Type R Club of America

JDM B18C-R going into a 2001 ITR chassis, there are a few things that need to be done to make this swap work with no CEL's, no VTEC engagement issues, and being able to pass NYS inspection. There are also a few different ways this can be done.

The way I will be doing it involves swapping over or ordering a few parts so the harness and USDM ECU communicate properly.

- The USDM engine and harness have a CKF sensor on the oil pump. The JDM B18C-R does not. I opted for buying a brand new USDM Oil Pump and swapping over the CKF sensor from the motor that came out. If ordering these parts, you would need the following items.

Oil Pump - 15100-P72-A01 - #2 In Diagram $112
CKF Sensor Assembly - 37500-P72-A01 - #14 In Diagram $115
Oil Strainer Gasket - 15221-PW0-S01 - #4 In Diagram $1.75
Oil Pump O-Ring - 91308-P3R-T01 $18 In Diagram $.88




Not done yet!! There are still a few more parts that are needed. When you take the crank pulley off to get to the Oil pump, there is a small gear between the Crank and the oil pump. The JDM gear DOES NOT have the mageto collar to send the signal to the CKF sensor. The USDM unit does. (Visible in diagram below) I was able to remove this from the blown USDM engine that came out of car originally but here is what you would need.

Crank Pulley Gear - 13621-P72-A01 - #15 in Diagram $65
Gear Guide - 13622-PR3-000 - #16 In Diagram $3.50




Now. ALL OF THIS CAN BE BYPASSED. I personally didn't want to do that since I'm using the stock USDM harness and dont want to have stray plugs all around. THATS JUST ME. There is whats called the "CKF Trick". What you are doing is tricking the computer to get the reading it would normally get form this magneto from another sensor on the engine. Many say this works just fine and is obviously cheaper and easier than removing all of these or ordering these components. Here is a link to some more about the "CKF Trick".

http://ff-squad.com/wp/?p=309


Lastly, if you have a JDM engine, your VTEC solenoid will be different than a USDM one. USDM vtec solenoids have a oil pressure switch that is on the outside of the solenoid and it connects to a green plug on the harness. (The only green plug connected to the head, and only green plug on engine harness) JDM VTEC solenoids have the switch internally on the unit, negating the need for the plug on the harness. Heres what the solenoids look like side by side.





Again, there are 2 ways you can get around this. You can get a new USDM VTEC solenoid, or you can bypass the oil pressure switch by bridging a single wire in the engine harness right before the ECU. If you want to buy the solenoid, this is what you would need.

USDM Vtec Solenoid - 15810-P30-005 - #9 In Diagram




I'm choosing to go with bridging the wire at the ECU Plugs. There's a bunch of information on doing this bypass, BUT MAKE SURE YOU ARE READING THE CORRECT DIAGRAM!! Since my car is a 2001, it is OBD2B. The pinouts and wiring for a OBD2A vehicle and OBD1 vehicle ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!. MAKE SURE YOU READ AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

Here is a link showing the ECU pinout and labels for a OBD2B ECU:

http://www.ff-squad.com/technet/wiring.obd2b.htm


What needs to be done is you need to bridge the VTEC solenoid line (B12) to the VTEC pressure switch (C10). This will give the ECU the reading it needs to engage and monitor VTEC through the solenoid. If you search for "Oil pressure bypass" in google it will bring up a bunch of threads and search results, but most show the OBD1 process which involves different ECU pinouts. **READ READ READ**

Excellent work! This topic came up recently. Thank you for taking the time to create this write-up and share with the community.

You are the best!

For theft recovery, bare shell purchases, or other situations where you no longer have your original USDM ITR ecu you may still have issues with inspections depending on your state.

JDM (and to my knowledge any non-USDM) ECUs will not pass CA or other state inspections where inspections connect to OBD2 port for testing. (Non-USDM ecus may also not have a compatible tune given fuel regionally available).

It probably goes without saying but OBD1, OBD1 w/s300, or aftermarket (AEM or other standalone) ecus will not pass state inspections that rely on OBD2 diagnostics either.

