wanna change from running jdm dist. to usdm?? - Honda Prelude Forum

LudedudeSi · 01-28-2003, 06:52 PM

Ok im running jdm dist.. The wire that i saw in the faq by red92s is not added and the wire that it would connect to on the usdm harness is cut in half. what does this mean? and how would i go about switching to the h23 dist that i have and were to mount the coil???

red92s · 01-28-2003, 06:56 PM

you can mount the coil pretty much anywhere. . .mine is zip-tied to an AC line. You could also buy the coil bracket from honda for a few bucks.

LudedudeSi · 01-28-2003, 06:58 PM

OK well that seems fine i guess but what about the wiring? do you understand what im saying. the wire that the jdm dist is suppose to have doesnt have it and the wire thats in that spot on the usdm harness is cut.

red92s · 01-28-2003, 07:47 PM

Did you actually read the article I posted about modifying the distributor? You can use a USDM H23 or H22 dist. on the JDM H22 engine without any mods what-so-ever, as long as you are using the USDM wiring harness (which you pretty much have to). If you have a H23 dist., it should plug right in without an issue (as long as your harness hasnt been modified in any way to accomidate the JDM unit).

I think I may have just made you more confused in you earlier posts/questions because I completley forgot your situation was different because you have an H23 dist., not the F22 dist. I had to modify mine (because I had an F22), so I guess I kinda subconcisouly assume everyone does, when that is not the case. Sooooo....just to clarify things:

If you have a USDM H23 or H22 dist. and are using the USDM wiring harness (which you should be), just bolt it on (with external coil) and you are ready to roll. No adding/splicing/modifying wires will be required. . .just plug and play.

You will still need to relocate the coil though (as mentioned above).

LudedudeSi · 01-28-2003, 08:57 PM

Ok everything makes sense now. The only thing im still trying to figure out is why did my mechanic cut that one wire that the jdm distributor is missing? i dunno i guess i can just get a connector and fix that wire if nobody can answer this question. anyways thanks red92s for your help.

LudedudeSi · 01-28-2003, 08:58 PM

Oh yeah one more thing. i dont have a timing light or gun and i dont intend on buying one. will it be safe to just bolt the other dist in the same position as the new one, crank it and if everything runs fine without any pinging or anything then just leave it alone?? just wandering because it would be nice to save some money.

red92s · 01-28-2003, 09:04 PM

Some auto parts stores will let you borrow a timing light with a deposit.

LudedudeSi · 01-28-2003, 10:08 PM

Well i called around and nobody had one for rental. would it be safe to do what i asked though?

[SUB[EX] · 01-28-2003, 11:47 PM

RED, you realize that he is currently running the JDM internal coil and running correctly. How do you wire the internal coil to work? No one really understood that when i did my swap so i just rewired the JDM to external coil. If you connect that wire to the harness it will be connected to nothing if your running the internal coil.

I think he should leave it how is right now.

If he were to change to external coil then he needs to reconnect that wire and use the h23 distrib and external coil.

I dont understand why this wire is cut tho. There is NO reason to cut it.

LudedudeSi · 01-29-2003, 10:22 AM

Can anyone figure this out? im hearing so much mixed discussion from numerous people about this usdm dist working and then others saying it wont. any more info would be helpful. thanks!

X01VTEC · 01-29-2003, 10:33 AM

you will just have to replace that cut wire... im assuming you are running a pre 96 car and motor, take off the jdm distributor. mount up the usdm distributor, if your harness is US then you can just mount the coil and plug up the connectors, iyou said it was just that wire that was cut, find the wire in the distributor that doesnt have a mate on the harness and thats the wire you need to connect to the coil.

Go look at the connectors coming out of the distributor and let us know how many wires are there and how many you have on the harness. also what did the shop do with the end of the harness that was supposed to go to your coil? make sure thats still there

dont worry we'll figure this out

LudedudeSi · 01-29-2003, 12:05 PM

Ok, well the wire on my usdm harness is blue and its the one which the usdm dist. has but the jdm one doesnt. anyways i appreciate your help a lot. thank you!

LudedudeSi · 01-29-2003, 03:00 PM

Ok lemme try and explain this. there are 2 harnesses. one has 8 wires going into it and the other has only 2. The wire that was cut was the wire that the jdm dist didnt have. i looked at everything and my mechanic wired that one wire from the usdm harness into the big blue wire on the harness that only has 2 wire. anyways i pulled it all apart and rewired it and put in the h23 dist, tried to start it and it wont turn over. what did i do wrong? also what goes in the plug on the back of the external coil? thanks

LudedudeSi · 01-29-2003, 04:25 PM

ok the name of the plug is the 4-p plug. if anyone has a helms it shows a pic of it. i dunno where this plug is at though. i assume it has to be connected doesnt it?

X01VTEC · 01-29-2003, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by LudedudeSi
Ok lemme try and explain this. there are 2 harnesses. one has 8 wires going into it and the other has only 2. The wire that was cut was the wire that the jdm dist didnt have. i looked at everything and my mechanic wired that one wire from the usdm harness into the big blue wire on the harness that only has 2 wire. anyways i pulled it all apart and rewired it and put in the h23 dist, tried to start it and it wont turn over. what did i do wrong? also what goes in the plug on the back of the external coil? thanks

so you put an unmodified h23 distributor back in and you dont have the coil installed? im i reading that correctly? and you cant find the connector for the coil?

LudedudeSi · 01-29-2003, 06:22 PM

I have the coil wired up to the distributor but there is some plug on the back with a bunch of pins in it and i dunno where it is located at. i assume this is whats keeping it from turning over.

X01VTEC · 01-30-2003, 12:27 PM

oh ok i think i understand.... you have the wire that looks like a spark plug wire hooked up.

yeah you need to find the connector that is supposed to be hooked in the coil. sounds like your mechanic cut it out. so youre going to have to either see is you can get that from honda or get an aftermarket coil.

if this all sounds correct let me know, then we can figure out how to get your car running again

LudedudeSi · 01-30-2003, 05:48 PM

Ok i guess he did cut it out. if i can get ahold of him then i will ask him. Would upgrading to a msd with a new coil work ok? what all features do these ignitions have? i know they are not much help when going NA but i MAY run nitrous in the future.

X01VTEC · 01-30-2003, 08:59 PM

you could possibly just go with a blaster SS coil or something like that. i dont think that you need an ignition box or anything. i may be wrong. that or you could just see if you can get ahold of that connector, it wouldnt be hard to wire it up. I wired up the JDM distributor with the sensors inside to work with a stock external coil and modified the OBDII harness to use the sensors in the obdI and JDM distributors. I know we can get it to work, just let me know what you want to do.

LudedudeSi · 01-30-2003, 09:21 PM

Do you know what this sensor does? i dont even know where the wires that it was connected to are.