I finished my b16 swap!! HELP!!!!

YAY!! I finally finished installing my b16a in my 90 CRX. Beautiful. it took me about a month in my shop to get all the parts and just messin around cuz I have other work to do. Well I got it out today. My check engine light is on and its for my Vtec Press. sensor and VSS. I know if the VSS doesn't get a reading the Vtec won't kick in.... But anyways I was driving it and the clutch seems to grabb reallllllly high. I don't know what to do. Also the car is weird.... like I will run through first then shift into second and floor it and it will stay at like 4 or 5k and sit there and feel like the clutch is slipping or something. I manged to get home and I wanted to bring it to my friends house. Well I got to my sub entrance and all of a sudden smoke comes out of my dash. I shut the car off, never started back up. I HAD TO PUSH IT BACK HOME BY MYSELF ABOUT HALF A MILE! no one decided they wanted to help me out... but I look at the gauge cluster and I fried a wire. its on the far right plug on the far right pin. melted into the plastic and damaged the plug connector. what should I do about the Clutch and grabbing, the check engine lightand also the gauge cluster? Thanks for all of youre help pics are coming soon!

Sounds like you've got to much tension on the clutch cable. Let it out with the adjustment screw several turns, then tighten so theres only a litttle slack left.

The fried wire just sounds like bad wiring im affraid

actually there is slack in the clutch cable. it is adjusted all the way out as possible. about the wiring. well I toasted the back side of the gauge cluster but now I have no interior power and it won't crank over. my speedometer doesn't work because the cable won't fit all the way in the hole and stay. since the clutch is mechnical could the VSS still cause my rev problem where it sits there and revs while I am in gear? I am lost. No lights in the interior. Thanks Moppie.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking B1?"

Man, I'm so glad I got my Civic with the B16A in it. My hat's off to you guys for doing all the work yourselves :)

Thanks. So far I have been working on all types of cars for about 4 years now and I'm 17. 2 hours of AutoTech in school then 4 hours of work after school at my garage. My boss was grateful enough to let me do the swap at work and I still got paidded to work on my car. Well I had a dream last night which was true... the clutch/transmission problem. I fill all the fluids up and forgot to fill it up with transmission fluid. Dumb ass me. Now heres the really dumb part/question. Where in the hell do I fill my trannny up at? the only thing I can think of is the side where there is a plug.... I see no dip stick lol. if there3 was one i didn''t get it cuz theres a hole at the top of the tranny that is in a small pipe looking thing. Any clue? Thanks for your help guys.

What you dip in your tranny is up to you.

A manual gear box with a dipstick is a very rare thing, Iv seen them on trucks and some 4WDs but thats about it. (and some Subys)

The bolt in the side is the fill and level check point. Basicly fill it to the level of the hole. The pipe in the top is just a breather.

BUT DONT USE REGULAR GEARBOX OIL!!!! Hondas need a light weight oil, almost like engine oil.


The wiring problem sounds rather bad. I take if you've checked the fuses to see whats fried, then you going to have go back through the whole loom and start replacing wires. Make sure you use the right weight, and make sure its all fused etc. By the sound of it your lucky you didnt have a fire.


Did you put a new clutch in when you got it? Or use the one that come with it? You might have got a worn out clutch with the engine. If you got a new one, then you might have the wrong one.
And theres deffintly free play in the clutch fork as well as the cable?

ok heres whats up. I got time today and there is no power to the interior. There is also no power to the fuse box inside the car but there is power to everything to the under the hood fuse box. I find that hard to believe myself. So what type of oil should i buy for my B16? do you have a specific brand? Thanks.

5w-30 or 10w-30 for the B16a, and Honda Gearbox oil for the gearbox. :cool:


No power at the fuse box, but power at the main fuse sounds odd alright.

What did you touch when wired in the dash and engine?
It sounds like you've pulled off a ground wire somewhere. Or the main feed into the fuse box.
It has to be something simple though.

Code 22, VTEC oil pressure....... add oil to the car, it could be why. THe sensor isn'y reading proper cylinder pressure and VTEC won't engage.... it's happened to me before when the oil got low.....

I found out why I had no power to the car. I had no chassis ground. I remember that I grounded the battery cable to the transmission and not the chassis. what blew was a ground wire in my gauge cluster. since my engine and trans were ground everything tried to ground through the speedo cable. there fore frying a ground in my cluster. So I went out and bought so battery wire and grounded the chassis and ground now my car won't start. I have all power. no spark no fuel. I am thinking maybe I blew the ignition coil in my distributor. I can't hear my fuel pump turn on and I check for spark but no luck for either. all fuses are okay. It ran fine when I drove it home. but then I added the wires and now it just cranks. Any idea guys? I love you guys. LoL

I love you to? :huh: :rolleyes:


You forgot to add a ground strap! ouch. My friend you may have fried more then the coil. If the whole car was trying to earth through a sigle wire in the dash, and the speedo cable, then its possible you've damaged the ECU. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

All I can say is your very lucky you didn't have a car fire!

I would start by checking every wire you can find. Pull carpet out etc, make sure all the grounds are there and hooked up etc.
Then if you can plug the ECU into another car and see if it works. DONT plug another ECU into your car, unless your totaly sure everything is wired right, no point in blowing two.

Your problem might be finding another car. Prehaps an early Del Sol? or B17a powered Integra. Or another swap car.

Good luck.....

for your clutch...are you using your stock clutch cable, or did you go with a teg one? If youre still using your stock cable, thats the reason why you cant get the clutch to engage till the top..you either have to get a teg cable, or unwind part of she shielding on the stock cable, in order to get more cable to play with to adjust.

well I just plugged my old dis. in and turned it and no spark came out. This blows. I know I didn't fry anything else except for the gauge cluster because thats one of the weakest points in the system. I have no idea what to do. what are your suggestions. no spark no fuel. help a brotha out. I an thinking maybe crank sensor?

Thank you men for all of your help.... I FIXED IT!!! It has been sitting my driveway for 2 weeks till I finally decided to have it pulled to my shop by my boss and me. After about 4 hours of labor testing all the wiring and electronical parts such as the dis. I found it it was my main relay under my dash not allowing my fuel pump to work and not allowing power to the dist. or ECU. I was almost ready to replace the ECU but thanks to my work and my boss we were able to discover what the problem was. ohh thanks for the tip on the clutch cable, I cut the inding down today. Thanks for all your help guys!! IT HAULS ASSS NOW!!!!!

does the 'check engine' light still lights up on the dash?

Ic an't tell because i blew my gauge cluster. But I am getting a new one. It runs good as hell though so I'm guessing its not on. I fixed all the lil bugs out so everything should be okay. Anyone want to race? lol...

i'll race u!! but i have the same engine/car as u so it'll all come down to the better driver hehehe
my check engnie light wont turn off cos i accidentally broke the pressure switch but i can still drive it :D no biggie

haha I'll meet you in Detriot MI! Well if you broke your pressure switch will your Vtec still kick in? that plays a big factor there! Well I am the fastest shifter round' here in MI lets go for it! lol