superhead's super-slow wagovan build

superhead91

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I've had a check engine light since the swap. Read the codes yesterday and I was getting three codes, one for coolant temp sensor, one for idle air control valve, and one for intake air temp sensor. I took a look, and it turns out the IACV and IAT connectors are exactly the same and they were swapped. Swapped them around and check engine light went away, and the car started running better. No more jerkiness at low rpm. Only issue now is that the idle surges sometimes, and the CEL came back on on my way to work this morning. I think it's the IACV, because last night when I first fixed the plugs, the car was surging bad, and unplugging the IACV fixed it. I tried bleeding the coolant more, and I'm gonna try cleaning the IACV tonight probably.
 


superhead91

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Tuneup time. Ordered NGK plug wires, a pcv valve, a new cap and rotor, and a K&N cone filter for my ebay SRI.
 

superhead91

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Put my SRI on today and replaced my O2 sensor.



The SRI I ordered was for my chassis, but not my motor. My stock motor's throttle body was farther to the right, so the SRI, which was supposed to go over the the empty spot to the left of the battery, was too long, so I had to cut it. I couldn't cut it to fit where it was supposed to go because both ends had bends near the end, and to cut off the end I would have changed the angle of the tube and it wouldn't have fit right, therefore I had to cut it really short. Oh well. I can definitely feel a little bit of a difference in the low end. Nothing major, but every little bit helps. I have a good K&N cone filter on the way to replace the crappy ebay one, and at some point I'll probably replace the blue coupler and hose with black ones. Now that I have a nicer motor and I've had to take out some stuff like the A/C and airbox, the engine bay is starting to look cleaner, and it's motivating me to clean it up even more and try to do some mild tucking maybe. Nothing crazy.
 


superhead91

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So I'm still getting a code for my O2 sensor, and the engine is kind of boggy when it's cold. I was doing some reading, and now I'm wondering if I need to move the O2 sensor up to the first bung because it's a 1 wire so it doesn't heat itself. The more I think about it the more that makes sense. That's where the O2 sensor for the D15B2 was, and that's where the one that was on the new motor was before I replaced the header.

Any input?
 

Killa_CiViC

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So I'm still getting a code for my O2 sensor, and the engine is kind of boggy when it's cold. I was doing some reading, and now I'm wondering if I need to move the O2 sensor up to the first bung because it's a 1 wire so it doesn't heat itself. The more I think about it the more that makes sense. That's where the O2 sensor for the D15B2 was, and that's where the one that was on the new motor was before I replaced the header.

Any input?
Which code# in particular are you getting? Where is the bung located that the sensor is currently in? In my old CRX, the O2 sensor was all the way back at the collector just before the cat, with no issues or codes. It takes forever for the older ECU's to switch to closed loop.
 

superhead91

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Ugh. More problems. So yesterday I got my box of tuneup stuff: cap, rotor, plug wires, pcv valve, and K&N filter. I went to replace the rotor, and the screw that holds it in wouldn't come out, and it's pretty much stripped now. Whatever. Gonna take it to a friends house that has an impact screwdriver and see if we can get it out. Went ahead and replaced all the other stuff and moved the O2 sensor to the first bung in the exhaust. Car is no longer throwing an O2 sensor code, but it's running even worse than before. It's really boggy and has hardly any power under like 3k RPM. I also somehow managed to break my VTEC oil pressure sensor, so I have to buy a new one of those, which are like $50.
 

superhead91

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So I didn't think it could be the problem, because I replaced it like 2 years ago, but the more I read the more I think that maybe it's my fuel filter and/or my rotor. The rotor did have some corrosion, but I couldn't get it off last night because of the stripped screw. I'm gonna probably go over to my friend's tonight and pick up a fuel filter on the way. I went ahead and ordered a new VTEC oil pressure sensor and an IAT sensor from Honda.
 

Wreckless Hype

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Oof man. Rough luck. I've had issues with that same screw also. If it's totally stripped, you don't have tons of options. If there's still a little grip on it, use a fat phillips head and a rubber band (between screw and tip), I've had luck in the past with it. Not sure the science there, but I never complain when it works.

