B20b swap

lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
in Engine & Drivetrain
so im doing the b20b swap in my wagon. i have the old d15 out and trying to get the b20 in there. couple problems ive ran into like the wiring harness. the one that i had bought i thought was going to work but it wont because some of the clips are diff like the ones for the distributor. so im guessing im going to need a 89-91 integra wire harness and distributor to make things alot simpler. also i ran into a problem with the motor mounts. i dont think the rear motor mount is going to bolt up because i dont see a spot for it to bolt up to the block or tranny. and i dont believe its the front mount. the old motor had 4 mounts this one only has 3. i know theyre the right mounts from Innovative for a cable tranny. now i know ima have to beat the subframe in a lil where the hfeaders go and for the altenator. just need some help here. im stuck and im really wanting this car drivable by the end of this month or begening of next.
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Comments

  • turbo_tegturbo_teg Council Member
    theres a few different ways u can wire it. if its just a stock motor and your just lookin to get it running i would either use your stock DX harness and get yerself either a 90-91 integra harness or 88-91 civic MPFI harness and use them to make your conversion harness with. if u cant do this either rywire or some people on ebay sell them but u most of the time have to send in your wiring as a core. as for the rear mount i dont know maybe take some pix
  • 503Wagon503Wagon moderator
    www.rywire.com solving all your wiring problems.
  • JDMWago666JDMWago666 Senior Wagonist
    Sounds like you're missing the t bar that connects the rear mount to the tranny and block. It's sorta like an adapter, any 90-93 integra tbar will work. Not 100% on the following years but a 91 is what I used for mine. What color are the plugs? Dark grey or like a cream color? Pics would help. Dark grey is OBD1 and cream color is OBD0.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    yeah ima have my buddy take some pics for me cuz its at his garage right now. the clips are a cream color. i know im gonna stay obd0 but the harness i got is already wired i think he split the stock mpfi harness but it was for a b20 out of the integra, my b20 is newer out of a cr-v. some of the clips do match up but then again there are just random wires hanging out of the harness and the clip on the harness and the clip on the distributor are diff. so i think if i just pick up a dizzy off an integra and a wire harness ill be ok. or i could hit up that rywire place and see what they'll charge me. also some one was telling me i would have a hell of a time running my clutch cable
  • JDMWago666JDMWago666 Senior Wagonist
    So wait, I'm confused now. Explain please, what color is each plug? Are the dizzy plugs grey and the harness plugs are cream? Elaborate for me please. Be as descriptive as possible, the better described the better answer I can give.
    Dark grey=OBD1
    Cream=OBD0
    Your wagon will be OBD0 and if the motor is out of a mid to late 90s CRV than it's most likely OBD1. You'll need to switch out the dizzy and alternator to OBD0 or just convert everything to OBD1.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    the plugs on the harness are green and the plugs on the dizzy are cream, im trying to get my buddy to send me some pics of the motor if not ill drive over there tmrw and get some
  • JDMWago666JDMWago666 Senior Wagonist
    Sounds to me like you have the wrong harness. This is from what I've read. It states that the harnes is out of an Integra. You need to use your old harness or another SI, EX, RT or HF harness out of any 88-91 Civic. As these are already set up for MPFI. If you use the Integra harness than it will not work. Integras have their plugs in different areas than the civics. If you used your old DPFI and converted it to MPFI than you should only have one plug left over. The only green plugs that I can think of are the alternator plug and the resistor box. Resistor box should be on the driver side next to the big round plug with 14 pins.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    yeah i dont really know whats going on i need to get pictures so you can really see what im working with.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    ok so those clips are gray meaning its obd1 or obd2. but i want to stay obd0 so if i grab a obd0 distibutor off an integra obd0 b20 will it work for mine? and as for the wire harness im going to call Chase Bays and Rywire to see what they can do for me. and the rear motor mount issue, i tried to do some research on the b20b to see if i could find a pic if it has a tbar on the back or what, if any one has done this swap or knows anything about this plz help. i need to get this figured out. im hoping i can still use this motor
  • NZ-DB8RNZ-DB8R Moderator
    Can you please press enter every once in a while when you post, will make it much easier to read.

    You could run OBD1 by getting a conversion harness for the ECU, repin the dizzy plugs to OBD0 but run a OBD1 dizzy, then wire up the 4wire O2 sensor.
  • JDMWago666JDMWago666 Senior Wagonist
    PM me lilROOKS. Whenever you can so we can get this figured out.
  • MUSTANG03GTMUSTANG03GT Band Wagon
    Wow, any pics?
  • JakerJaker familEE
    If you need that rear T bar, I have one, the exact one that's needed to put a B series into an EF (Wagon or otherwise). I also have the correct cast steel mount that attaches to the aluminum engine block right under the cam gears.
  • fast2camcivfast2camciv Band Wagon
    JDMWago666 wrote:
    Your wagon will be OBD0 and if the motor is out of a mid to late 90s CRV than it's most likely OBD1. You'll need to switch out the dizzy and alternator to OBD0 or just convert everything to OBD1.
    James, all CRV's (and b20's) are OBD2. my advice here is to swap in the b20, run the obd0 wire harness (general rule of thumb is always try to use the harness that came with the car) run an obd0 LS dizzy and ECU.....probably be the easiest way to complete that swap....although the wiring is going to still be pretty intensive.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    the wagon, mpfi is basically obd0 just without the injectors. the b20b is out of a 97-00 cr-v, meaning its obd2. so i need to grab an obd0 harness out of a 89-91 integra. swap the distributor and starter to obd0.
  • JakerJaker familEE
    The engine doesn't care what kind of starter you're using. There's no OBD0, OBD1, OBD, etc... starter. If it bolts in, it works.

