Ok now im MAD!!! (help) - Honda Prelude Forum

[SUB[EX] · 10-10-2002, 11:30 PM

OK here is my situation. Tonight i finally bolted up my downpipe, connected the o2 sensor and took out the jackstands to try to fire her up. I just finished my JDM VTEC swap in my 92 S. I have not wired the single Vtec wire yet but the rest is connected.

The S distributor would not bolt up the the Vtec block so i had to swap the internals of the Distribs. Im using the S distrib internals in the JDM vtec casing. Everything swapped perfect and the wiring looked the same. I didnt reWire anything. Im also using my S COIL. When i try to start it, it trys to turn then ir just kinda feels like its reversing the direction. I was told that that means the timing is 180 off. Does anyone know how to fix this without buying a new Distrib. And if i do have do buy one is there any aftermarket?(i h8 to give honda anymore money)

4bidden · 10-11-2002, 02:28 AM

on the cam side of the distributor there is a notch that connects it to the exhaust cam....if that were in backwards it would be 180 degrees off, but im pretty sure the notch im talking about is off centered so that you cannot do that.

did you mess with the timing belt at all? if so, make sure both the intake and exhaust cams are "up" when the crank is at TDC.

hard to tell...would really have to have more explanation to diagnose

[SUB[EX] · 10-11-2002, 11:05 AM

first of all, yea the distrib notch is off center and it cannot be put in backwards. I didnt mess with the timing belt. I took a look at it and it was in great shape. Im guessing that maby the distrib wiring may be a little different. Maby a reversed plug. Can anyone help me out? Any experience. I know there has been a few S swaps.

Zimmlude · 10-11-2002, 11:11 AM

Hey,

Well I have converted an internal type dist to external before. It sounds like all you really needed to do with the dist was to do this conversion. I don't know if you might have toasted somthing inside the dist when you swapped internals but if it is still okay it is very simple to convert from internal to external. I think I post the precedure in another thread. Do a search for "distributor swap " Or something like that. Worst case you should go out and get a 92-95 SI or VTEC distributor from a junkyard and try that.

HTH,
J

fourthgeneration · 10-11-2002, 11:31 AM

there is some guy selling h22/23 distributors (vtec, and si share the same distributor) on ebay. I got mine for 200 shipped and it came in a few days...

but thats in case you need to buy a new one...

SikRedRX-8 · 10-11-2002, 03:21 PM

Mine has done that exact same thing. It was suckin air through the exhaust and blowin out the intake. Wierdest **** ever seen in my life. The problem was the spark plug wires in wrong place.

[SUB[EX] · 10-11-2002, 05:08 PM

hmmm, i know its not the plug wires. I checked them several times in the helms. Im too poor to buy a new distributor. My distrib is not fried, not yet. haha, I didnt have to rewire anything when i swapped the internals. I just unbolted them and swapped them over so i didnt have to mess with too much wiring. Im going to search for the thread but if you can put the info here it would help.

concLude · 10-11-2002, 07:35 PM

use your stock S one, just find a place to bolt it up, i have my rigged (wired) to the battery

[SUB[EX] · 10-12-2002, 12:17 AM

hey concLude, mine would not bolt up to the block. I didnt know i had to rig it up. The connectors were the same as the vtec ones. Can you go into more detail how you set it up?

Zimmlude · 10-12-2002, 03:02 AM

This is pissing me off. I just wrote a two page long explanation on how to convert the distributor and when I went to hit submit it asked me to log in again. And after I did this it ate my post. DAMNIT!!!!!!

Well back to your question, lets see if I can do thing again without going crazy.

These instructions are for converting an internal type Prelude distributor (JDM) to an external type one (USDM). It is assumed that you are starting with a bone stock unit and, in the case of a swap, you are using your stock engine harness.

What you will need:

1- external type cap and rotor
1- car stereo wiring harness for Honda's
1- crimp-on or solder-on male spade connector
some black tape

1. Start by taking off the cap and rotor as well as the plastic shield. Under all of this you will see the coil. It will have two wires attached to it by screws. Remove these screws as well as the mounting screws for the coil and pull the old coil out.

2. Now you should have two ring terminals at the end of wires. The negative ring should have two wires coming out of it. Tape the ring terminal up and tuck it out of the way. The terminal is a ground but may as well tape it anyway. Follow the positive terminal back to the ICM. The ICM (Ignition Control Module) should have four wires coming off of it including the positive coil wire. Pull the wire off of the terminal on the ICM and you should be left with a bare male spade sticking out of the ICM.

3. Next lets move to the outside of the distributor. Look for bigger of the two gray plugs. Look where the wires go into the plug and you should see one blank hole with a rubber plug jammed into it. Pull this plug out with a pair of needle nosed pliers. Here is where you car stereo harness comes in. You need a spade connector that will go into that little hole and lock in place like the rest of the wires. It just so happens that the little spades in the stereo harness are just the right size. Use a thin screwdriver to push on the locking tab inside the stereo harness or just break the harness open. Take on of the wires with a spade attached and slide it into the hole on the gray plug. It should slide in and lock in place.

4. Now you have a wire hanging out of the gray plug. This wire needs to get inside the distributor housing somehow. I used a sharp punch to bore a hole through the rubber grommet that the rest of the wires go through and I jammed the new wire through the hole. Route the wire inside the distributor to the ICM and that bare male spade terminal. Now crimp/solder on the female spade connector onto the new wire and plug it into the connector on the ICM. Make sure there are no shorts.

5. Now double-check your work. Check that the wires are well tied off and that they won't get caught on anything. Then put the distributor back together. Plastic sheild, rotor, external coil cap.

6. Now just reinstall the distributor onto the engine and plug the gray plugs back in. Make sure that when you plug the big one back in that little spade you added makes a good contact. Plug in all of wire plug wires and your coil wire.

7. Now cross your fingers and turn the engine over. If you did everything correctly the engine should fire right up. If not go over your connections again looking for any shorts.

I have successfully done this on one distributor and it worked perfectly.

I hope that this will help.

J

Zimmlude · 10-12-2002, 03:10 AM

Well this time I wised up and copied the whole thing into Word before posting. Sure enough it ate the post again. Stoooopid time limit.

P.S. I am running on like 5 hours of sleep so I amy have left something out. If I did please post up questions.

I am going to bed now,

Later,
J

Si4WS · 10-12-2002, 10:07 AM

Nice info Zimmlude.

FAQ?

[SUB[EX] · 10-12-2002, 10:48 AM

thanx alot, i will try it in a few hours. Hopefully my car fires up after that.

[SUB[EX] · 10-12-2002, 09:45 PM

K. better
It kinda ran today. haha, kinda. it was not smooth or good sounding but it did turn by itself some.

Well i tried to rewire my distrib. haha, There was a nice smoke storm as the black wire melted. But i took the harness from my S distrib and fitted it. so now i got some results.

Anyone got any ideas how to set the timing correctly? I know i need to use the timing gun and the Distrib is installed correctly. Whats next. I cannot set the timing caus it wont idle too good. Any ideas?

Zimmlude · 10-13-2002, 02:11 AM

Ouch, Sorry about that. Was there something wrong in my explaination? I'm not sure why the black wire melted, might have shorted.

Anyway the timing might be the cause of the bad idle, I know that is you advance the timing way too much the rpm's drop way down.

[SUB[EX] · 10-13-2002, 11:38 AM

could be, im not sure. Im going to go and try to figure it out all day today. SO if anyone has any othr ideas ill prolly be checking here a few times.