Honda Civic Vtec Swap

[Shehan96]

Hey guyz,

I have a Honda civic ferio LA-ES1 (type B).. it comes with non-vtec D15B engine..but the past owner changes engine head to vtec head..vtec solenoid is free..there re no line from wire harness to connect solenoid..now i want convert car into vtec..i think i need to replace the ECU & Wiring harness..
But 90% of ES1 in sri lanka is JDM (LA-ES1 ie 1.5 vtec)... it has CVT gear box..my car has normal 4AT gear box..what can i do to convert into vtec..can i replace JDM civic es1 (vtec-type ie) ECU ? should i need to change gear box or can i use that ecu for normal 4AT(non cvt) gear box? Sorry for my bad english hope someone can help me..  
 

[Davy]

Sorry I misread your original post about the car having a conventional automatic transmission. I've seen this done on manuals with no issue at all, but I'm not quite certain about issues with CVT and conventional AT. But I reckon you might be able to find which exact ECU you must use to get this to work by doing some online research on the many Honda forums out there (honda-tech.com, d-series.org etc.)

Also, there should be other Honda enthusiasts on the forum who might be able to point you to a Honda expert who will be able to shed some light. 

[The Stig]

 

CVT and AT transmissions work in complete different ways when revving the engine.

In an AT the rpm rises till redline and then shifts to next gear and rpm falls. In a cvt the rpm rises to redline and never falls.

The TCM takes signals from the speed sensor in the gearbox and throttle position sensor and calculates the gear. Technically if you have an AT and if you use a CVT ECU the signal will be to adjust the ratio of the gearbox where in an automatic transmission the actual signal needs to go to the shift solenoid to shift gears.

There is no reason why this should work as per my understanding.

People like buggati have done vvl conversions to mazdas and it has worked because it was a manual and he didnt need to worry about gear shifts.

IMHO if you are keen on vtec you are better off selling the car and buying a VTi version.

[Davy]

Your original transmission should work without any issue. That shouldn't even be your major concern IMO because you need to figure out how to wire up the VTEC oil feed and importantly, wire up the new ECU so that VTEC kicks in (yo!) properly.

This is a very common conversion, a simple Google search would reveal a lot of results. Just search for "Honda D15B Mini-Me"

[Shehan96]

5 hours ago, Davy said:

Your original transmission should work without any issue. That shouldn't even be your major concern IMO because you need to figure out how to wire up the VTEC oil feed and importantly, wire up the new ECU so that VTEC kicks in (yo!) properly.

This is a very common conversion, a simple Google search would reveal a lot of results. Just search for "Honda D15B Mini-Me"

hey davy..thank u .. i don't have much knowledge about this so hope u can help me till end..engine head replacement is done,can i use the ECU that comes for cvt ? 

this is my one -http://www.drom.ru/catalog/honda/civic_ferio/4088/
this is IE (vtec,cvt)-http://www.drom.ru/catalog/honda/civic_ferio/4105/

can i use IE ECU for my car ? plz give me more information brother.. links,videos, or anything.. my mechanic said it s not possible to replace that ecu because gearbox's difference.. its not true,isn't ? 

if u can help me with dis its biggest help  i'm tired up with this..
 (edit) 

#davy , i found something.please check out this.there is someones comment ..is that true ? 
 

Edited July 28, 2017 by Shehan96

[ajm]

I am not sure in general if an engine ecu for cvt can work like original in a manual vehicle.the input,output signals of the two systems would be different.in best case the transmission ecu would be doing the cvt related computing, connected by CAN to the engine ECU. But you can still get some error codes /limp home mode activated when the engine ecu sees that no transmission ECU available,or the torque /speed output of the manual gearbox doesn't correspond to the expected values.but if you are lucky,everything might work well.

[Shehan96]

1 minute ago, ajm said:

I am not sure in general if an engine ecu for cvt can work like original in a manual vehicle.the input,output signals of the two systems would be different.in best case the transmission ecu would be doing the cvt related computing, connected by CAN to the engine ECU. But you can still get some error codes /limp home mode activated when the engine ecu sees that no transmission ECU available,or the torque /speed output of the manual gearbox doesn't correspond to the expected values.but if you are lucky,everything might work well.

AJM, the car is not manual transmission .. it normal 4 automatic.. i need to knw dat i can use CVT transmission ecu for my car ?

[ajm]

1 hour ago, Shehan96 said:

it normal 4 automatic

oh my bad,please replace manual with 4AT in my last comment.

you need to compare the pins and functions of the two engine  ECUs and decide.

You have more chance to success if the Engine ECU has no directly transmission related intefaces(but Tranmission and Engine control functions are combined nowadays in one Control unit to save space/costs)

As Davy said,google if it has been done by someone else before and the result.

Edited July 28, 2017 by ajm

[Shehan96]

k

Edited July 29, 2017 by Shehan96

[Shehan96]

1 hour ago, The Stig said:

 

CVT and AT transmissions work in complete different ways when revving the engine.

In an AT the rpm rises till redline and then shifts to next gear and rpm falls. In a cvt the rpm rises to redline and never falls.

The TCM takes signals from the speed sensor in the gearbox and throttle position sensor and calculates the gear. Technically if you have an AT and if you use a CVT ECU the signal will be to adjust the ratio of the gearbox where in an automatic transmission the actual signal needs to go to the shift solenoid to shift gears.

There is no reason why this should work as per my understanding.

People like buggati have done vvl conversions to mazdas and it has worked because it was a manual and he didnt need to worry about gear shifts.

IMHO if you are keen on vtec you are better off selling the car and buying a VTi version.

stig ,,thanks brother,, can u tell me about this ?

 

9 minutes ago, Shehan96 said:

i have found something my self..i dont knw that it is right..tell me if u have idea abt dis.. there is a other car in ES series..civic ferio es2.. Es2 comes with vtec and 4AT gear box.. but the problem is ES2 is 4WD car..its full time 4 wheel drive..my mechanic said it cant be done cuz 4wd cars have sharft or something wtevr and there re little difference in wire harnnes ..is it true ? 
but my cousin dat works in honda told me if the gear box is 4AT, 4WD isnt matter.. 4WD has no relation with ECU.. who is right ?  

 

 

[The Stig]

Seems like an awful lot of trouble for an additional 20hp don't you think?