    You do not want to try and use an engine harness from anything other than the one that came with the car. Like someone else has stated, you're just asking for trouble if you try and use some alternate engine harness. The easiest conversion will be to mod the existing harness to fit the new engine.

    You could even stay with the injectors that come with the engine if you swap over the injector plugs/clips to the OBD2 ones. Since you don't have an injector resistor box yet, this way you can just skip that step.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    ok thanks man. im stuck on the wiring right now. thats the only thing holding me up. the motors been pulled since last week. i just thought i could use an integra harness since the b20 came in integra's and if i got an obd0 harness it would plug up to my obd0(mpfi) harness.
  • NZ-DB8RNZ-DB8R Moderator
    Trust me, use your OEM harness.

    All you need to do is extend the wires for the Radiator fan switch and solder a plug on if staying OBD0.

    If OBD1 apart from the ECU plugs all you will need to do is run a wire for the knock sensor, and 4wires for the O2 sensor, and either solder OBD1 Dizzy plugs onto your loom/OBD0 plugs onto OBD1 Dizzy. Super easy to do
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    yeah i was looking at a harness that i had bought for this swap and upon closer look i dont really trust it. but i am going to try to use my harness from the d15 and copy the harness i have. i really wish there was a step-by-step on this but really i couldnt find much b20 swaps into wagons or ef's.
    i really appriciate all the positive comments and help so far
  • NZ-DB8RNZ-DB8R Moderator
    A non Wagon loom will require a lot more work. It will go onto the motor fine but nothing will plug into the chassis loom.

    Step by step:
    -Buy OBD0 to OBD1 Conversion harness.
    -Run 4wires from ECU down to 4wire O2 sensor, terminate into plug
    -Run one wire from ECU to knock sensor
    -De-pin OBD1 dizzy and re-pin OBD0 plugs onto it so it plugs into engine loom
    -Extend the 2 thermo fan switch wires to Thermostat housing and attach/solder onto plug
    -Try plug everything in, there might be a couple plugs that dont quite reach, extend these wires
    (you will have the original single wire O2 wire spare)

    You sir, are done.

    If you get stuck refer to some articles here:
    http://www.rywire.com/catalog/articles.php
  • fast2camcivfast2camciv Band Wagon
    lilROOKZ wrote:
    yeah i was looking at a harness that i had bought for this swap and upon closer look i dont really trust it. but i am going to try to use my harness from the d15 and copy the harness i have. i really wish there was a step-by-step on this but really i couldnt find much b20 swaps into wagons or ef's.
    i really appriciate all the positive comments and help so far

    dont worry so much about it being a b20...the b20 is identical to a b18 LS motor outside of its larger cylinder bore. there are lots of writeups on the numerous ways to outfit an EF with a b18..NZ-DB8R has you on the right track for sure!
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    MUSTANG03GT wrote:
    Wow, any pics?
    heres the build thread plenty of pics for ya
    viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10697

    *does anyone know what kind of clutch cable i should be running? i bought a brand new cable for the wagon but i think it might be too long. when everything was hooked up the clutch arm would only raise about half way before the throwout bearing would hit the pressure plate. the pedals would move the clutch but they were extremely soft, no tension in them what so ever. i either have the wrong clutch/pressure plate/throwout bearing, or im running the wrong cable.
    the build is just resting on this right now, im thinking of just buying a new clutch this week and if it still does it thats one thing eliminated....
  • JDMWago666JDMWago666 Senior Wagonist
    What clutch cable are you using? You didn't mention which one you were using. I'd try and 88-91 civic clutch cable, if that's not one that you are already using. I don't know if there is a difference in length between the different models though. Good luck and hope you get this situated.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    yeah thats the one im using, 91 civic clutch cable. hoping to get this situated this weekend. looking for a nice clutch, pressure plate, and throwout bearing set on ebay. know any good brands on there? not looking for anything crazy expensive right now i just want to get this running right first.
  • NZ-DB8RNZ-DB8R Moderator
    I used the original wagon clutch cable but mine will likely be different due to RHD.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    im just gonna go ahead and get a clutch. i have the ls a1 tranny, this clutch kit is what im looking at getting today.
    http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/XTD-STAG ... 259wt_1165
    when i get that new clutch that i know is the right one put in, then im gonna drop the motor back in hook up the cable again and see if im still having the same problem. process of elimination now...
    trying to have this thing running im wanting to take it to IA in Nashville in a couple months.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    just looking for a b20b engine harness now. ive been busy with getting everything ready for this move to texas havent had much time to spend on the wagon. got everything back in now i need this engine harness to send off along with my stock d15 core so Hasport can make me a engine harness.
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    heres where im at right now....

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  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    my motor is obd2 but it has a 8pin distributor connector like its obd1 or something.....idk i was looking on rywire and came across these. http://www.rywire.com/catalog/obd0-to-o ... -p-41.html
    im pretty sure thats the one i need. it says something about a 8pin but says thats for d-series.??? idk ?
    or this one http://www.rywire.com/catalog/obd0-to-o ... -p-40.html
    which is to 0bd1 which my motor is obd2. sooo.....what do i do?
  • lilROOKZlilROOKZ Wagonist
    ok i think ive got it figured out now. i need to get the obd1 ls dizzy and then get the obd0-obd1 distributor jumper.
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