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1.6 to 1.8 swap electrical hassle

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Old 03-19-2015, 05:26 PM
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Default 1.6 to 1.8 swap electrical hassle

Hey all,

to start off, I have a 90' Miata with 1.6 in it (well, it started to burn a lot of oil) so I decided to upgrade to 1.8. So I bought a BP-4W engine from a 00' Miata with very low mileage on it. I've got the engine, intake, exhaust, AFM, ECU and all the engine harness.

So the question is, I've searched a lot about these swaps and I could only find swaps that use the 1.6 ECU, harness, TB, TPS and other things related to electrical stuff.

Is it possible to swap the engine harness from a 00' Miata? I know, that newer Miatas have immobilizers, but that's easily removable.

Am I doing it right or should I go with the butthurt method and using the 1.6 stuff?

Need answers, because i'm a little bit stumbled. Because my old engine uses a short nose, so that means I have to find somewhere a 94-97' alternator, because the one on the 00' engine is being controled by the ECU (which I do have). So what should be the easiest and less time consuming approach?

Thanks, Slimas.
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Old 03-20-2015, 11:12 AM
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Swapping the '00 harness into your 1.6 is a bad plan. Use the sticky entitled "VVT Swap into 90-97 Megathread" at the top of this section.
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Old 03-20-2015, 11:42 AM
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^ What he said. Here's another resource that may be helpful.
https://www.flyinmiata.com/support/i...sc/1.8swap.pdf
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Old 03-20-2015, 08:39 PM
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I've done a lot of reading and the biggest headache was the alternator. Since in my country it's practically impossible to get any Miata parts, I thought I had a problem there. Since my Miata is 90' in the production but the first registration is 91" I thought I had the short nose crankshaft, which meant I had to find a 94-97' alternator, which is impossible. With further investigations I found out that my 1.6 motor has an 8 point crankshaft pulley so I can just switch that one from my 1.6 including the alternator to the 1.8 engine.

Other question, does the 1.6 ECU manage the 1.8 engine properly? I will not get any power losses (except the VICS not working)?
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Old 03-21-2015, 05:52 PM
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No, the 1.6 ECU will not properly manage a 99-00 BP4W. Follow the steps outlined in the thread I linked you to.
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Old 03-21-2015, 05:55 PM
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I read the thing a million times. I know what things to take from the 1.6 for the 1.6 ECU to control. But I was asking if the 1.6 ECU will control the 1.8 engine so that I could use all the 103kW from that engine (except the VICS)
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Old 03-22-2015, 07:04 PM
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Best case, you give up power when compared to a standalone. Worst case, the 1.6 ECU doesn't safely run the BP4W. Are you trying to avoid a standalone ECU for some specific reason?
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Old 03-22-2015, 07:25 PM
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I will use a standalone ECU later on, but it will be few months before that. i've read that a lot people are running 1.8's on 1.6 ECU with no problems, I was just wondering what's the power loss
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Old 03-22-2015, 07:48 PM
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You can get the new engine started on the 1.6 ECU, but the standalone will be worth 8-10whp over what the 1.6 ECU will do.
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Old 03-22-2015, 08:05 PM
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I know that. The question was if bp-4w outputs 103kw with 1.8ecu and stuff, 1.8 with standalone ~110kw. So what should be the power output with 1.6 ecu?
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Old 03-22-2015, 10:09 PM
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I have absolutely no idea. Probably somewhere in between those two numbers, but that assumes that the AFRs are safe, and that's not an assumption you should make.
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Old 03-22-2015, 10:10 PM
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Thanks for the honesty
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Old 03-22-2015, 11:05 PM
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Originally Posted by slimas
Thanks for the honesty
Anytime
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