RL engine into '08 Type S?
 

Will an '05 RL Engine fit into my 08 Type S? I know it sounds absurd for gaining a mere 4HP but hear me out...
A brief history of my problem to explain my question - Last summer, on a cross-country trip (VA-> WA), I got a misfire in between Souix City and Souix Falls, SD. A brief search revealed the cylinder 1 coil was shot (at 86K. Is that normal?) Like, I took the nut off and the coil head came off and the 'stem' stayed in the sleeve. We found an Advance Auto in Souix Falls that had coils to fit my car so we tried to make it there and about 1/2 mile from our exit the car stalled and we coasted into the first driveway we could find. Which was about a mile from the Advance. Looking a little deeper, we figured to just replace the coil, pull the battery cable to hopefully reset the CEL and we'd be on our way. I started on that while my buddy ran to the Advance. Well, things got worse... the head came off just fine, but the stem wouldn't come out for nothing! It looked like heat had made the plastic brittle and the vibration eventually took its toll. We pried, and pulled and picked and tried just about everything we could think of to get it out. Late in the night we managed to get the stem out.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...a8f735d8b5.jpg

Since we were already into tearing things apart we decided to check the rest of the coils and found another... Cylinder 2. Same story but this one came out much easier. Replacing the coils we continued on our way. However, having completed my journey and returning home, one evening I wanted to do a simple first and second gear pull but was rudely interrupted by the engine sharply cutting off right when I expected VTEC to activate. What a disappointment ! Below that it ran great. A few days later I routinely checked my oil level and found a dry dipstick! Three quarts later the level was normalized. Several weeks later the issued repeated itself again with low oil level. No dripping, clean underneath, no exhaust smoke.. I didn't know where the oil was going. But with performance increasingly sluggish and disappearing oil I began searching for answers with no avail. By chance I vented my frustration to a friend and he suggested checking the spark plugs. Doing so found oil on those same two sparkplugs that were affected by the bad coils. Anyways, long story short my cat for cylinders 1 2 and 3 was stopped up nearly solid... And my oil rings are bad among other things I'm sure. Now, my cousin has a 05 RL for parts that has about 60K on in. Will the RL Engine work in the TL-S as PNP or is there more involved ?

I think the 4hp difference was due to the rating standard change, not actually anything different about the engine

An article I read stated the HP difference was from different cams in the RL. It was quite a convincing article but I don't know enough about engines to know whether they were accurate or not. Regardless, my real concern is whether the engine mounts are the same, whether the wiring harness is the same, if there any difference in the fuel supply, will the ECU need to be changed as well or can I just pull the RL engine and drop into the TL.

The difference is the cams. Except for the that the motors are identical.

Is your Type S an auto or manual?

If it's a manual I believe you may have to switch some sensors over but except for that and reusing your Type S engine harness, your good to go.

4 hp for all of those trouble.

It's plus and play

teh CL- My Type S is a manual. Do you know which sensors will need to be changed or will it be apparent from the Type S harness?

truonghthe - Lol, I'm not doing this swap for those 4 HP. I'm doing this because after the issue described in the first post the car has been burning oil like it's no one's business. I believe it's the rings and to fix that would require much more down time as well as tools that I don't have and expenses that I can't afford. If it's a matter of swapping the engines I could probably have that done in two or three evenings and much less expenses. Plus I'll have an engine that someone can use if they are looking for a project (or do a JA swap into a civic lol) Maybe help recover some of the expenses. The additional four HP and 30K less are just a bonus. :)

It would be noticeable when swapping over your Type S harness for sure.

I was just thinking back to when I converted my auto J35A3 to a true 6 spd motor and I had to swap over some sensors to make it work with the 6 spd harness.

I know I'm talking about 2 generations of J series motors but I thought I'd give you a heads up just in case. As long as you use your stock harness it should go off without a hitch.

:thumbsup:

use everything from the TL-S. It should bolt up no problems since they are the same motor just with different camshafts. Bell housing is the same

Then I'll try to swap out the engine. I'll keep you all updated on the progress.
One more thing - Will the cats off the RL fit onto the Type S J-pipe?

It lives!!
 

Thank you all for your input! It lives! Sorry it took so long to update I only got the job done a week ago... Things worked out well since my buddy went out of town for a week and let me use his shop as needed.
Really didn't have any serious issues, just a few small hiccups but we'll get to those later.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...32ac1faf27.jpg


Pulled the engine/transmission/subframe assembly.<br/> The RL Engine sits in the foreground.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...cbd3584a09.jpg


Alternator bracket was designed differently so that needed to be swapped.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...ec686c6163.jpg


The harness was quite simple to replace but I found a cracked valve cover which I replaced with one from the TL engine.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...80ba7e05a8.jpg





Extra sensor on the thermostat housing. Changed the housing and the sensor disappeared :D



https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...42fbd96f56.jpg


This coolant sensor had a different connector on it though otherwise seemed the same.


