Hello all. Please help me understand what is going on under the hood of my car

I just picked up a 1993 Del Sol. Previous owner says it has a swap and didn't say much more than that. The block ID stamp says its a D16Y8. The vin number on the transmission says EJ8.

Those 2 ids tell me it came from a 96-2000 Civic EX right?

That means that the engine should be running on OBD2. Heres where it get confusing to me.

According to this thread:
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/how-identify-your-ecu-810101/

The ECU that I should have is *P2P* Right? For OBD2 96+ Civic EX

However the car is currently running on is *P06* For 92-95 OBD1 Civic DX
The previous owner said that is the original Del Sol ECU And that is why the VTEC doesn't work. He also gave to me with the sale of the car another ECU he said is for the swapped engine but it was automatic car and it would not work so that's why it is not plugged in.

So I looked up the number of the spare ECU. It is also a *P06* I think he lied.

So... It appears that I am running an OBD2 engine on OBD1 wiring. Is that even possible? Is there some hidden wiring somewhere that I haven't found yet that is making the car run? The car runs good. Only complaints are that the idle is high (about 1250) and VTEC does not work.

If I get an OBD2 *P2P* ECU from a EJ EX Will it even plug into my harness in place of the *P06*?

This list: https://honda-tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=810101 Shows:
*P30* 92-95 OBD-1 DelSol DOHC Vtec Si/EG SiR
as the only ECU listed for any Del Sol. Doesnt make much sense though. As far as I know 92-95 Del Sol was not offered with a DOHC. Are they trying to say that is the ECU for all Del Sols?

Confused...

 

You are correct on the engine identification.

Its perfectly fine to run an obd2 engine on obd1 sensors and ecu. You can send that p06 ecu into phearable or whoever else sockets and chips ecu's to get it chipped with a p28 map so it works with vtec. The p30 is for a b16 which did come in some del sols.

 

But if he gets a p28 map, he has a y8. So wouldn't the timing be 4.5 degrees off? It'll definitely need to be tuned

 

Ignition timing or valve timing?

 

The ecu signal determines obd and nothing else. You need a chipped p28 with a map for your setup. Phearable can get you squared away.

 

Im going to go out on a limb here. First off, the p30 is meant for the B series DOHC 1.6L engine that the del Sol Vtec got. The Del Sol Si and other varients were just SOHC engines. Depending on what engine is in the car, if its a Y8 then you would need a compatible ECU for that car either the appropriate OBD2 for that engine or a chipped P28 with a conversion harness. Something else to remember is in the del Sol's short life span, this model was OBD1 from 93-95 (Though some 95 may have gotten OBD2) and 96-97 where it was OBD2.

 

Op you are fine with the P06 ecu. You simply need to socket the ecu and also get vtec added in the ecu. Then buy a chip for your motor.

To everyone else. A P28 isn't needed. You can buy the vtec components and make the p06 run as a p28. I've done it.

DIY cost: $12 socket kit. $15 vtec kit. $20-40 chip. I can give you links if you want, to the parts.

 

What does that mean? Never heard of "socket the ecu"

The head has a vtec solenoid on the back above thermostat housing. And a homemade loose wire headed into the firewall. I couldn't track where it ended up on the other side though.

Previous owner said he ran that setup but never could get it to work.

 

Just looked at the Phearable website. Thanks for the heads up all. Lots of good info. I think I'm just going to call them and have them chip the ecu for me.

 

So in theory, If I were to come across a P28 for a real good price, Will it plug into my harness and do everything it is supposed to do for D16Y8 without any more chipping or anything else?

 

A P28 will plug into your harness just fine (any OBD1 Honda ECU will plug into your harness) but due to some ignition timing differences between the D16Z6 (engine the P28 is made for) and the D16Y8 it wont run quite right without being chipped and tuned. It will be closer to the correct ECU than what you have right now.

 

Gotcha. Thanks. Makes more sense now. So the timing differences are not an issue with running the p06 as I am now?

Are the timing differences for P28 small enough to make up by adjusting the advance and retard in the distributor?

 

Yes they are.

It will help, the engine may seem to run fine, but it should still be tuned.

 

Ok. Thanks for being patient with me. Ive had quite a few Hondas but never one that had a half assed swap done. Price was right so I cant complain too much. Just trying to learn how to make it right.