antonio010

I recently picked up a 2003 CL-S with 100k miles at auction. Turns out the motor was blown, no compression in 2 cylinders. Did some quick browsing online and found a motor that would supposedly drop in and go. (By verifying vin number). I admit I should have done a bit more research, however, I have the new motor in and am running into issues with the wiring harness.

It seems the new motor is a j32a1 auto and the original CL-S motor is a j32a2. Am I going to have to use the wire harness from the new motor? And will it work with the CL-S ecu? Are there any other things I am going to have to do/swap? Swapping this motor was a nightmare and I am not exactly looking forward to pulling this out again so I would like to keep the j32a1 motor in here now.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Stephen00TL

Wow... That sucks. You are already 35 horsepower short starting off, not to mention there are sensors that are different, cam gears I beleive. Without swapping the necessary parts the car will run in safety mode which will lock out vtec and wont let you reve past 5500 rpm or so. I would call the company you got it from and try to dispute the charges.

Catfisha

These two threads may help you with part of your issues...

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-1999-2003-98/02-tl-s-swap-issues-855850/

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ht=J32a1+J32a2


There may be some info in these...

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-performance-parts-modifications-116/engine-tranny-swap-621394/
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-tl-1999-2003-98/well-ladies-time-has-drawn-near-756856/

antonio010

Thanks for the replies, that first thread was full of a lot of nonsense arguing, was hard to sort thru for anything useful.

Catfisha

I'm sorry....at least I tried.

antonio010

As a last resort if I have to pull this motor again, will a j32a2 from an automatic 02 TL-S drop in and go? Just want to ensure I wont have anymore sensor or wiring issues?

gnuts

iTrader: (1)

you have a non type s motor. You might as well ditch that and get a type s motor (J32A2). Why bother trying to get a motor working with quite a bit less horse power into your car?

Get a J32A2 motor and then you'll have to swap a few parts from the 6speed motor to the auto motor.

antonio010

What parts would need to be swapped?

gnuts

iTrader: (1)

found this:
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-2001-2003-50/lessons-learned-auto-motor-6spd-chassis-swap-mods-733935/

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

What transmission does your CL-S have?

If its an auto, the TL-S motor will drop in. If you have a 6MT, youll need to swap some sensors and use the original wiring harness.

cleptosis

iTrader: (1)

not to metion the cams are different also on 6 speed vs auto when i did my motor swap i swap it all over tho but i had to re do it since i thought they where the same at first just lag

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

The J32A2 uses the same cams regardless of transmission.

antonio010

Thanks for the replies, will give it a shot.

fsttyms1

Dont put the A1 in. It will be a waste of your time and money. Get a A2. Doesnt matter if its from a auto or not. If you have your original motor all you have to do is swap over the crank position sensor and the TDC sensor and front cam gear.

fsttyms1

Bad info. Cams are the same. Its ONLY the front cam GEAR that is different.

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

yes cam gear is different and sensors is different but also



gear behind the crank pulley and sensor are different



auto head needs to be grinded a bit to fit 6 speed sensors

thats 6speed head front cam




thats auto head front cam after the grind (i used dremel)


auto motor has extra water line that goes into tranny which needs to be blocked or swaped from 6 speed

UA5_6MT

iTrader: (1)

StreetKA is that true about grinding down the head for a J30 auto or is that just for the j32 auto?

StreetKA

iTrader: (8)

yes it is on the pictures you can see it and actually marked it... 6 speed sensors are bigger and they require to make some extra space for them