I recently got my hands on a 96 Civic CX with a B16A2 swap done, it has been having idling issues (drops very low when coming out of gear to neutral and drops when first started, also after the drop idle roams between 1000-1300) . The previous owner changed the IACV and the FITV with no change to the idle. I took the car to a shop today and they tried to diagnose the problem and it turns out that the whole wiring harness it stretched and cut in many places. They suggested that I get a new harness to start towards fixing the idle. My question is, would changing out the whole harness by myself be reasonable, or would it just be easier to get the shop to do it. I have moderate mechanical skill but still far from being a mechanic.

 

just the engine harness? i think its not hard

 

I'm pretty sure its just the engine harness, I've never done something this big before so I'm trying to weigh out my options.

 

The wiring inside and out is very hard for starting out in Honda's unless you are very good with soldering and using a multi meter. I would say figure out what harness is bad and get another harness and connect and go. Is it inside cab harness or engine harness?

 

It is the engine harness, I was going to replace the whole thing to avoid any sodering or anything. I was told by the shop that all behind my intake manifold is "piano wired". If by saying connect and go, are you saying its possible to do it myself?

 

I'm told that behind the intake manifold everything looks like this.

 

Yes you can plug and play a new harness if same plug style and obd then should work. Or you can just salvage your harness and start soldering, its not that hard if someone already has them ran and cheaper.