CB7 Accord H22 engine swap

"Prepare for hyper-active"

What and Why

The 90-93 accord comes with a reliable but sad engine. It's a SOHC 125 hp 2.2l with a low redline. Plus mine had a zillion miles and I just didn't like it. The first step in making this project tolerable was to get rid of the F22 lump and put in a JDM H22. I made sure that the transaxle I ordered came with a limited slip differential because this engine and FWD in general would be pointless without one. It's also a discount compared to buying a new LSD and installing it yourself. I slowly installed it in March of 2004 and these pages are most of the story.

Preparation

I tried to get as many parts for the swap as I could in advance but still didn't manage to get everything. Check the swap notes to the right for the complete list. I spent entirely too much time driving around looking for parts and tools, when I could have been wrenching. Make sure you have a good place to do this and lots of space to swing an engine hoist.

When I arrived at the garage where I had sent the engine I found it wrapped up in cellophane like a turkey. After some hacking and tearing of my turkey wrapping there was my "new" engine! It looked really nice, Hmotors had sprayed it off so it was very clean. The ECU was there and in good shape. It looked like a daunting task to be done solo without a lift or air tools- and I was right.

Maintenance/Swap stuff

Check the swap list for all of the goodies that I put on. It took forever to find it all. I did as much along with the swap as seemed sane to make a reliable car. I did the fuel filter for instance while the engine was out. There is no easier time to do it and it's cheap engine insurance.

The accessory belt was a trick. It took a long time to find the only size that I could fit the Accord A/C compressor with the H22 Alternator and crank pulleys. It took about 6 trips to an Advance Auto to figure out the size and the guy behind the counter was getting really unhappy with me. Turns out they didn't have the size we narrowed it down to and I had to go to a napa to get it!! Ah the irony.

First steps and engine prep

Next I got acquainted with the engine and where things were. I cut the VTEC, oil pressure, and the knock sensor plugs off of the H22 harness to wire up later, then removed the rest of the remaining harness and hoses.

The crank bolt was stuck on and I needed to get it off for the timing belt job. No air tools. I eventually had to use a floor jack and like 4 feet of extensions to get it loose. Then getting the flywheel bolts off required making a jig to secure it to the engine block. The Honda part that did the same was over 100 dollars, i just drilled a couple holes in a piece of scrap wood and bolted one end to the block and the other to the flywheel.

I started prepping the engine by putting on the clutch, flywheel, timing belt, balance belt, the water pump, then the transaxle and starter.

F22 Extraction

F22 out

Time to get the offending member out. I set to work getting the axles loose. Wait! One of the axle nuts was stuck! >_<' I had someone push the brakes while I jumped on a 3 foot extension. Nope. I heated the nut up with a torch and tried again. Nope. That axle had to come off, so after I tried for several days in vain until I finally procured some air tools. I spent a full minute with the air gun on full blast before it came loose. I would have liked to have gotten my hands on the crawling thing that put that nut on with an air gun. Its called a torque wrench, use it.

Getting the engine loose wasn't bad at all. I took the A/C compressor loose and shoved it towards the front of the car to put on the H22 without having to crack the lines. I would have loved to have taken it off entirely, but I didn't want to melt the Crew Chief in the summer. The shop manual has the rest of the engine removal procedure so I won't bore you.

After the F22 is out you can canabalize it for parts (take that!). I took the EGR solenoid since it will work with the H22 and the Accord engine harness. I also took the front thermostat pipe that has a socket for the Accord harness plug. I Grabbed the accord A/C bracket, all of the engine mounts, and a lot of little misc. stuff. I recommend taking anything you might use as a spare as well since there are a lot of interchangeable parts.

Engine Bay prep

engine bay

Be sure to put your prelude power steering line in when the engine is out along with doing the fuel filter and cleaning/painting the engine bay while you're at it. I didn't have a P/S line when I was doing the swap and it was a realllll pain putting it in with the engine in there. A reallll pain.

I also took the time with the engine out to run the 4 wires you'll need to hook to the ECU through the firewall. Be sure to use four different colored wires if at all possible. I tried to mark them with tape with a helper on the other end and they miss marked one adding another delay that I had to diagnose with the CEL.

Engine Mounts

Now that the F22 was out I took the opportunity to fill all of the mounts with window weld. It's urethane goo that solidifies into hard rubbery stuff. It's really messy so wear gloves and have some alcohol around for spills. Clean the mount with some dish soap and a strong brush, or hit it with a sanding drum and a dremel, then wash it. Let it dry then fill it in slowly from the middle out. Wait a couple of days for it to fully dry. If you're a drag racer (first you chose the wrong car..) you may want to go with real polyurethane mounts or make your own. I've been using window weld filled mounts for years and they're fine.

Then I had to figure out the passenger side transaxle/engine mount. A lot of people try to use the too-tall Prelude mount, but that's a no no. You don't want to change the orientation of an engine in its bay, not good. The alternative is quite simple. Buy a tap and the corresponding drill and drill out the holes for the stock accord mount that are already cast into the H22 transaxles case. Its not hard at all, you just need to do it slowly and carefully. There are plenty of web sites on tapping so I'm not going to cover that. What you need is a 10x1.25 metric tap (they make them for aluminum but I couldn't find any). I just went to true value. Check out the swap notes for more specifics.

taping

Here's a shot of tapping the second hole. You only have to move two studs. You can see where the studs used to be for the Prelude mount. One above the tap and the other in the lower left. This is really a pretty easy job. Use tape or a drill stopper on the drill bit to drill just enough so the studs will thread down all of the way. Don't drill a hole though your case! With tapping its two revolutions forward and one backward. I took out the tap, then lubed and cleaned it every two as well. You don't want to mess up!

Tada! The accord mount now fits perfectly and so will your engine.

Team Skittle Racing