'95 Accord H22a Swap Help

[CivicSpoon]

I didn't find any info on this swap, from a search here on AF (4 pages isn't enough apparently). My friend is doing the H22a swap into a '95 Accord Wagon (not sure if it's an EX or LX).

I found these 2 links with info:
1) http://www.accordinglydone.com/forum...hread.php?t=29
2) http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/te...rid/index.html

The 2nd link says to use a '97+ Prelude fuel rail, but I didn't see anything about that on the 1st link. Is this necessary?
The 1st link says to use the Accord axels, but the 2nd link recommends using the Prelude ones. Does it really make a big difference?

Is there any info on either of those that is completely wrong, or more info that isn't given? My friend wants to get this swap done fast, and without running into problems. I'm going to be helping him pull the engine out tonight and hopefully try to get the h22a bolted in as well, if time allows. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

[CivicSpoon]

How about the rear mount bracket? Which one should be used; Accord, USDM H22a, or JDM H22a (<- The engine he has)?

[therealrayman]

Originally Posted by CivicSpoon

My friend wants to get this swap done fast, and without running into problems. I'm going to be helping him pull the engine out tonight and hopefully try to get the h22a bolted in as well, if time allows. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

You should never rush a swap.....Find a swap shop..doesn't have to be in same state, just give them a call and ask, you could also email the VERY cool people at http://www.hmotorsonline.com . I used to talk to them when considering an engine and they would tell me what i need or what would have issues. Hope this helps

[CivicSpoon]

I hear ya. But it's not my friend's car, he's doing the swap for someone else so he wants to get it done and out of the shop asap. I went over to H-T and posted a thread there and got answers.
Don't need the '97+ Prelude fuel rail, can use either axles (Accord ones have less issues), and to use the Accord rear mount bracket. Also (added this question over there but not here) you can use either P/S pump and P/S bracket.

So far he's unhooked the nitrous (blah), got the engine out, put a new clutch in the H22a, and is in the process of doing all the wiring and part change overs. We've had really hot and humid days here, so staying in the shop all evening/night sucks (especially for my friend who works at a dealership as his full time job and then comes home to work on other cars). Wow, I actually miss winter . If I find out any more info or things that need to be done, I'll try and post them here in this thread for all the people who search. I might have to look up some wiring for the distributor, found something that says an extra wire needs to be added. But when he gets to that point, I'll look some more. If all else fails I'll have him give hmotors a call.

[hondoctor101]

here ya go buddy


Someone sticky this..

95 JDM h22a into 1995 Accord LX

PARTS LIST:
plug wires and plugs
valve cover gasket
plug grommets
valve cover bolt grommets
cam seals
oil pan and gasket
H22 drivers side motor mount
H22 throttle cable and bracket
H22 PS line
IAT sensor
Clutch
Timing belt (beware, replacing the timing belt on the H22 is kind of a biatch. There is a special tool to compress the tensioner, which is unnecessarily complex if you ask me. It can be done without it, just be creative and PATIENT!)
PS, AC, and Alternator belt (these may be custom lengths depending on what pumps and pullies you use.)
H22 MAP sensor, brackets, vaccum hose and evap canister. (You could probably stick with the Accord canister as well.
Crank pully

