'98 Civic HX D16Y5 engine swap into '95 Civic DX

[cems70]

I have a '98 Civic HX that I bought in 2005 with 50,000 miles and have maintained it myself. It now has 152,000 miles on it. Four months ago it was creamed while parked in a parking garage in the right rear quarter and was totalled by the insurance company. I paid a small salvage fee to buy the car back so I could either A) swap the drivetrain into a '96 - '00 HX with a good body and bad engine and/or transmission; B) swap the engine into my '95 Civic DX hatchback because my DX engine has developed a loud tapping when cold (not sure if it's a bearing or just very loud valve); or C) sell the HX for parts, either entirely or part it out.

Incredibly, the HX still drives straight. Everything forward of the rear quarters on the exterior is good except for the hood which was dented by a chunk of falling ice from a roof last winter. The entire interior is perfect. No rips or wear in the seats or on the carpets. All the glass is good. About 50% tread is left on Nokian i3 LRR tires mounted on the original HX rims, all of which are in excellent condition. The engine and transmission are smooth with no problems. The clutch is original and like new having logged most of its miles on the highway by someone (my ex-wife) who knew how to drive a manual transmission properly.

My question is about a possible engine swap. If I do a swap, 1) what do I need to do for the wiring harness? 2) Do I use the DX exhaust, and will the HX O2 sensors (I believe there are two?) fit the DX exhaust? 3) Are there any other special things I need to do for this swap? I'm thinking the HX with my VX tranny (which I swapped into my DX when I bought it in 2007) should be more efficient than my DX engine with the VX tranny and with better performance given the power band of the HX engine is closer to the VX engine.

If I don't have the know-how to do the swap, then I'll likely part out the HX or sell it to someone who can use the whole car. Since it's drivable, delivery would be easy.

Thanks for your help.

[silversol]

Originally Posted by cems70

I have a '98 Civic HX that I bought in 2005 with 50,000 miles and have maintained it myself. It now has 152,000 miles on it. Four months ago it was creamed while parked in a parking garage in the right rear quarter and was totalled by the insurance company. I paid a small salvage fee to buy the car back so I could either A) swap the drivetrain into a '96 - '00 HX with a good body and bad engine and/or transmission; B) swap the engine into my '95 Civic DX hatchback because my DX engine has developed a loud tapping when cold (not sure if it's a bearing or just very loud valve); or C) sell the HX for parts, either entirely or part it out.

Incredibly, the HX still drives straight. Everything forward of the rear quarters on the exterior is good except for the hood which was dented by a chunk of falling ice from a roof last winter. The entire interior is perfect. No rips or wear in the seats or on the carpets. All the glass is good. About 50% tread is left on Nokian i3 LRR tires mounted on the original HX rims, all of which are in excellent condition. The engine and transmission are smooth with no problems. The clutch is original and like new having logged most of its miles on the highway by someone (my ex-wife) who knew how to drive a manual transmission properly.

My question is about a possible engine swap. If I do a swap, 1) what do I need to do for the wiring harness? 2) Do I use the DX exhaust, and will the HX O2 sensors (I believe there are two?) fit the DX exhaust? 3) Are there any other special things I need to do for this swap? I'm thinking the HX with my VX tranny (which I swapped into my DX when I bought it in 2007) should be more efficient than my DX engine with the VX tranny and with better performance given the power band of the HX engine is closer to the VX engine.

If I don't have the know-how to do the swap, then I'll likely part out the HX or sell it to someone who can use the whole car. Since it's drivable, delivery would be easy.

Thanks for your help.

Yes It could be done one of two ways. I have done over a 100 honda engine swap over the years. The first way Is to change everything from your 95 civic's engine You wont be able to keep lean burn and you will have to rewire the distribuiter to accept the obd1 plugs since a obd1 dis wont bolt up to the newer head. This is probably the easy way to get it to " work"

Second say you want to keep the lean burn One you will need a vx ecu A obd2 integra engine harness and alot of wiring! The vx ecu will run the lean burn. The obd2 integra harness will plug right into the obd1 civics frame/ shock tower plugs and plug into the obd2 sensors on the obd2 engine. You might have to extend some wires but you will not have to change sensors on the engine. You will need to wire in the o2 sensor that is a 5 wire plug from a 4 wire. wire in the egr valve, wire in vtec,ect This way is more of a pain but worth it if you think you can do it!

[BaronvonOttobat]

Why would he have to wire all that in, he can swap the entire drivetrain and harness with ECU into the EG shell. The only wiring issues would be to the main floor harness. He asked about this in November and was given this as the answer.

