, the easiest swap would be to use another H22A4 from an SH. The second easiest would be to use an H22A from a TypeS. Which blue top? You have the F20B (not worth it at all) or the H23A (same HP and only 7 more ftlbs of tq).

Read some of these:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-prelude-4/blue-red-top-h22a-catalog-f20b-type-s-sir-s-spec-h23a-vtec-type-r-euro-r-641555/
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-prelude-4/help-me-fill-gaps-5g-models-worldwide-2572152/
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-prelude-4/h-series-engines-2617506/
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-prelude-4/prelude-h-series-transmission-codes-ratios-master-list-2548441/

The ATTS unit only weighs about 50-60lbs. You can tell you have one by looking between your axle and passenger side wheel. That is assuming all other indicators are missing.

To make a non-SH trans mate to a non-SH engine, you have to use a wrench to turn a few bolts.

Lastly, the Search button works.

 

Welp, I like the red tops, the H22a type S I'm assuming. I heard they were less powerful than bluetops although they have more horsepower. How is that supposed to work?

Also, what exactly is a "type S" and how is that different than a type SH?

And I know the easiest swap would be h22a4, but i've heard (and can personally attest to the fact) that they tend to leak, also as long as i'm getting a new engine, it might as well have more power.

Also, if i swap in a h22a...what do i need to transfer from the old engine to the new one? I think i was told crank pulley, crank sensors and distributor, else it won't start.

 

As a sub-topic (no need to make a new post) I just found out my catalytic converter is kaput, shot, effed. As I see it I can go a couple routes with this, other than just leave it be, cuz it rattles.

1. Get a cat delete w/o2 sensor spacer/defouler. This option appeals to me because it's cheap, it'll make my stock exhaust louder and I just went through inspection so I don't have to worry about it for another couple years. However it is illegal, I don't know if it will help or hinder performance, and while it may be louder, it may not sound good, which is important to me.

2. Get a high-flow cat. Since I eventually do want to get an exhaust (I only have headers, rest is stock) this seems like a good option. Just it seems a bit too expensive, and if I do order a new exhaust down the line, won't it come with a cat? Which would make the one I just bought kinda pointless? Cuz a cat back system includes the cat does it not?

3. OEM replacement. The least appealing option, while it is cheap and legal, it won't make my car any louder, which has been my goal ever since I began driving, although for one reason or another, I never modified or altered the exhaust on any of my vehicles.

I have thought about putting in a cat delete then just replacing the muffler but not the whole exhaust, but it would probably sound like crap and my exhaust piping is still shoddily welded and restrictive, so my end game is to replace the whole kit and kaboodle from the headers back. I also plan on putting my CAI on once my new engine is in. My goal is to make my car loud, as I've always wanted a loud car. However, loud doesn't necessarily mean it sounds good, which is important to me that it sounds good and racey, not like crap.

Any thoughts?

 

Option #2 for the cat.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

The red tops are more powerful, wherever you heard otherwise is wrong. If it were me and Kronn might throw dirt clods at me for saying it but I'd just get a JDM H22a that's OBD2 and go with a non ATTS trans because a good mechanical LSD will outperform ATTS and your tuning options are limited with it as well. The rest of your questions can easily be answered with searching this site or doing a google search.

 

The type s has higher compression 11:1 and better cams with more lift. The type S is good for about 200hp to the crank while the usdm h22 is around 190 to the crank. If money isn't a concern i say get the Euro-R motor its the most powerful and strongest H22 out there. It comes with LSD transmission and the motor is built like the type S but with out the stupid ATTS. i have an SH and I plan on removing that thing.

 

Well unfortunatly money IS a rather large concern. I got about $2,000 to work with here, so the engine won't even be new. Plus I have yet to buy a new radius rod to get my alignment back into spec, and after I buy the engine, radius rod and get an alignment I'll prolly be broke. So the exhaust is going to have to come later.

I'm also going with the cat delete because my state doesn't do sniff tests and is soon to be doing away with inspections altogether., plus my buddy got a hi-flow cat and it lasted about a month.

And I am aware that there is a search function, and I did use it. It wasn't very helpful and for my engine questions not very specific. For example I searched cat delete and none of the results save for one had anything to do with exhausts.

Anyway I'm going to go with an H22a, type S if I can wrangle it (if its even two different things), and I'll have to use the SH trans with the ATTS atleast for now. With that being said, what would I have to transfer from my old engine to the new one? (Yes I did a search, but I didn't understand what they were talking about, like I don't know what "dizzy" means). As far as I know I'll need to change over the distributor, crank sensors and crank pulley, and the water pump/oil pump do not have to be swapped. So what exactly will have to be changed over and do I need to do anything special with the electronics or anything? Old ECU fine? SH trans compatible?

Yes I will be searching this so if you're not going to answer the question and just tell me to search, then don't answer. I don't mean to be rude or come off as lazy, but I don't see the point in searching through 50 threads and only get bits and pieces of info that may or may not be helpful because they are talking about a different car, or setup or whatever. This is my first engine swap so I'm wary of misinformation.

 

a "Dizzy" is a distributor cap. Theres plenty of info on the internet for your questions so good luck.

 

There are books on swaps and the H22 engines that you could read that would really help you out. I'm not being sarcastic in case you think i am.

 

Yea I know there is and I've done an engine swap before, but it was a 79 trans am, and I have my buddy to help me out. But this is my car and my first honda, so I'm just trying to get all my eggs in a basket and see if there is anything I need to know that I don't already. Which is probably alot. I guess you could say I'm being ultra cautious before I get into this, making sure I have everything and everything I buy will work together is the first step.

I probably could go out, buy an engine and swap it in myself, but I do not want to screw this up.

 

Tunerguy maybe you should check out the search function because the Type S motor puts out the same as the Euro R motor, the Euro R motor just has a more desirable IM design. With the money you have the best you could afford is a blacktop H22a with money left over because if you cheap out and try to get a motor and tranny for $2k well lets just say you get what you pay for.

 

Yea I'm pretty sure that is what my friend has, and it's still more powerful than the one I got. He recently swapped his leaking H22a4 with a blacktop H22a, and he's really happy with it, so that's pretty much what I want to do. Mine doesn't have to be a race car, I just want it runnin right.

 

I said the euro r and type s are built the same you should have read my post more carefully. The euro r comes with LSD transmission which the type s does not thats what makes it a more desirable motor.

 

What about the SiR S-spec?

 

You sure about that?

I'd rather have my closed deck OBD1 motor, more durable, use the same parts to build both motors and they come out about the same, one just has more power from the factory.

And Kronn's right, you can call HMO and order the Prelude Sir S-Spec motor which is the same as the Type S but without ATTS, has a LSD trans instead, costs the same.