Myst8u

I already posted on hondacivicforum.com about this but haven't had a reply so I'm hoping to find one here. I apologize for the wall of text. I am not a civic enthusiast but more just a person who was passed down an old honda civic DX and has grown to love it. Also it's been falling apart left and right, and the trunk leaks. Still love it somehow.

I have been having some trouble with the autoshop I go to in searching for a used ECU to replace my old one in my 1994 Honda civic Coupe DX. Ever since the new starter and distributor was put in it has horrid time accelerating without sputtering and the engine sounds so loud that I've nicknamed it "The Podracer" (god forbid I almost come to a complete stop and then the light changes, also hills suck) and the shop I go to said it was because I needed a new ECU. The mechanics who work on the car do great work at good prices but the person manning the desk makes assumptions about information and does not always have the greatest customer service, unfortunately she is also the only one that puts everything down in the records and informs the other people on what needs fixing unless one of the mechanics picks up the phone in her absence. This is a small family run autoshop that has generally wonderful reviews. I was told by this person that she would look up a used ECU from a reputable dealer and get back to me. She called me days later asking if I had a DX, LX, or EX which I didn't even know was a thing until then (I am not very knowledgeable on these things) despite having that information already in their records.

The ECU they found apparently has an issue with my transmission and locks (I assume it's because the trasnaxle assembly was replaced a few years ago, she did not tell me whether that was why or not) thus she suggested that I just stick a screwdriver in the shift hole when I want to put it in drive and it's "super easy to do and isn't a big deal" if I wanted to use the ECU they found. I really do not want to do this. I then had another person there call me to confirm if I had an automatic or not, which I had already informed the front desk woman of days prior, so communication seems not to be the clearest there (I often have to call back myself because the desk woman forgets to call me when she says she will). I found out later that she also put my vin model wrong despite past records that I have given them twice now, showing them that I have an EJ2 not an EG8. They put my old ECU in and are now looking for another one. I will be $350 in the hole for parts and labor (understandably, and so far as I know not a bad price anyway) without a properly working ECU if they can't find another one within the month apparently. I am skating by money-wise right now and am trying to avoid having to go to another autoshop should things tank the second time these people find me a part.

So my point is, I would like to look for an ECU myself to at the very least understand what part I need so that I can better understand this whole situation and maybe even just get the darn thing myself if I feel confident enough to do so, and then having the autoshop it's at just install the thing. The transaxle assembly has been replaced with a 114k one from LKQ in feb of 2017. The engine is not the original engine and all I can find in the past records I have is that it is a deconditioned engine, however I do not know the number. It's 1994 Honda Civic DX 1.5L In-Line4 VIN EJ2. the distributor and starter were recently replaced last fall. I took ownership of this car last aug but have been driving it for almost 6 years as it was my fathers old car, unfortunately he took it to a not so good autoshop for years and some occasional subpar work was put into it before I found the place it's at now, so I'm not sure of the quality of the new engine and transaxle assembly. My apologies for this wall of text, I'm new here and inexperienced with all this, any help or advice is very appreciated.

Colin42

Did they use an OEM distributor when they replaced it? If they didn't get a working one from a junkyard and try that

Myst8u

I am not sure, in my records I see they didn't mention if it was OEM or aftermarket just that they replaced Ignition Distributor w/cap, rotor, and coil. How would the distributor be contributing to this? I was under the impression that because my transaxle assembly is aftermarket and that they ordered an OEM ECU, that that was possibly what was causing the new ECU to not properly communicate with the transmission.

ezone

WHY was it replaced?

I'll guess either they made an error such as got the plug wire order wrong around the dist cap, or the new aftermarket distributor is crap.

FYI Aftermarket distributors are just crap.

If that shop is charging you for the incorrect ECM (which sounds like it's 100% their error), that's crap too.
Especially if they actually get one that's correct and it doesn't fix the problem.

Myst8u

Apologies for the late reply. Since the car was not mine yet at the time the distributor and starter were put in, all I know is that the starter failed and the car had to be towed in to replace it, and then they suggested to replace the distributor as well. Unfortunately they did not specify which type of part they replaced the distributor with, and didn't tell us which they have a habit of doing. The situation has changed a bit since I posted. One of the mechanics suspects that in ordering the first ECU, the distributing company sent them one for a manual instead of automatic and that's why it locks with my transmission. At this point I'm stuck with them because they already ordered the 2nd ECU and returned the 1st one so if this doesn't work this time around I'm just going to take the $350 charge and go to another place. The starter and distributor have worked fine since they were replaced as far as I could tell (obviously I could be wrong here), but they suggested ECU replacement in the first place because the engine wasn't getting proper fuel injection and that was why I was experiencing sputtering on acceleration. I could only speculate that it was because the ECU was old and worn and couldn't keep up with the new starter and distributor (I apologize if this assumption is very ignorant lol) and they confirmed my assumption when I talked about it with them.

I agree, I felt like I shouldn't have to pay for their error but then again they bought the part and put the labor in to install it and then put my old one back in so I was torn about that. I feel they should get paid for their labor but they also kinda shafted me by not clearly communicating what the heck they needed and what was going on. I have a better rated place in mind to check out after I pry my car back from their jaws lol

ezone

A person can replace that ECM twice in 5 minutes.

It may take more time to figure out why it doesn't work, but....

Myst8u

Understandable. Well with the waiting on the parts it took 2 weeks from the first phone call on feb 21st to get it in on mar 6th, and my car is still there with no update call this week yet about the 2nd ECU delivery date. I am definitely taking it elsewhere after this, and I'll ask the next mechanic if they could let me know what kind of distributor and starter was put in so I know what quality was used. Thank you for all your help

ezone

I'm sure it's all aftermarket.

Now consider, once someone figures out the distributor is junk....who will replace it again under warranty? (any respectable shop provides some sort of warranty on their work, typical example might be 12 months/12,000 miles)

Myst8u

Thats the thing is I have no idea if the shop I'm with even offers anything like that, the communication is such crap there. It was fine when I first went there,
but this last time has just been a mess.

The other shop I have in mind offers things like that. Theirs is supposedly up to a 5yr/50000 mile parts and labor warranty on most repairs. They never offer aftermarket parts which I know means more reliability but sucks because sometimes OEM parts are much more than I can afford. I do wish I had gone to them first. Next time I need any maintenance I'm going to try them out and get a more in depth answer to what the heck has been put in my car.