Also OBD2b-a harness jumpers may not work to pass inspections either. Even if inspectors don't look, catch, or care about the jumper some, if not all these harnesses, don't support the OBD2 diagnostics port. Rywire for instance states that their harness is not compatible with the OBD2 port the last time I called them about this.

For what it's worth a stock motor, setup through the steps above will run without CEL on a USDM GSR ecu of the correct generation for your year\model. However, tuning profiles will be different than the ITR ecu. Maybe a short term solution but not something that you're really going to want as a continuing daily solution.

For 00-01 ITRs running OBD2b ECUs you'll have to deal with immobilizer as well. If purchasing an OBD2b ecu try to get the vin of the car it originally came from this can help get re-programming done and verify you're not purchasing stolen property. Qualified locksmiths and dealers can re-program keys\ecus to function or there are some other solutions out there.

If purchasing a used ecu always confirm the sticker on the connectors (inside the ecu) shows the correct identifier (P73-02 for 97, p73-A03 for 98-99, p73-A04 for 00-01). I also recommend confirming the ECU ROM code (three large digits on the largest chip on the ecu board) since these unlike a sticker cannot be changed. From what I understand these represent the program that's actually on the chip and is unique to each model. Correct codes should be 111 for 00-01 ITR, 714 for 98-99, and 497 for 97. If anyone has differing codes please let me know, these came from 98 and 01 ecus I have access to and information on http://wikitest.pgmfi.org/bin/view.pl/L ... itionCodes

aklackner wrote:For theft recovery, bare shell purchases, or other situations where you no longer have your original USDM ITR ecu you may still have issues with inspections depending on your state.

JDM (and to my knowledge any non-USDM) ECUs will not pass CA or other state inspections where inspections connect to OBD2 port for testing. (Non-USDM ecus may also not have a compatible tune given fuel regionally available).

It probably goes without saying but OBD1, OBD1 w/s300, or aftermarket (AEM or other standalone) ecus will not pass state inspections that rely on OBD2 diagnostics either.

Also OBD2b-a harness jumpers may not work to pass inspections either. Even if inspectors don't look, catch, or care about the jumper some, if not all these harnesses, don't support the OBD2 diagnostics port. Rywire for instance states that their harness is not compatible with the OBD2 port the last time I called them about this.

For what it's worth a stock motor, setup through the steps above will run without CEL on a USDM GSR ecu of the correct generation for your year\model. However, tuning profiles will be different than the ITR ecu. Maybe a short term solution but not something that you're really going to want as a continuing daily solution.

For 00-01 ITRs running OBD2b ECUs you'll have to deal with immobilizer as well. If purchasing an OBD2b ecu try to get the vin of the car it originally came from this can help get re-programming done and verify you're not purchasing stolen property. Qualified locksmiths and dealers can re-program keys\ecus to function or there are some other solutions out there.

If purchasing a used ecu always confirm the sticker on the connectors (inside the ecu) shows the correct identifier (P73-02 for 97, p73-A03 for 98-99, p73-A04 for 00-01). I also recommend confirming the ECU ROM code (three large digits on the largest chip on the ecu board) since these unlike a sticker cannot be changed. From what I understand these represent the program that's actually on the chip and is unique to each model. Correct codes should be 111 for 00-01 ITR, 714 for 98-99, and 497 for 97. If anyone has differing codes please let me know, these came from 98 and 01 ecus I have access to and information on http://wikitest.pgmfi.org/bin/view.pl/L ... itionCodes

This is a good write up. After our conversation last night I decided to turn my check engine light on for fun . Pics as follows. 98R Jdm ecu no check engine light . In a 2000 civic . I pulled it out to check the codes using a 98 R usdm ecu. I have a ckf on this motor but when I originally did the swap we hid the ckf wire . At that time I didn't have one . 15 years later I don't recall where we cut it (insert Homer Simpson Doh!). Eventually I will buy another em1 harness. I do not actually have a need for it as it has ran fine for 15 years the way it is. I have a ctr cat and no 02 sensor. I expected these two codes and maybe a ftp . I got the two expected codes no ftp. Please excuse the super expensive scan tool . Lol. Thing was $12 on eBay reads and erases codes. It's a decent glove compartment travel tool although it looks like fisher price manufactured it. Lol. My jumper was supplied by locash 15 years ago and has the proper wires to communicate. I don't understand why they would leave the wires out on other jumpers ? Cost cutting? Legality? Laziness? Incompetence? Any who on to the pics.