PARTS COMPATIBILITY:
Mounts: This motor basically bolts in using the all the Accord mounts except for the drivers side mount. A Prelude mount must be used, and the metal bushing that holds the bolt mounting it to the frame must be shaved down slightly to fit between the brackets on the frame, you will see when you do it.
Axles: Use the stock Accord axles, and intermediate shaft.
PS Line: You will need the PS line from both the Accord and the Prelude, and have the Accord lower half (that connects to the rack) spliced with the Prelude upper half (that connects to the PS pump.) Fitting shops can do this, it costs around $60. Make sure you get it long enough.
PS pump and bracket: Prelude pump and bracket
A/C compressor and bracket: Accord compressor, with either bracket
Alternator and bracket: Accord alternator, and Prelude bracket *NOTE: Other combinations may work with the accessories, this is just what we did. Keep in mind that belt lengths will depend on what you use.
Belts: Depending on which accessory pumps you use (Prelude or Accord) the belts may be different length. For example the pully on the Prelude's A/C compressor is a lot smaller than the one on the Accord. Basically, just get your stuff mounted up and measure the length of the needed belt, and take yourself to NAPA. We ended up using the stock length Prelude PS belt, and a 43" belt for the Accord A/C compressor and Alternator on the Prelude.
Hoses: Use the upper and lower radiator hoses off the Prelude, as well as the drivers side heater hose, that goes to the back of the block. You may also need to pick up some vaccum hose, as some of the solenoids, valves etc. are going to be in different places. Consult the vaccum hose diagram in the Prelude manual for more details here, it's pretty self explanitory.
MAP Sensor: You will need the MAP sensor off a Prelude, as the Accord MAP is mounted on the throttle body, but the Prelude has it mounted on the firewall. May as well pick up the bracket with the 3 hard lines for the vaccum hoses that also attaches to the firewall (See vacuum hose diagram.) We also got the Prelude EVAP canister, as it has 3 vaccum lines and the Accord has 2, just to avoid confusion. If you don't care about money, get it from Honda, if you do-go to a junk yard. (Remember small items fit easily in pockets!) Kidding, well this may be justified if the owner is senile and wants $800 for a pair Del Sol seats that are smoked from a car fire. When he insists it's easy to get out, tell him to go to hell.
Exhaust: The combination of the Prelude header and the Accord cat/exhaust did not work. The Accord cat is too long. You have options of what you can do. We bought an aftermarket header and had a muffler shop cut the exhaust and weld everything up. You can have the excess length taken out of the header or out of the exhaust, it's your call. I have been told that a Prelude cat is shorter, but someone else will have to look into that.
Shift linkage and clutch linkage: Accord
Throttle cable: Use the Prelude throttle cable and bracket. Someone with a small bit of creativity could get cruise to work, by fashioning a bracket to hold both cables properly and shortening the cruise cable and attaching it to the throttle pulley. We didn't do this. *NOTE: The Accord throttle cable attaches to the pedal differently than the Prelude. There is a gap that the cable can come off using the Prelude cable, just use your head and secure it in place. There is more than one way to do this, you will see.
Harness and ECU: Use the Accord harness, and ECU for the H22 (obviously.) The harness must be modified (no simple task, see wiring section.)


