poptartsayswat

I have a HX d16y5 with ac and 5 speed manual swapped into a DX hatch(auto). (tranny in auto went out and wanted to get better mpg and have a/c for the summer)

A local shop is doing this work and I need some experts to help me make sure what they are telling me is right.

The DX hatch had no ac, I found a nice d16y5 with 5speed and ac (entire car present) to swap into the car.

So the motor and tranny are in. All the a/c components, dash from the HX, etc.

The issue is that the ac, and heater required the HX dash. So after the motor was in and running- they have a problem hooking up the rear harness (existing d16y7) to the HX manny harness. Keeping the Tach and the speedo from working( let me know if that makes any sense).

They are telling me that the speedo and tach will not work and we need to get a rear harness for a hatch with a vtec to make all the taillights/ speedo and tach work.


Please let me know if I am getting good information and where I might find the correct harnesses.

tony_2018

Why not be specific on the swap and your hatch?

poptartsayswat

its a 2000 dx hatch with a d16y7 and auto trans

donor was a 1999 hx coupe d16y5 with a manual trans

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

There's your problem. For 96-00 Civics, all trims except the HX were OBD2A from 96-98, and OBD2B from 99-00. All HX Civics from 96-00 were OBD2A. They're trying to wire an OBD2A engine harness into an OBD2B dash harness, which isn't reasonably possible. I say reasonably because it can be done, but...well, you're batshit crazy if you try it.

The shop will need to use the entire engine and dash harnesses from the donor car if you want it to work. Basically, all of the major wiring needs to come out of the HX, and go into the DX.

poptartsayswat

They are telling me that the rear tail lights wont match up when they use the rear harness.

So what do I need to get a hold of to make this work?

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

They...wat? The tail light bulbs are the same between the cars. There's no logical reason you couldn't use the full car harness from the HX in the DX. Even the socket subharnesses have the same part numbers. The rear connectors are the same part numbers (all of them). The only thing that's actually different is the wire layout, but they should be able to work around that. Extending wires is easy.

poptartsayswat

I just called them for clarification. What the issue seems to be is the bulbs for the hx coupe have only a brake and blinker(Reverse on the trunk). Where as the DX has the reverse, blinker, brake and running all in one. He keeps saying that I need a rear harness that came from a hatch with vtec and ac to finish making the Ac/tac/rearlights and everything work.

I also appreciate your information. I wish I knew more about this and had the time to do this myself.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, beyond the OBD variation that I knew, the "what wires go where" stuff I'm pulling straight from a parts catalog.

I think I might see the problem. Give me a minute to compare some part numbers, and I'll get right back with you on that.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

So, I get what your guy is saying, but I don't see why he couldn't just remove the shroud, pull through the wires that he needs, extend them if necessary, then re-shroud them.

Here's the issue you're going to run into, as far as I can tell from parts diagrams. The hatchback models use a single connector from the main chassis harness to the trunk harness. OBD2A and OBD2B cars have different part numbers for that harness, but the schematic is exactly the same, and the plugs are the same, so if I had to guess, I'd say the difference in part numbers is just a technicality. The coupe, for some stupid reason, uses a two plug connector from the chassis to trunk harness. I don't know why. Your guy says he needs the trunk harness from a VTEC hatchback, but the 96-00 hatch was ONLY available stock with a non-VTEC engine. Regardless, though, VTEC doesn't dictate the rear harness - chassis style does.

I might be wrong, but the way I see it, you have two options. Option #1 is what I've already mentioned - have him pull the necessary wires out of the shroud and extend them so that the harness you have works. Option #2 would be to source a dash, chassis, and trunk harness from a 96-98 hatchback. Short of finding a third donor car, I don't see that being reasonably feasible - the three harnesses from Honda would cost you in excess of $600.

poptartsayswat

Thanks so much!

poptartsayswat

Can you explain this to me so I have a grasp of what needs to happen, and can relay this to the shop.

The shop is not what many would call high in customer service. Basically when they started this work they told me that it would be a lot easier than it has been. None of that its their fault, but the dash and bezel and interior parts from the HX were in rough shape from the car being wrecked. When they realized they were going to have to change majority of the dash parts to accept the ac/ and heater parts (cable operated climate control and box in the HX- VS- electric DX) they gave me no heads up that they were just going to install the broken 2/10 dash into my 8/10 interior. I would have loved to go ahead and sourced the complete dash and parts that would have solved the issue and looked better inside. But they went ahead and installed the sub par dash parts (cracked bezel/ missing vents). I have settled this with them and the wiring labor and any other work on switching the dash parts out will not come out of my pocket. Unfortunately they have already started loosing urgency on the project since I paid the bill.

So I am trying to arm myself with the proper knowledge of what they need to do to get this working, so I can get my car back. I really appreciate the quick and informative responses.

poptartsayswat

DO you have the honda parts numbers you can reference me?

My next door neighbor is head of service dept at HONDA locally and I can usually get a decent deal.

NotARaCist

iTrader: (1)

This is what a complete, shrouded, and new wiring harness looks like.



This, on the other hand, is what a complete, UNshrounded, new wiring harness looks like.



They are different harnesses from different cars, but you can see the main difference. The first harness has that black plastic stuff covering the bundles of wires, and the second harness does not. That black stuff is the shroud. It keeps the wires protected, and keeps the harness looking good. What the shop needs to do is remove that shrouding from the trunk harness (and only the trunk harness, not the chassis, dash, or engine harnesses), isolate the wires that need to be run through the hatch, pull them out of that bundle of wires, extend them, and re-shroud them. "Isolating" wires is simply identifying which ones they need to pull, so they can pull those, and only those from the harness. It's really simple work for anyone who has done basic car wiring before.

They also shouldn't have needed to swap the entire dash. Just the HVAC/radio bezel, and the hardware behind the dash. It's all easily swappable, and actually a pretty common swap for those of us with 96-98 Civics, who want the electronic actuation of 99-00 Civics. I haven't done it on my car, but I've done it for a couple friends, and it's on my to-do list at some point in the future. That's all in the past now, though, and I have a feeling approaching them with that knowledge might just **** them off enough to completely stop caring about your car.

But yeah, it's pretty simple. They just need to isolate the reverse, shroud it, and run it to where it needs to go, extending wires as necessary.