I've also been having weird bogging issues and lack of power in low RPM, got a couple codes for slow signal from front O2. Weird. Think I may replace that, same as you.
 

superhead91

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The most frustrating part is that even though it was having some issues initially, it wasn't bogging when I first swapped it, so I don't know what could have changed.
 

superhead91

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I actually read through your thread Wreckless. Did you ever figure out what was wrong or are you still having issues?
 

superhead91

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So the issues seems to be fixed for the time being. Replaced the rotor and the fuel filter last night. I really think what fixed it was we advanced the timing at the dizzy all the way advanced. I'm starting to wonder if I got a bad tank of gas, especially considering it seems all my problems started after I filled up last.
 

superhead91

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Been a while since I updated. I've done some more maintenance to the motor. New timing belt and tensioner, new water pump, new thermostat. The thermostat was stuck I'm pretty sure because my upper radiator hose was all bulged out lol. Replaced the hose. Also my clutch cable finally stretched to the point where it was all the way tight but I couldn't shift. This also happened while driving home so I had to park it behind a grocery store. Had a friend trailer it home, and installed a new clutch cable. It's much better. So much so that I think the previous clutch cable was the wrong one and was too long. I've been filling up with 100% gas for a while and it seems to run a tad better. It's running pretty good now.

As far as other things I replaced my driver front LCA because one of the two threads where the tie rod attaches was screwed up. Also replaced my passenger front strut fork, because the thread in it was messed up too and I couldn't tighten it all the way. Got new OEM replacement pads, although I'd like to get maybe some Hawks or something in the near future. Finally replaced the old tires with same Falken Ziex ZE912s. They're pretty decent, and my options were pretty limited for 14" wheels.

I'm starting to feel pretty good about having all the maintenance items done, so I think it's time to start slowly upgrading. First things on the list are bushings, a rear sway bar, and new rear LCAs since mine don't have mounting points for the sway bar end links. Probably gonna go with Hardrace LCAs and a Suspension Techniques rear sway bar. I've decided I really want to go for a more performance oriented build, so at some point I'm going to replace the F&F Type 1s with a Koni/GC setup, and get some bigger, wider wheels. Not sure if I want to go 15" or 16" yet.

I'll try and post some pics soon.
 

XpL0d3r

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It's always a nice feeling to take care of all the maintenance stuff.

You should look into Energy Suspension bushings.. some of the best poly bushings out there!
 

superhead91

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It's always a nice feeling to take care of all the maintenance stuff.

You should look into Energy Suspension bushings.. some of the best poly bushings out there!

I've considered them. I'd kinda rather go with hard rubber instead. Not quite as harsh and doesn't require greasing. Downside is they're more expensive. Hardrace and PIC both sell full kits for my car.
 

pmac193

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I've considered them. I'd kinda rather go with hard rubber instead. Not quite as harsh and doesn't require greasing. Downside is they're more expensive. Hardrace and PIC both sell full kits for my car.
Did you end up replacing those bushings? I agree that the hard rubber kits are better options in general.
 

superhead91

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Nah. Instead of buying a bushing kit, I'm going to be replacing my front UCAs, rear LCAs, rear toe arm, and rear camber arm with Hardrace pieces at some point. That will cover most of the bushings, and then I'll just replace the rest of them individually.
 

superhead91

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After doing a bunch of reading, I've discovered something. When I did my engine swap we couldn't get my rad fans to kick on. The switch was a two prong sensor that plugged into the back of my old block, but there was no corresponding hole in my new block. We ended up soldering the prongs together and the fans just run continuously. The new engine has a sensor on the thermostat housing for the fan switch, but there was a plug that fit on that sensor, and the two prong sensor didn't fit there. Well I just figured out that that plug that we plugged into the thermostat sensor was a leftover plug from the old dual-point system that wasn't used anymore that just so happened to fit on that plug. I was supposed to replace the prong sensor from the back of the block with a plug that would plug into the thermostat housing sensor. I'll have to add that to my checklist of things to do if I ever get to it lol.

For reference:



D15B2 fan switch



Three unused plugs from original harness. Green and brown are injectors, the white one, which is the one I have plugged into my thermostat housing, is a tandem valve plug.

Since I know the white connector fits, I can just cut it off and lengthen my fan switch wires to connect to it.
 


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