H23a To Swap or Not?

[CisForCB7]

So, my question on the title is as it reads. Swap the H23a into my car or keep looking for other motors (h22,f22,others?). Now heres some of the details of why and what not. My f22a1 is getting closer to her last days unless i did a rebuild. Now im on a budget and this car is my DD. I have found locally a 94 Prelude with a H23a but a bad tranny. The price for the whole car is right. The engine is running so he says (im going to check it out today). I was thinking swapping the H23a with my current tranny, a f22 auto tranny (yes i know everyone says go 5 speed and i would love to but can't afford the time spent on it and be down a car.) so with that being my situation i am wondering what i would need to know before doing this swap (would be my first swap) and from what i have been reading so far it seems pretty straight forward. Any help or advice ? Thanks for the read/help.

Last, a couple details on what the engine has so far.

His post:

"H23 blue top has new head gasket and new arp head studs motor is in mint condition the car is stuck in gear and I don't have time to mess with it some one take it off my hands before I scrap it clean title motor has about 100k it's a create motor"

[Rilas]

I would not suggest a H23A bluetop as a quick and easy swap. While getting the motor into the car is no harder than any other motor, its the lack of an off the shelf ecu for your car. Unlike an H22, where there are ecu's you can just plug in and it will run great. To run this properly you would need a chipped ecu with at least a basemap for the H23A, then to get it tuned via dyno or road tuning. Either way it's not quick. You'd be better off with an H22AX, F2XAX, F22B DOHC, or an H23A1. All of those at least have ecu options so once the motor is in the car, the rest is more or less plug and play.

[CisForCB7]

I bought whole 95 prelude that was swapped with the h23a by a mechanic so if im correct, the 95 prelude is OBD1 so they already converted the engine to OBD1. Car comes with p28 chipped ecu.

[deevergote]

Chipped ECUs are honestly no replacement for a factory ECU. For example, unless the P28 has had IAB circuitry added, the IAB system will not function correctly.

Additionally, seeing as this is already a swap, you could be dealing with numerous halfassed things. My H22A was professionally installed by experienced Honda mechanics that had done engine swaps before. It was done in 2003, and I'm STILL fixing things that they did wrong! "Professional" only means someone accepted money to do something. It doesn't necessarily mean it was done well, and if you're not very experienced yourself, you may not be able to identify what was done poorly.

When you check it out, ask where the engine came from. Ask what engine importer provided it. There are a number of VERY shady importers that are known to sell garbage engines (many are located in Canada, and offer much cheaper options... because the quality is often lacking.) If it's from a potentially shady importer, be wary. If it's from a quality importer, such as hmotorsonline, then it may be a worthwhile risk.

The H23A shares many parts with the H22A, but not all. If one of those parts specific to the H23A fails, it will be difficult to find in the US. Ordering from overseas will be costly, and it will take a long time for the part to arrive. You may never run into that problem, but it's a potential issue nonetheless.


I would suggest going with an H22A. You may pay a bit more, especially if you're buying directly from a quality importer, but it'll be easier to install, maintain, and repair overall. That's one reason I chose the H22A for my own car.

[h22sparkle]

Go with an h22 do it right or don't do it at all save your money and wait to do it correctly.

[Jarrett]

I wouldn't say that the H23A VTEC is wrong. It's an excellent engine. Arguably with better potential than the H22A, in some applications. However, if someone with lots of questions and a limited budget, who is also looking for extreme ease, asks the question, then the H22A is the logical answer.

Anything requiring tuning usually isn't the answer for someone who is on their first swap

[deevergote]

People often gravitate toward the F20B and H23A because they're "different", and because they're often cheaper than the H22A... until they are properly converted to OBD1, tuned, and installed correctly. Then the costs tend to even out.

[gloryaccordy]

I am feeling like most of the issues with OBD1 vs OBD2 can be fixed with swapping over an OBD1 intake manifold. IABs come with the P72 GSR ECU which is chippable. I'm sure there are datalogging tools you can use for a street tune. Tricky but doable and worth it. With Type S cams that thing will be a beast

[deevergote]

Intake manifold, injectors, distributor, and ECU will convert from OBD2 to OBD1. It's not difficult to do. It's just an added expense. If you go with an H22A, there's no need for a P72 (or, probably an easier option... a P28 with IAB functionality added... or a P06 with VTEC and IAB added...) An OBD1 P13 is adequate. It's not 100% perfect for the OBD2 H22A engines, but they're so similar it's unlikely you'd ever notice, let alone have any problems due to it.
When people say "an F20B $300 cheaper than an H22A!", they're not taking into account the $300 they'll probably end up spending on those parts. More, if they want to get a chipped ECU and have it properly tuned (and even then, nothing is going to be better than a factory tune.)

[CisForCB7]

So i have a Chipped P28 manual ecu. I found this write up for Auto to manual ecu conversions. In theory it would work in reverse right? Besides the ecu i believe i have all the other parts already on the h23a. Any thoughts on the ecu conversion?

http://www.d-series.org/forums/diy-f...28-manual.html

[deevergote]

Honestly, you'd be better off just picking up an auto P13.

It should work in reverse, yes... but chipped ECUs can be tricky with automatics. Most amateur tuners that I know won't even touch an auto.

[CisForCB7]

Honestly, you'd be better off just picking up an auto P13.

It should work in reverse, yes... but chipped ECUs can be tricky with automatics. Most amateur tuners that I know won't even touch an auto.

p13 from the h22?

[deevergote]

It will work. It won't be perfect, but honestly... it would probably be a safer bet than a chipped P28.

Though I would strongly suggest avoiding the H23A altogether and just getting an H22A.

[CisForCB7]

It will work. It won't be perfect, but honestly... it would probably be a safer bet than a chipped P28.

Though I would strongly suggest avoiding the H23A altogether and just getting an H22A.

too late.

[deevergote]

You realize I posted that 4 months ago, right?