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vtec in no vtec body??

Old Oct 22, 2017
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vtec in no vtec body??

ok ... this is on a friends car... i dropped a 2003 vtec engine into a 2001 non vtec body it runs just fine.. minus the vtec.. i was wondering if i took the brain out of the 2003 vtec and put it in the non vtec body and all the keys with the ignition would the non vtec harness work? and would the brain get confused since its programmed for a 4 door ?
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Old Oct 22, 2017
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Re: vtec in no vtec body??

Body style doesn't matter. There are a few things that do matter, however..

For the purpose of explanation, the vtec engine and it's related components are going to be referred to as the -a2 [insert component here], labeled as such due to the D17A2 engine they original from. Non-vtec stuff will be -a1, after the D17A1 engine.

If you put in the -a2 ecu to control the -a2 engine, it will work, given that you do the following:
1) First and foremost, I guarantee you the engine will not start, even if you push start it. The reason being is the immobilizer unit. Once you get the original key programmed to the -a2 ecu, it'll start it no problem.
2) You'll also get no VTEC controlling if you're using the -A1 wiring harness. Why? Because the -a1 ecu didn't need to control VTEC, thus has no VTEC wiring in the engine wiring harness. You can do one of 2 things to rectify this. One option is to manually run wires from the ECU to the VTEC solenoid. Requires a bit of research on your part to figure out which pins on the wiring harness control VTEC, and making it so those pins from the ECU can talk to the solenoid. Alternatively, you can swap in an -a2 wiring harness. That does require a bit more time and effort, but there's very little chance of messing it up. You just have to make sure you plug in every sensor you unplugged, otherwise you'll run into different issues.

If you decide to stick with the -a1 ECU, you can always get an external VTEC controller (e.g. A'PEXi VAFC-II) to set VTEC engagement points.
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Old Oct 22, 2017
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Re: vtec in no vtec body??

ok, when i istalled the vtec in the non vtec car ... his harness had the vtec connector ... it was insulated with the knock sensor... so he may have already swapped out an -A2 harness?

i can pull the immobolizer and ignition cylinder of the -A2 car and mount on the -A1 car? along with the ecu?
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