I just bought this project car to make into my daily driver, and well its a big mess as it sits right now. As far as my knowledge reaches, which isnt far on swappihng motors into car because its my first time, i believe everything is tere. i know that this motor ran before in another EF but was transplanted becauses of a bent frame.

So now that it was switched over, i have to wire the whole thing back up. and im a little lost on what to do.

it is basically all gutted out except for the two front seats, the overhead lining, and driver and passenger flooring. ill provide pictures of that later.

the peices that are missing on the car right now, are in boxes and if dont have it then i will be ordering it.

if you guys can help me that would be really great.

 

You need to be more specific about what exactly you need help with, but anyway, here's my advice.

I would pull the engine out, start back at step 1. Make sure everything you have is there, and then follow writeups/guides to get it in properly. There is tons of info out there, a total beginner can do this as long as you can follow instructions. If you do it this way, you'll know exactly what you need to do, and that everything is done right.

When you pick up someone else's project that's where it gets tricky... You never know what they did.

 

im lookin for some simlar answers.. but, ive reinstalled the motor and wired it up.. but im having an ignition and fuel problem im gettin code 13 and code 15 ive replaced the main relay and dropped the tank and checked the fuel pump all is in great working order ive got a brand new distribituor plugs and wires i get fire sometimeswhen i first crank it but, never any fuel pump at all can someone tell me how to trouble shoot this and tell me wheres the best place for all the grounds under the hood ive got one on the trans and on the valve cover i thought there might be one closer to the distribituor im goin to take some picks in in a min to show yall what im workin with ... any comments would be great !!

 

x1000000

That would be the best way to do it.

 

ok well i made preparations to take out the motor. i removed all the wiring and everything around the block itself.

i went to to go buy another wiring harness from a 1991 hatchback, because i heard using the original is much easier to work with rather than useing the harness that comes with the motor. is this true, comments, opinions?

im going to try and remove the block but i dont have a cherry picker so i have to lower it thru the underside of the car.

i have a integra repair manual, since im using a different harness, do i need that book anymore?

i will be adding pictures of the wiring tonight, so that you guys can see what mess im dealing with and why im just buying another. i believe it will just be easier for me this way.

also, i have a PR4 OBD0 ECU. do i keep or get another one?

 

Alright so these are the before and after pictures of todays work. the harness has been completely pulled from the engine bay.

i left the block and every other component in the bay so that i can assess what is there, and right now, everything is there.

i believe my whole problem is/was the way the wire harness was setup. its from the LS the engine came from.

but ive heard that youre able to use the original hatch harness, so thats what i did. and i should be getting it in tmrw.

 

These pictures are of the engine bay before i pulled the harness, and some look like duplicates but theres just to pan over evefrything so that you guys can see everything as good as possoble.

 

me and my buddy had a question.

What is that red wire, and what could it possibly be? what would it do. just basically everything about it, if anyone has a clue.

and what are those other two components in the picture provided.

 

ewwwww, I hope you got a helluva deal on it. I would prefer to start with the original factory 1991 engine harness, because its is easier (and better documented) to modify the factory harness than try to build your own harness or track down the problems with the current harness etc.

 

sorry about all the pictures guys, im just trying ot be really thorough here. im a little lost so maybe im going over bored. i just want this to go off without a hitch, if you know what i mean.

lastly, this is the end product of everything pulled out,except for what you cant see is that the wires run back to the fuel line, and splits to the rear hatch. i wanted to remove that, but my buddy said no. i didnt remove it because i dont know wether the harness i bught at the junk yard is going to come with that because i told them "engine harness" and i dont know if that includes the interior wires as well.

also, sorry for the dark pictures. will probably provide more if requested, but you can basically get the idea of what it looks like.

 

top picture is the injector resistor box, bottom picture is windshield wiper motor, middle picture is probably going to become a problem somewhere down the line

 

one is the injector resistor box, square, and the other is the wiper motor, black round thing

 

ok so now that the wiring harness is out and im waiting on an original 1991 engine harness, is there anymore that i can do to the car?

 

if you ever plan on upgrading ur brakes, now could be the time to replace ur brake booster and master cylinder with that out of a DA integra. so easy now that there isnt a dash in the way

 

Now is the time to start reviewing the harnesses you have. I mean no offense, but you didn't know what the windshield washer motor was, so I don't think you will be able to do this unless you REALLY commit yourself. Starting with the engine harnesses, you need to lay them out neatly on a flat surface, and then proceed to study/identify each connector on the harness. While identifying each connector, you will need to find the proper sensor that it will logically plug into. Mark each connecter with masking tape and write the name of the sensor on it.

Some of this may have already been answered before my post, but here is what little I can put together for you:

picture 1) aluminum looking box at driver's firewall and fender is the injector resistor box....without it hooked up, you probably will have no fuel. I think you may have mentioned not having fuel...