Stin1 wrote:

aklackner wrote:For theft recovery, bare shell purchases, or other situations where you no longer have your original USDM ITR ecu you may still have issues with inspections depending on your state.

JDM (and to my knowledge any non-USDM) ECUs will not pass CA or other state inspections where inspections connect to OBD2 port for testing. (Non-USDM ecus may also not have a compatible tune given fuel regionally available).

It probably goes without saying but OBD1, OBD1 w/s300, or aftermarket (AEM or other standalone) ecus will not pass state inspections that rely on OBD2 diagnostics either.

Also OBD2b-a harness jumpers may not work to pass inspections either. Even if inspectors don't look, catch, or care about the jumper some, if not all these harnesses, don't support the OBD2 diagnostics port. Rywire for instance states that their harness is not compatible with the OBD2 port the last time I called them about this.

For what it's worth a stock motor, setup through the steps above will run without CEL on a USDM GSR ecu of the correct generation for your year\model. However, tuning profiles will be different than the ITR ecu. Maybe a short term solution but not something that you're really going to want as a continuing daily solution.

For 00-01 ITRs running OBD2b ECUs you'll have to deal with immobilizer as well. If purchasing an OBD2b ecu try to get the vin of the car it originally came from this can help get re-programming done and verify you're not purchasing stolen property. Qualified locksmiths and dealers can re-program keys\ecus to function or there are some other solutions out there.

If purchasing a used ecu always confirm the sticker on the connectors (inside the ecu) shows the correct identifier (P73-02 for 97, p73-A03 for 98-99, p73-A04 for 00-01). I also recommend confirming the ECU ROM code (three large digits on the largest chip on the ecu board) since these unlike a sticker cannot be changed. From what I understand these represent the program that's actually on the chip and is unique to each model. Correct codes should be 111 for 00-01 ITR, 714 for 98-99, and 497 for 97. If anyone has differing codes please let me know, these came from 98 and 01 ecus I have access to and information on http://wikitest.pgmfi.org/bin/view.pl/L ... itionCodes

This is a good write up. After our conversation last night I decided to turn my check engine light on for fun . Pics as follows. 98R Jdm ecu no check engine light . In a 2000 civic . I pulled it out to check the codes using a 98 R usdm ecu. I have a ckf on this motor but when I originally did the swap we hid the ckf wire . At that time I didn't have one . 15 years later I don't recall where we cut it (insert Homer Simpson Doh!). Eventually I will buy another em1 harness. I do not actually have a need for it as it has ran fine for 15 years the way it is. I have a ctr cat and no 02 sensor. I expected these two codes and maybe a ftp . I got the two expected codes no ftp. Please excuse the super expensive scan tool . Lol. Thing was $12 on eBay reads and erases codes. It's a decent glove compartment travel tool although it looks like fisher price manufactured it. Lol. My jumper was supplied by locash 15 years ago and has the proper wires to communicate. I don't understand why they would leave the wires out on other jumpers ? Cost cutting? Legality? Laziness? Incompetence? Any who on to the pics.

Stin1 wrote:

Stin1 wrote:

aklackner wrote:For theft recovery, bare shell purchases, or other situations where you no longer have your original USDM ITR ecu you may still have issues with inspections depending on your state.

JDM (and to my knowledge any non-USDM) ECUs will not pass CA or other state inspections where inspections connect to OBD2 port for testing. (Non-USDM ecus may also not have a compatible tune given fuel regionally available).

