Okay, so I have a 95 civic with a JDM F23A swap. I've been having problems with it stalling when you hit the throttle to start off or downshift. After replacing pretty much everything that could be causing the problem, I took it to a shop to have it diagnosed, they told me I need to replace the ECU and the wiring harness. The car currently has a chipped Civic ECU and the wiring harness has been modified for the motor. (given the overall quality of the work on the car, I'm not surprised the wiring might be faulty)

So: my questions are: Am I right in believing that my motor is pretty much the same thing as a USDM F23A1? If so, does that mean I need the ECU and harness from a 6th gen accord? Should things mostly just plug and play at that point? That car's OBD2, right(the Accord)? Will that cause problems? Also, what about the JDM parts? Will I need a USDM manifold and sensors?

 

No engine harness from any other OE Honda application will work in your '95 civic using the F23A engine. The proper way to wire this engine in your chassis is to start with an original engine harness from a '95 civic XX (insert your model and trim level) and MODIFY it to fit the F23A engine. This requires adding some connections, lengthening and shortening some connections and changing some connections. The next alternative would be to contact RyWire or ChaseBays for a replacement engine harness.

 

So my best bet at this point is to probably to find someone who can figure out what might be wrong with the existing harness and fix it?

 

Also why won't the accord harness work, since it's basically the same motor? Is it because the cluster won't wire up, or does it have 2 oxygen sensors, or what?

 

The plugs located on the Left and Right shock towers where the engine harness meets the chassis harness DO NOT match up to each other... the Civic and Accord plugs are dramatically different.

Trying to repair your existing harness is a viable idea if you have the proper resources to diagnose the issue, or have access to a qualified shop who routinely deals in wiring issues.