F22a1 to f22a6 swap?

[Honda Power]

I am wanting to go from a f22a1 to a f22a6 motor. I know there r a few differences but do I have to swap the wire harness or can I just swap motors and change the ecus. I really dont have the time to change the wire harness. Plus the wire harness that is coming with the motor is not in the best shape.

[pedroalcala]

If you're contemplating on swaping, then go h22, jdm f22b, h23, or f20b...
for 15hp it aint worth it...

Just get a different cam and manifold and you'll be good my friend.

[Honda Power]

Thats not my reason behind the swap... I am happy with the power I have. I just want my car to be reliable and look sexy so to say. Right now I am burning a quart of oil every two weeks or less and its costing me money. The f22a6 I am getting is in great shape and has no known problems. I just want to know if I swap them do I have to change the wire harness too.

[CB7 Sleeper]

I see why you are going with the F22A6, and I bet it's a lot cheaper than the H series swap too.

The old wiring harness will work, but you will need to get a PT6 ECU to operate the IABs and have the slightly more aggressive tune to accommodate the A6 camshaft.

[Honda Power]

Yeah Im getting the pt6 ecu. Thanx for answering that question for me man. I dont know everything about a motor what r the IABs and where r they.

[kirk90]

You can use the wiring harness from the A1. The only thing to worry about is the wiring of the IAB. If you have an a6 ecu? There will be a black box under your intake manafold. That is the box that operates the IAB. On the a6 ecu the a17 pinout is your ground wire. Run that wire through the firewall to the black box. There will be a two prong plug on the black box. The upper prong is the positive. Run a 12volt power from your fuse box to the top prong and the ground that you ran through the firewall goes to the bottom prong. Just use a round two prong round plug from an old wire harness for plugging into you black box. When you hit 4800rpms your A6 ecu drops the ground and the butterflies in the intake mani. open up for more power. Oh and your o2 sensor will be inthe downpipe and not in the exhaust mani. So you will have to extend the four wires to the back and to the downpipe. As you said you will have an extra wire harness so you can take the wire from that. I had to hunt extra wire and plugs from a pullapart. Hope that helps!

[CB7 Sleeper]

Maybe this will help.



IABs are like throttle plates in the intake manifold in each port that open and close to help control intake air flow velocity, to the best of my understanding. Lol, I'm tired and can't really think of how to explain it.

Here is an F22A6 intake manifold diagram. The IAB plate is in between the numbers 17 and 39 in this diagram it looks like.


This one is an H23 IM diagram, and it give you a bit of a closer look at the IAB plate next to numbers 17 and 37 in the box 14.


And here is an actual picture of the IAB plate on the intake manifold.


Hope I helped.

[Honda Power]

I read up that there is a way to make the IABs open at 4000 rpm is this true? If so would that not mean more power? thanx for the heads up on the o2 sensor kirk. Well ok I also read up that u have to change the flywheel I think. Why would that be? I thought all the trannys for our cars where the same.

[CB7 Sleeper]

When you hit 4800rpms your A6 ecu drops the ground and the butterflies in the intake mani. open up for more power. Oh and your o2 sensor will be inthe downpipe and not in the exhaust mani. So you will have to extend the four wires to the back and to the downpipe. As you said you will have an extra wire harness so you can take the wire from that. I had to hunt extra wire and plugs from a pullapart. Hope that helps!

This is a great explanation. Couldn't have said it better myself.

If I was you, I'd just buy a new o2 sensor from Honda for an EX. This way there's no sketchy soldering or anything involved and less of a chance of it going bad later down the road. Just consider it preventative maintenance.

[CB7 Sleeper]

I read up that there is a way to make the IABs open at 4000 rpm is this true? If so would that not mean more power? thanx for the heads up on the o2 sensor kirk. Well ok I also read up that u have to change the flywheel I think. Why would that be? I thought all the trannys for our cars where the same.

Not sure about changing the RPM at which the IABs open up, but you don't need to change your flywheel. Don't worry about that.

[Honda Power]

Thanx cb7 sleeper That helped me understand it a little better. But another question could I just swap my f22a1 intake on it? Reason I ask is because I dont remember if I seen the IAB solenoid with the motor. Some things are missing from the motor as far as the intake and stuff goes and I dont remember what was and what wasnt.

[CB7 Sleeper]

Thanx cb7 sleeper That helped me understand it a little better. But another question could I just swap my f22a1 intake on it? Reason I ask is because I dont remember if I seen the IAB solenoid with the motor. Some things are missing from the motor as far as the intake and stuff goes and I dont remember what was and what wasnt.

You'll be robbing yourself of a little power, and kind of defeating the purpose of the PT6 ECU, but I'm sure it could work. I don't know if it will cause any issues with the ECU though.

I'd probably just go to the local pick n pull and grab one.

[kirk90]

I havent heard anything either on getting the iab to open up earlier? There is some people on here that dont have the a6 ecu and just hook up the iab with vacuum only? But the butterflies will open up at WOT only.

[Honda Power]

Srry Im asking so many question but I am getting this motor soon and plain on doing some wrk to it before I even think about putting it in. I just want to know some of the things I need to wrk on before I goto the things I want to wrk on. So far you guys have gave me a lot of things I need to check and/or wrk on when I get it.

[kirk90]

You can also use the h23 intake manifold. It comes from the 93 prelude si. I had bought one off of ebay and just used the upper plenum and TB. Gave me a better throttle response!