Picture 2) that red wire that is tapped into the distributor: I am no expert in engineswapping, but I bet that is there because the distributor wiring had to be "adapted" to successfully make that distributor work with that harness/car...you'll need to know which distributor that is.

Picture 3) Windshield wiper motor.

Extra credit:

--The engine bay generally consists of 2 major wire harnesses: Upper and lower.
--Upper engine harness usually connects near the passenger strut tower and proceeds to most all sensors on the top half of engine bay, including but not limited to: fuel injectors, distributor, fuel injector resistor box, IACV, EGR, IAT, ECT, TPS, MAP, alternator, AC, the POS+ battery terminal, transmission, a few wires to be grounded to engine and chassis, oil pressure sensor and knock sensor if equipped, and maybe the black box under the intake manifold if that motor has one.
--Lower engine harness may typically include: the NEG- battery terminal, 1 or more chassis grounds, and starter wiring.

Lay out the harness you have, and you can match up and identify each plug by it's connector and it's position along the harness (logically identify the sensor it can reach). The most common mistake is misplacing the MAP and TPS sensor into wrong connectors, and another mistake on the driver's side of the Intake Manifold (if you have 2 connectors that will both reach the wrong sensor).

Knowledge is power. Know your harness before you try to put it in. If you have to, use my paragraphs above to Google each of the sensors for more info (IACV, EGR, etc, etc)

 

Also, I am not sure what harness you need for this engine swap into this car. I just wanted to mention that. You will have to research the engine swap tutorials to learn what harness is needed, and any modifications necessary (such as that red wire on the distributor).

If you find yourself with "free time", I'd start on the interior. Put that dash back in with a couple of bolts and get everything wired up inside. You'll feel better about the progress and it needs to be done anyway.

And lastly, don't spend any more money until you have EVERYTHING hooked up and test the motor. Hopefully you won't have to, but you never know if you will need to buy critical parts to make it run. Just focus on installing what you have and then go from there.

 

Before buying parts or losing your mind, remember that you can search and find these 88-91 civics in RUNNING stock condition for $300-$1000. For example, I just bought a '91 for $300 and a '90 for $250. Both of them are running cars. If you need parts, it may be cheaper to buy a whole running parts car (IFFFF you need OEM parts...not specific "swap" parts).

 

Reviewing and mimicking what he is doing in the link below will increase your skill and help you out greatly. Post #2 in the link below is my quick-start guide to installing an engine harness.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/mpfi-obd1-convereted-harness-help-3136374/

 

WOW what a mess...I will give you the respect you deserve if you get this car going...and is it missing the dashboard as well?? This car was for free? Its alot of work. GLWB!

 

he said most of the pulled parts are in boxes...hopefully that is interior too..lol

 

OP, search and read about dual point fuel injection (dpfi) versus multi point fuel injection (mpfi). Search something like "dpfi to mpfi" to get you started.

Your car came dpfi, and it appears that it may have been converted it to mpfi in the past. I say this because of the resistor box, but on the other hand, I don't see any injector harness clips, so who knows exactly what wiring modifications have been done to that car.

What 91 civic engine harness did you buy, dpfi or mpfi?

 

ok, so the normal/common way to make a dpfi car like yours run a mpfi engine like what's in the car at the moment, is to convert the car's engine harness (like you'll learn from your dpfi to mpfi searching). However, another way to run a mpfi engine in a dpfi car is to completely remove the engine harness and under-dash harness, and replace them with harness from a mpfi civic/crx (an Si model, for example). Since you already have everything removed, maybe you can find a mpfi parts car to get its harnesses. You'll still need to search and confirm what's needed for the second method I mentioned (maybe fuse panels too? I don't know)... I don't actually have any experience doing it that way, and it's generally an uncommon way to do it, but I've heard it's possible. What you cannot do, is simply plug a mpfi engine harness into a dpfi car. You either have to convert the original dpfi engine harness or do a more comprehensive harness swap.

best of luck!

 

The TPS, MAP, and IAT as well sometimes has the exact same connector, But JDM RB20 is spot on, there is quite a bit of information on the internet to help you along. Good luck with this adventure

 

alright so im updating from a week ago. I got the harness from a 1991 dx that still had the stock engine in it. it was the D15B2 16V SOHC.

the guy pulled the harness for me and I took it home, and tried to identify as many parts of it as I could following JDM RB20's advice.

after that, I put it on the car, and it has been going really well. everything seems to be reaching where it needs to be, and others not so much.

I will be posting pics of the parts that are giving me trouble and how the harness fits.

but as of right now, with this new harness should it "plug and play" with my B18A1?

 

also, im not completely sure, but is my engine mpfi? and the harness that I bought, is it dpfi or mpfi?

thanks guys