88 crx Hf - **VTi** swap - Page 18 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

88hf · 03-23-2011, 02:01 AM

Update! 90 HF is still in the garage, missed out on another crx for sale(was a 91 si) because it was stolen a couple days before i picked it up :/. But, way things worked out i now have an 01 honda insight with ~90K miles that set us back about 5K. Pulled in the driveway from its 3.5 hour drive home and only used about 3 gallons of gas! Already beat the best trip in the crx and could have done much better but my g/f was falling asleep at the wheel in the car behind me and so i wasn't allowed to hypermile. Seems my garage here on EM has been reset.

About the 90HF, i am redoing the interior. I put in a 2000 civic si dash and armrest, and made hybrid crx/integra/civic2K seats which now need upholstering. I am also making custom door panels to fit the dash - power windows and moving seatbelts from the doors to make the panels easier. Hate that door mounted nonsense. Miss the community here. Glad to be back!

TomO · 03-23-2011, 12:15 PM

Welcome back and looking forward to the build threads!

shorty_boy · 05-02-2011, 06:27 PM

How did you manage to get the insight for that cheap!? Is it acvt or a stick? Nice find either way. I was suppose to be putting in the engine this month but i have to deploy with the navy for a month due to recent events. Don't forget the dream. Some one needs to finish this for all the others that could not do this correctly.

shorty_boy · 05-24-2011, 10:16 AM

And now that ?I have been back for a week, I have been working on the swap. I have the engine together and painted, I have the main wiring harness completed. I an now trying to make a sub harness so that I do not have to snip wires on the stock HF harness.

I cannot wait until I can fire this thing up. Everything was going great until the I realized that the P2J takes on some of the function that the CRX under-dash harness controls.

shorty_boy · 06-17-2011, 03:33 PM

Engine is in, putting finishing touches on the wiring harness, hopefully it will start up today.

*Edit*
The car starts now, and idles well at ~850RPM. When I apply gas, it hesitates a little bit and then it revs up to about ~2500RPM. Then it stutters there or it will drop the RPM to about 1800-2000 RPM. So I am one step closer to making her road worthy but it is still kicking my butt. The engine is very rich in this envelope and sounds very "strong".

Another weird thing is that I have not Check engine light. I wired it to the HF CEL and i get nothing. When I put the ignition in the "ON" position i get the HF shift light (econo wire going to stock HF box on the cluster), and all other normal lights, just no cel. When I start the car and let it sit for a minute, still no CEL. Is there a way to add an LED in line with the CEL wire?. Rather, is the CEL wire a positive line or a ground?

shorty_boy · 06-29-2011, 09:44 PM

She lives. I have started my write up and will put a link to it when i am done. The only issue that I am dealing with right now is the IACV. The engine came out of a CVT civic and has the three wire IACV instead of the two wire IACV needed for the manual vehicle. I do not have a surging idle but the ecu is throwing a code for it. 88hf, I really hope that you get the chance to do this swap. The engine is mighty strong and is a perfect fit for the HF.

shorty_boy · 06-30-2011, 03:53 PM

Bad news guys. If you have a Scan Gauge II, it will not work with JDM OBD2a. Sad. Who wants a scan gauge?

shorty_boy · 07-05-2011, 08:22 PM

WOOT WOOT! Betsie is now road ready. :bounce:

Proof that the swap works
YouTube - ‪CRX HF cluster‬&rlm;
The check engine light is the IACV mis-match

Also drove it to get the new exhaust! Now it is quiet.
YouTube - ‪New Exhaust‬&rlm;
Gonna drive her to work tomorrow. :nod:

Commencing the write up now!

88hf · 07-05-2011, 10:57 PM

sweet! I have mine in its just being held up by all the details. I got power windows to put in, 99 dash to secure (already in place), seats to recover (already assembled) and all the while the high voltage battery in the insight went out so i'm rebuilding the battery while i wait for my new "betterbattery" from ron @ hybrid-battery-repair. Also I'm learning to fly choppers so things are pretty busy. Awesome to hear of another success. Mine came with the 5speed so the iac wiring should already be correct. Yours sounds really great, low growl, do you have a decent muffler/exhaust on there? I'm thinking about doing the seats in military drab olive canvas. You sure that surging isn't the timing belt? I don't really know other than all the hondas/mazdas i've had tend to start doing that around the time the timing belt should be changed. What do you do in the navy? my dad and grandfather were both navy. It'd be cool to see a longer video maybe a short drive?

shorty_boy · 07-13-2011, 01:42 PM

I will try to do a longer video on the drive home from work today. The timing belt is brand new and the exhaust is custom from header to the exhaust tip. It only surges when the engine is warmed up. THat video was done after the drive home and it was ~113*F outside. Sounds like you have a bit of wwork before you get it in the shape that you want it. I am going to have to do a custom setup for the iacv issue. Two custom blockoff plates with hose running between them. That will be done once i find a suitable obd2 iacv.

As far as the navy, i am a contractor and i work with the F18 maintenance system.