It probably goes without saying but OBD1, OBD1 w/s300, or aftermarket (AEM or other standalone) ecus will not pass state inspections that rely on OBD2 diagnostics either.

Also OBD2b-a harness jumpers may not work to pass inspections either. Even if inspectors don't look, catch, or care about the jumper some, if not all these harnesses, don't support the OBD2 diagnostics port. Rywire for instance states that their harness is not compatible with the OBD2 port the last time I called them about this.

For what it's worth a stock motor, setup through the steps above will run without CEL on a USDM GSR ecu of the correct generation for your year\model. However, tuning profiles will be different than the ITR ecu. Maybe a short term solution but not something that you're really going to want as a continuing daily solution.

For 00-01 ITRs running OBD2b ECUs you'll have to deal with immobilizer as well. If purchasing an OBD2b ecu try to get the vin of the car it originally came from this can help get re-programming done and verify you're not purchasing stolen property. Qualified locksmiths and dealers can re-program keys\ecus to function or there are some other solutions out there.

If purchasing a used ecu always confirm the sticker on the connectors (inside the ecu) shows the correct identifier (P73-02 for 97, p73-A03 for 98-99, p73-A04 for 00-01). I also recommend confirming the ECU ROM code (three large digits on the largest chip on the ecu board) since these unlike a sticker cannot be changed. From what I understand these represent the program that's actually on the chip and is unique to each model. Correct codes should be 111 for 00-01 ITR, 714 for 98-99, and 497 for 97. If anyone has differing codes please let me know, these came from 98 and 01 ecus I have access to and information on http://wikitest.pgmfi.org/bin/view.pl/L ... itionCodes

This is a good write up. After our conversation last night I decided to turn my check engine light on for fun . Pics as follows. 98R Jdm ecu no check engine light . In a 2000 civic . I pulled it out to check the codes using a 98 R usdm ecu. I have a ckf on this motor but when I originally did the swap we hid the ckf wire . At that time I didn't have one . 15 years later I don't recall where we cut it (insert Homer Simpson Doh!). Eventually I will buy another em1 harness. I do not actually have a need for it as it has ran fine for 15 years the way it is. I have a ctr cat and no 02 sensor. I expected these two codes and maybe a ftp . I got the two expected codes no ftp. Please excuse the super expensive scan tool . Lol. Thing was $12 on eBay reads and erases codes. It's a decent glove compartment travel tool although it looks like fisher price manufactured it. Lol. My jumper was supplied by locash 15 years ago and has the proper wires to communicate. I don't understand why they would leave the wires out on other jumpers ? Cost cutting? Legality? Laziness? Incompetence? Any who on to the pics.

Came like this . Never understood why. I think I do know thanks to acklander .

Stin1 wrote:

Stin1 wrote:

Stin1 wrote: This is a good write up. After our conversation last night I decided to turn my check engine light on for fun . Pics as follows. 98R Jdm ecu no check engine light . In a 2000 civic . I pulled it out to check the codes using a 98 R usdm ecu. I have a ckf on this motor but when I originally did the swap we hid the ckf wire . At that time I didn't have one . 15 years later I don't recall where we cut it (insert Homer Simpson Doh!). Eventually I will buy another em1 harness. I do not actually have a need for it as it has ran fine for 15 years the way it is. I have a ctr cat and no 02 sensor. I expected these two codes and maybe a ftp . I got the two expected codes no ftp. Please excuse the super expensive scan tool . Lol. Thing was $12 on eBay reads and erases codes. It's a decent glove compartment travel tool although it looks like fisher price manufactured it. Lol. My jumper was supplied by locash 15 years ago and has the proper wires to communicate. I don't understand why they would leave the wires out on other jumpers ? Cost cutting? Legality? Laziness? Incompetence? Any who on to the pics.

Came like this . Never understood why. I think I do know thanks to acklander .

Stin1 wrote:

Stin1 wrote:

Stin1 wrote:

Came like this . Never understood why. I think I do know thanks to acklander .