May be an odd question but I picked up a sol a while back, its a 96 s model came factory with the D16Y7 and a 5 speed. It now has a d16y8 block and a y7 head. I would assume this is because they didn’t want to switch harnesses for the proper vetc ecu for the y8 head because I can’t find any reason on why someone would do that head swap. Now im slightly new to the Honda world, but is there an obd2 ecu that would plug up to my harness and allow me to wire and run vtec properly? Or in other words am I going to HAVE to switch harnesses to have proper vtec with the y8 head?

pics just in case I’m missing something.

 

The previous owner didn't do this swap because it was a good idea... they did it because they were BROKE and this was the cheapest way to get the car running again... and then YOU bought it. It is your mess now. The engine harness on a '96 Del Sol passes through the firewall and terminates at the ECU, so adding a small "sub harness" to the engine harness and pinning the proper locations for VTEC at the ECU plugs is pretty painless. Swapping to a complete '96-97 Del Sol Si engine harness seems like overkill... and much more costly. You will still need to replace the cylinder head with a VTEC one, along with the distributor and the ECU.

 

I think the distributors are the same or interchangeable between the Y7 and Y8. did I miss something there?

also will need a Y8 intake manifold for the 2-wire IACV as well as the flow improvement to play best with the operation of VTEC. A Z6 would probably also work, but I haven't done one in a while so I could be missing a few details on that.

 

From a brief search on a Honda Parts website, it appears you are correct. I guess I kind of assumed that they were different just like the '92-95 DX/LX and EX distributors are... as in non-VTEC and VTEC. Thank you for clearing that up for me.

 

Just to verify, it is the p2p ecu I would need for the y8 correct? Also does this ecu just plug in or do I have to get an adapter for it? (Apologize for all the questions google is just not being my buddy at the moment)

 

Yes, you would need a P2P ECU. It needs to be a '96-98 version... and the only way to identify the proper ECU would be how the ECU plugs connect to it: The ECU version that you need, when plugged into your chassis under the dash, will have TWO plugs side by side, a gap, and then a third plug... both end plugs on the ECU will be utilized. The newer ('99-00), wrong version of the ECU will have all THREE plugs side by side, and one end of the ECU will be open.

 

Hello, I have a similar civic with an almost exactly matching block and head setup. The problem I am experiencing is a regular variance in idle, going up and down between 850-1500 up and down repreatedly until it settles, and on some occasions the weird idle cycle loop continues. I have noticed that the idle is affected by pushing the brakes, in that it either remains higher for longer before dropping back down or settles it altogether. It would also be helpful to note I believe that the car has a larger than stock throttlebody, with a skunk 2 70mm tb on it. I realize that the range of compensation around the idle screw on that throttlebody is minimal, but I do not believe that the idle surges are tied to it. Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated!!

 

To OP, make sure you get the manual version of the ECU.