[BaronvonOttobat]

The exhaust is roughly the same from 88-00, the Oxygen sensor threads are the same. You do have two Oxygen sensors, and they are different from other Civic's. The transmissions are both D-Series and are interchangeable, however the plugs and wiring may not be.

[silversol]

you would have to rewire the whole car to use a 96+ civic harness and ecu in a 95 and older civic. they are not even close to being interchangable.

[cems70]

Sounds like it's more work than it's worth. I'll either sell the entire car to someone who wants everything that's good on it, part it out, or find another '96 - '00 HX with a good body to swap it into. Thanks for the guidance.

[nowhhs]

Originally Posted by silversol

Yes It could be done one of two ways. I have done over a 100 honda engine swap over the years. The first way Is to change everything from your 95 civic's engine You wont be able to keep lean burn and you will have to rewire the distribuiter to accept the obd1 plugs since a obd1 dis wont bolt up to the newer head. This is probably the easy way to get it to " work"

Second say you want to keep the lean burn One you will need a vx ecu A obd2 integra engine harness and alot of wiring! The vx ecu will run the lean burn. The obd2 integra harness will plug right into the obd1 civics frame/ shock tower plugs and plug into the obd2 sensors on the obd2 engine. You might have to extend some wires but you will not have to change sensors on the engine. You will need to wire in the o2 sensor that is a 5 wire plug from a 4 wire. wire in the egr valve, wire in vtec,ect This way is more of a pain but worth it if you think you can do it!

Could you elaborate on the second method silversol? What additional sensors are there on an obd2 engine that aren't on obd1? I'm considering doing something similar, d16y5 into an obd1 chassis, and am wondering if its significantly more involved than putting a d15z1 into a 90 hatch. That also involved adding an egr, vtec, 5wire o2, etc, and while time consuming, wasn't really that difficult. Would a p07 run everything, or are there other things I would be giving up by not using the obd2 ecu, ie a knock sensor? Thanks for your expertise.

[silversol]

Originally Posted by nowhhs

Could you elaborate on the second method silversol? What additional sensors are there on an obd2 engine that aren't on obd1? I'm considering doing something similar, d16y5 into an obd1 chassis, and am wondering if its significantly more involved than putting a d15z1 into a 90 hatch. That also involved adding an egr, vtec, 5wire o2, etc, and while time consuming, wasn't really that difficult. Would a p07 run everything, or are there other things I would be giving up by not using the obd2 ecu, ie a knock sensor? Thanks for your expertise.

You would need a conversion harness to convert you 90 civic to obd1. there are several companys that make them boomslang for example. the d15z1 will fit in your 90 hatch with minimal efford you will need to use all the mounts including the one that bolts to the block under the timing belt covers. the cabel transmission, but you will also need a newer electronic speed sensor from a obd1 transmission. there are many diagrams online for the wiring. when i did a vx swap on my cx the ''vx'' wiring is not that involved

[nowhhs]

Thanks for your reply, but that isn't what I asked. I've already done the d15z1 conversion, without a conversion harness, and have almost 50k miles on it now. My question was - how much harder is an obd2 engine to obd1 chassis conversion than the one I've already done, or is is similar? It sounded like you've done both, so you would be the one to ask. My impression is that there are a lot more sensors on an obd2 engine, and would a p07 run the d15y5? Thanks again.

[silversol]

Originally Posted by nowhhs

Thanks for your reply, but that isn't what I asked. I've already done the d15z1 conversion, without a conversion harness, and have almost 50k miles on it now. My question was - how much harder is an obd2 engine to obd1 chassis conversion than the one I've already done, or is is similar? It sounded like you've done both, so you would be the one to ask. My impression is that there are a lot more sensors on an obd2 engine, and would a p07 run the d15y5? Thanks again.

Sorry I just re read what you asked. I say you wanted to for example put a obd2 d15y5 in to for example a 95 civic dx. I would use a obd2 integra engine harness. The end plugs fit into the 95 civic shocktower plugs. And the harness being obd2 will plug into most of the d15y5 sensors while you would still need to extend or mod some wires. As well as wire in the egr/ 5 wire o2 and vtec since the dx models dont come with vtec.. If I were doing this swap this is the way i would go and seem the easy way. As 96-00 civic engine harness will never come even close to working in obd1 civic. Also another choice would be a 96-97 delsol engine harness but this would be much harder to find but they use a similar engine but you would still have to wire up the egr/vtec/5 wire o2