*** WIRING:
Now to clear things up, many people emailed me saying to use the Accord harness and just add the VTEC pressure, VTEC solenoid, Knock Sensor, and Intake Air Bypass wires and you are set. Similar to a B series EG swap, easy right? Well, the truth is actually much, much darker...
First of all, about half of the wires for the sensors have to be relocated/lengthened. This is difficult going into the whole thing blind, and you will spend a significant amount of time cross referencing wiring diagrams in you Helms. I will spare you that pain. Also avoid "mickey-mousing" it, buy some flex tube and tape so you can give the illusion that the wiring was not d; it, buy one by a drunken blind man.
Also, and I can't stress this enough, CHECK YOUR GROUNDS. They are the cause and solution to all of lifes problems!
* Wires to add:
VTEC Solenoid: Grn/Yel on Prelude harness > Pin A4 on ECU // SENSOR LOCATION: Near distributor
VTEC Pressure Switch: Lt Blu on Prelude harness > Pin D6 on ECU // SENSOR LOCATION: Near distributor
Blk/Red > Ground
IAB: Pink on Prelude harness > Pin A17 on ECU // SENSOR LOCATION: Drivers side of intake manifold
Blk/Yel > 12V
Knock Sensor: Red/Blu on Prelude harness > Pin D3 on ECU // SENSOR LOCATION: Middle back of block
* Sensors to lengthen:
(NOTE: Consult the helms for the location of sensors, and color code of the wires on your harness.)Colors below are for the Accord LX harness.
IAT (GRN/BLU-RED/YEL): Too short, needs to reach drivers side of intake manifold.
MAP (YEL/WHT-GRN/WHT-WHT/YEL): Too short, needs to reach wherever on the firewall you mount the MAP sensor.
EGR Lift solenoid (GRN/BLU-WHT/BLK-YEL/BLU): Too short, needs to reach passengers side of intake manifold.
H02s (GRN/BLU-WHT/RED-ORN/BLK-YEL/BLK): Too short, needs to be run to O2 sensor, near oil filter.
IAC valve (BLK/BLU-YEL/BLK): Too short, needs to reach top of intake runners, in the middle.
ECT switch A: This will need to be extended to the thermostat housing on the passengers side of the back of the head. The ECT sensor and ECT sending unit fit fine (under the distributor.)
*NOTE: There is no ECT switch B on the JDM H22, just spare back the connector.
Alternator: The power wire on the alternator needs to be lengthened about 2". We just cut the one off the Prelude harness, and attached it to the Accord harot;. ness with a large enough splice.
*NOTE: SWITCH WIRES A6 (EGR solenoid) and A11 (H02S heater) at the ECU
When you think you have everything wired up correctly, plug in the brick and turn the key. Have a multimeter ready to troublshoot if you throw codes. Remember, some of the sensors may be bad so don't run yourself into a wall thinking you wired wrong. (Although you may have.)
*** HOW TO:
Remove the stock motor, follow the steps in the Helms if you haven't done this before. I will assume you have a hoist. Take care removing the axles, pull them straight out of the tranny to avoid damaging the seal. It makes life easier if you remove the radiator also, as the motor/tranny must be cocked to get the tranny past the passengers side mount. Having the radiator out just gives you more mobility, and it takes about 10 seconds to remove. While you are at it you may as well remove the subframe that the trailing radius rods and front mount connect to (about 5 seconds) for even more space. Double check that everything is disconnected and hoist the motor out, this is easier with two people one pivoting the motor and watching for clearance in the back, and the other running the hoist.
Have the H22 ready to go (wiring especially) before you put it in. Drop the sucker in the opposite of how you took the F22 out, lining up the mounts etc. The H22 seems to lean back in the engine compartment, don't panic-it's normal. I am not going into too much detail here, you know what you are doing if you bought the Helms. Grind down the Prelude drivers mount, like I mentioned earlier. (Just enough to get the metal bushing to fit between the frame brackets.)
Mount your map sensor, vaccum hard lines, and EVAP canister on the firewall and consult the vaccum hose diagram on how everything interconnects. You will have two hoses to cap off on the tranny, where the power steering speed sensor connects (passengers side). Usually these would go to the Prelude rack, but since there is no matching connection on the Accord rack, they are useless.
Put everything back together, and run your additional wires to the ECU. You can get all tech, and actually get the ecu pins from Honda but it works just as well to strip the wires back (I used 18 ga. BTW) and push it into the proper place on the clip. This method isn't as cool, but has never given me any problems. DOUBLE CHECK ALL YOUR WIRING AND HOSES! Hook up the Prelude throttle cable, as well as your intake and header of choice, noticing that your car is going to be extremely loud driving it to the muffler shop. Finish putting everything back together, AGAIN I am assuming you have a helms so you know the steps!
Make sure you have all the fluids replaced, and everything torqued. Finish putting everything back in, and clean that dirty little motor. Stand back and adjust yourself, so on lookers think you had it all locked down from the beginning.

The End.

[hondoctor101]

and start on the wiring of the harness asap and even before you take the old motor out...that is what takes the longest...you have to splice and extend wires, so pay attention to that part of the write up listed above!

good luck with the swap!

P.S. make sure you understand everything before starting swap!

[CivicSpoon]

Thanks, but that's exactyl the same as the first link, with a few added things to the Parts List part.
And the engine is already out of the engine bay. The distributor wiring is the only thing he's worried about now, he'll just have to see when he gets there. But thanks I appreciate it. And I agree this should be a sticky since there doesn't seem to be much info on here about it, that's easily found.

Here's a link for the post I made on H-T, and the answers I got over there: http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1313034

[CivicSpoon]

Ok... this thing is in the final stages of being done. Got all the parts needed except the header, all fluids have been added (or replaced). All there is left is the wiring, vacume lines, putting on belts, and the only problems; the P/S line and belts.

For P/S it says to use the Prelude top and the Accord bottom. Simply stated, that's a pain in the ass. Obviously the way the Accord one is bent at the end, it's not going to clear the belt(s). Over at H-T they said to use the whole Prelude line. So for the stupid question, will this work? I don't know jack about P/S, and I can't see where the line connects to the rack. Are they really interchangeable (lude line on accord rack)?

What about the belts to use? The guy who owns the car bought a belt (for the A/C) and it is too short. It seems like he bought it for the Prelude instead of the 43" belt that he was told to get. Is there any way to get the belt to work, along with the A/C? He's using the Accord A/C compressor and accord alternator, should he just use the lude compressor (since it's apparently smaller)? Someone here has got to know this answer.

Please help, I'm sick of seeing and helping my friend work on this car.

[hondoctor101]

i used my accord powersteering pump and accord belts. but if you do, you might have to have lines rebrazed if needed be!