It's a long story, but I'm looking for a 96 VTEC 5-spd ECU.

Those seems to be hard to come by, but I do see (92-95) obd-1 VTEC ECUs available. Will one of those work on a 96 if I also get one of those conversion harnesses? Is it "plug and play" or is it more involved?

thanks

 

it's plug and play. just be sure you dont buy them from some fly by night, as i've seen their quality to be horrible... lots of cold solders.

 

followup:

Will a JDM ECU work ok in a US car? or will there be problems?

 

you may have some issues, as their timing is more advanced and fuel is set for higher compression.

other than that, it's plug and play

 

Thanks for your responses...

since you seem knowledgeable let me ask you...
What I've got is a 96 Prelude that a prior owner put a VTEC head on.. The ECU is from an automatic accord or something...

What do you suggest I should get for an ECU?

What do I need to do to allow over 6500 RPMs without blowing the thing?

Thanks.

 

i assume you have an H23 with a VTEC head on it. the best ecu for you to run would be a P13 ecu with an OBDII to OBDI adapter harness. this is just simple, easy, and requires no afterthoughts to run properly.

as for going above 6500 rpm, the H23 was only limited to that point due to it's cam profile... it was only efficient to 6500rpm, or slightly higher. the H22 head, due to the more aggressive VTEC cam lobes, is able to flow up to 7500rpm efficiently. it's more the cam lobe geometry that allows the engine to breathe at higher rpms that dictates redline. secondary to that is valve float, and lastly is bottom end... the stroke, or overall rod/stroke ratio.

just a warning, the head will flow like any other H22, so 7500rpm redline can be achieved, and make good power past 6500rpm. the only problem is the rod/stroke ratio of the H23 rotating assembly... it adds quite a bit of lateral stress on the pistons during rotation due to high rod angle midstroke. this can cause significant bearing stress and piston skirt slapping on the cylinder wall. it also increases chances of bending a rod. occasional romps to 7500rpm+ can be done, but if you're racing it often, look into strengthening up the rotating assembly, or adding a deck plate and longer rods to help square up the rod/stroke ratio for better high rpm efficiency from the block.

 

Hey... thanks for the info.

I'm not looking to race it, just have a little more fun with it :-) ... Really I was just wondering whether there was something that could be done to allow me to get the full power band without costing an arm and a leg, so I wouldn't worry so much about blowing the thing.

 

(Hopefully) final followup:

What are the issues with the JDM ECU? And how are they dealt with (if at all)?