Dual vtec on j35 engine. Put j37 heads on j35 block
 

Looked into some discussions involving yungone501, justnspace, tarzanboy about using j37 dual v tec heads on older j30, 32 and 35 blocks

Seems like everything will bolt on. Some mentioned oil pressure needs to be a little higher to actuate dual v tec properly. Some said plenty of oil pressure in these engines already

Previously, with invaluable help over here, I bolted on Acura rl 2006 cylinder heads onto j35a6 engine(Honda Odyssey)

Everything works. Car is much faster .but most power is at 4500rpm+.
I dont like to rev engines a lot, especially minivans. 90% is city driving under 40mph. Have lots of gaskets leaking, cranks shaft gaskets. Valve stem seals.. so decided might as well rebuild everything . But this time I would like to achieve maximum low end torque. It looks like mdx dual v tec heads from j37 are profiled better for low end torque.

Is v tec mechanical, hydrolic actuation or it needs a signal from engine computer to engage. Basically if I find j37 dual v tec heads from mdx will I need to swap ecm? To accommodate dual v tec function

You will still need to rev the heck out of the engine as Vtec stands for Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic control. meaning two cam profiles...one for below 4500 RPM and a more aggressive profile for above 4500 RPM.

even if you switch out the heads, in order to make power, you will need to rev to the high heavens, meaning above 4500 RPM.This is how the engine is designed and makes PEAK power at like 6000 RPM.

a turbo motor is able to bring 300lbs of torque at as low as 1200 RPM.
Your N/A motor is designed to make 258-280lbs at 6000RPM...

call it a characteristic of The J-series engines.

Thanks for this reply. Good to see your presence)
I initially was thinking of putting j37 engine and transmission from zdx but it looks like it's only all wheel drive car. No front wheel drive option.
And it's a major project.

So from what's doable quickly in my situation I thought having dual vtec would be a good upgrade. Basically if this was already done I'd like to know all specifics. I am happy with power now. But I suspect valve guides are worn.. not just stem seals. And since I am replacing all gaskets might as well add dual vtec. Might pay a shop to install new valve guides and new valves on a used j37 cylinder heads.
Might do block works but that's another story and thread.

Perhaps this will give you more insight

https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...etrain-908987/

Roman
 

Pretty informative thread. Seems like these threads are copy pasted in other sites. Read few posts on the thread somewhere else.

Noticed something promising.
Looks like Acura MDX 2010-13 has same bell housing bolt pattern as 2008-2010 Honda Odyssey. Maybe I can transplant mdx 2013 engine into my odyssey. Has anyone used odyssey transmission in any kinds of swaps. It's an auto transmission so I doubt it. Attached are images of mdx 2013 transmission and odyssey 2010 transmission
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...d8b082e944.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...6032a0b5cd.jpg

I believe one dude recently did the opposite...took the odyssey motor and transplanted into his TL.

Dude took the whole engine harness...that's what you would have to do, along with the enigne, you need the engine harness

So if mdx engine lines up with odyssey transmission
I just need to transplant ecu, harness, mdx ignition fob system (or reprogram later).

One thing I am not clear about

Does ecu also control transmission? That ecu on passenger side of engine bay is it for engine management only?
Does auto transmission have a separate ecu

Wanted to add a little update to this thread regarding the J37A4 and boost. Currently, you can swap any J37 into the 3rd gen TL. I currently have one in my manual Type S after having issues with my built J35. Its drop-in for the most part but some things have to get changed like the crank sensor and the cam plates and cam gears. I did this swap specifically because the J37A4 is considered by many one of the most potent J series in stock form. Note that the reason I had a built J35 was that I am on forced induction (Rotrex supercharger). Here are my findings.



The j37A4 is a good motor despite it having oil consumption issues. It makes great torque and very good horsepower for an NA platform. While NA, the motor seems to carry power all the way to 6500rpm on some motors before having a slight dip in power by 6800rpm. I’ve seen some dynos of NA J37A4s start to drop power as soon as 6100 rpm. This is likely due to the less aggressive intake cam profiles as stated before but more notably due to the tumble ports that kill flow to provide more torque.



After supercharging the J37A4, I’ve realized that the heads cannot keep up with extensive flow from the supercharger (rated to 900hp) The tumble port along with the smaller exhaust port choke the heads causing a drastic drop in power. Below I’ve posted graphs of my J35 on an Auto 08 TL with boost as well as my current J37 swapped Type S, also supercharged.



Looking at the J37, it makes great power and torque down low but after about 5600 RPM, you’ll notice power is still increasing but not at the same rate when compared to my old J35 auto. After about 6100 RPM power actually starts to tank, unlike the J35 that just keeps chucking along to the redline. This is the exact same characteristic that it has NA however it is a lot more drastic since the port is maxed out and flow goes out the door.



Just wanted to share this finding. I will be swapping to the J35a8 (type s heads) since they flow better up top. Given that throughout most of the graph my J37 makes 30-75whp more power than my old boosted auto, extrapolating that result to redline would move my max hp from 460 @6100 to roughly 525 at 7000 rpm by just replacing the heads.



With that said, my j37A4 has less than 40k miles and the heads will be on sale soon along with the intake runner, and PCDs if anyone is interested.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...59d5b59c8c.jpg
J37A4 6 Speed Manual TL
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/acurazi...1c14e79f7d.jpg
J35A8 5 speed Auto TL

Why ate the heads for sale
 

What do u plan on doing to the motor just curious