Really that's the only things that were different.
I ended up replacing the rack and pinion since I had apparently blown a seal somewhere from the last time I dropped the engine and went to change the seal but couldn't disassemble it to access it. So I found a reman for a steal deal and went with that.
Also replaced the cats and the kept the original O2 sensors. The front cat fits from the RL to the TL J-pipe just fine. Cant say the same about the rear one since that was from a TL-S.
Ended up replacing the injectors from the TL since the ones in the RL Engine were throwing random misfire codes. I half expected that to happen since the RL had been sitting for a few years but I wish I'd have known before putting the engine back in the car.... one can wish, right?
Anyhows, that's done and over with :thumbsup:

BTW, I have a TL-S engine if anyone is looking for a project :)
oh, and XLR8 engine mounts (62a) with only 2500 mile on them.
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-par...recats-940534/

on a side note, I did find a few other areas that needed attention... Right upper ball joint had gone bad so that was replaced (under warranty by Advance Auto).
And we found this:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...378c675a14.jpg

After numerous attempts to reach the seller with no response and several purchase/exchanges from a local parts store I remembered that I had the original parts laying around. So I pulled the ball joint boots from the OE's and installed them on these eBay ones. The ball joint still seemed solid and there was very minimal dirt in the grease so I don't think that's something to worry about though I will keep a close eye on it.

Well, that's my story. Thanks for tuning in! And thanks for your help guys!

Nice job dude! :thumbsup:

Cool post man thanks.

Your disappearing oil might have been the oil pump gaskets leaking. Tell tale sign is oil residue along the passenger side corner of the oil pan. It doesn't leak while parked.

FamilyGuy: If oil was leaking anywhere externally there would be telltale signs... oil splashed throughout the undercarriage, or small oil spots where the remaining oil would drip off onto the pavement after parking.

Glad it worked out for you. That's cool info that a swap actually works.

Nice job with the swap, now time to pull the old engine apart and do a turbo build!!

I always wondered if this could be done. Do you have the 6 speed or the auto? Also, have you had any engine lights come on since?

Foxrider: as much as I'd love to and have toyed with the idea, it simply isn't happening with my budget :/ But perhaps, maybe, one day... One can dream, right? Lol

Alex: I have the 6-mt. No, 1600 miles and no CEL's :)

This is a great thread!

Today, I am less a noob than I was yesterday. Good read!

How you liking the extra 4 hp?

The melted coils have been a symptom of water in the ECU, caused by a blocked A/C drain tube. Might want to take a good look at the ECU...

Scott: The extra 4 HP are incredible! I can't believe I hadn't thought of this 'mod' sooner! My only concern is whether the stock transmission can handle the extra juice or do I need to have it built... Also will the axles snap with all the extra torques?
lol. no, the 4hp is not noticeable. Its just nice to be back in the TL after my '04 i-4 Accord, that things is slow! lol

Squared: Thanks! I had heard about that before but didn't think about it here. I was thinking that because it was the two coils right above the rear converter it was the high engine bay temperatures that took their toll... but I'll look into that.

planning to do tha same swap as far as the tranny did everthing bolt up? did you have to use our fly wheel ? does our axles work with it, and did our ecu and harness work ? and are the pre cats in the same positon as ours. also did you have any problems with the j-pipe and the oil pan ?

I have the 6-mt so I had to change the flywheel on the engine. An automatic might just bolt right up.
The engine doesn't affect the axles in any way, they slide into the transmission (But the passenger side half shaft bolts right up if that's the question).
The front precat is the same, I used it from the RL but I can't guarantee the rear one will work, I found a used TL one. But there was no problem matching them to TL J-pipe.
I used my original J-pipe (I think the RL one is a little shorter) with no fitment issues around the oil pan.
Again, I used my original TL harness with no issues besides what's mentioned above in post #11.

would you happen to know the compression on the rl motors im gonna buy one this week just want to make sure everything is in good shape with it and thanks allot for the info

Also I'm getting a Jdm RL motor should everyone still work ?

jspools: Sorry for the delayed response but I'm afraid I won't be of much help either way; It's probably too late and I don't know what the compression is on either engine.

TL type S RL engine swap
 

Great write up, any other success with these TL type S swapped with a 05 RL engine, not much info on specifics on these motors, about to swap a 07 tl type S manual with a RL engine

tons of success. do it.

Any parts worth using from the TYPE S (cams, valve-train, etc?) or any tricks, I know u have been around for a while with the J series

I know it's a old thread...but I'm about to do the same with my 2007 TLS and I was wondering would my TLS key work with the RL engine?? Or do I have to take it to an Acura dealer and get it recoded?? Thank you for your time!

Well considering the engine has nothing to do with the key as that is determined by the ECU..