Honda Car Forum

I've got someone wanting to sell me a 97 Civic with a d16z6 motor that doesn't run (they swapped it in, and can't get it to run.) Under the hood it's obvious that the wiring doesn't match up... would I have to find a computer and harness for the d16z6 to get it to run? What else might I have to do?? Thanks!

Well if you say that they can't run it , probably they chekted the computeryou have to bring it in good garage someone will find the problem and give you an estimate to fix, you may spend a 100$ for that , but at least you will know what wrong.

well, can you really trust the person who did the swap? when he cannot even figure out simple ECU wiring job?

I recommend not buying it, it sounds like a big head ache. If the previous owner did any kind of wire splicing or cutting, it could be to the point where you'd need to get a professional to fix it, or buy an entirely new harness. It wouldn't be as simple as buying a '92-'95 Civic harness either, because the '97 harness is 1 piece (from the engine to the ecu) and the '92-'95's have a 2 piece (engine to shock tower mount plugs, shock tower mount plugs to the ecu). Not to mention that if you have to deal with emissions testing, having a car with an older engine in it than the year of the car is illegal and will not pass.But the major differences between the harnesses are the alternator, injector and distributor wiring. The injectors are an easy fix; just use OBD2 ('96-'00) injectors. For the alternator, the easiest way is to get an OBD1 and an OBD2 one. Simply swap the part from the OBD2 alternator that has the connector into the OBD1 alternator housing. For the distributor, you can either buy a conversion harness (http://rywire.com/store/obd2-dseries...7299d1cabfb2d) or you could hardwire the OBD1 connectors onto the engine harness; to be able to plug in the OBD1 distributor. Here is some more wiring that you may have to deal with, depending on your car. But some of it just pertains to the OBD1 B-series swaps.http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1972711As for the ECU, you have a couple choices. You could either find an ECU for an OBD2A D16Y8 engine, and then wire in the extra stuff (like the 2nd O2 sensor). Of you'll need to buy an OBD2A to OBD1 conversion harness and an OBD1 P28 ECU (the D16Z6 ECU). Personally I would go the 2nd route, conversion harness and P28 ECU.

ok thats a head ache. your putting an obd1 motor into an obd2 car. id pull the z6 and trade it for a y8.the obd2 motors have a sensor by the crank that obd1 cars have in the dizzy.there is a trick you can use to fool the computer tho, its easy, i'd have to look it up tho.but you need the original wiring harness for the car (obd2), you cant use the z6 (obd1) wiring harness, it doesnt hook up to the obd2 chassis harness.so you need the obd2 engine harness, with an obd2 distributor. you can use the z6 ecu but you will need a jumper harness, id just use the y8 ecu.but it would be alot easier to just trade the z6 for a y8.