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Bizzump for a progress report...

So, Since I am out of work again, the project has resumed and if progressing quickly.

I opted to remove the A/C. This has turned out to be fortuitous because it let me running the bulkhead wiring through the A/C port and not have to remove the whole heater to get the turbo wiries into the car. Unfortunately, my NA wagon does not have the handy dandy unused bulkhead port that so many of the turbo guys have used to route their boost gauges. My boost gauge will be routed through the same A/C port.

The engine is in the car and hooked up. I managed to crossthread one of the bolts while reinstalling the control arms, but that was easily fixed with a little tap work

The wiring is pretty damned straight forward. Almost every major wire is the same on the USDM NA car and the 1994 JDM WRX ECU that I am using. As a result, I am leaving everything in the car except for the engine harness. I have really just patched in the portion of the WRX harness that is needed. WRX harnesses are one complete harness for the whole thing instead of 2 in the USDM. I didn't pull the whole harness out of the driver's side, only the engine portion. I left the the fan control, headlights, etc all in the car.

The only portion I cut out of that harness was the engine portion, or as SCC called it in their conversions article, the VIB (very important bundle). This portion has the wiring for the injectors, ignition, etc. Things like the CrankS, knockS, and camS are all on the main bulkhead harness and the connectors are the same on the two, so they just stayed in the car.

The only splicing required is a few of the fuses and grounds. I would say that I have only cut 10 or so wires. Everything else you just pull it out of the ECU connector and plug it into the one in the car. So far I have done less than 15 hours of wiring work!

If I can source a 1994-1996 WRX ignitor for use with the coil on plug ignition, this car will be turned over for the first time within the week.

I will update when I hit the troubleshooting phase. No doubt I will get CEL's and the car won't start the first time I try to make it run...

The wiring is finished!!! I still need an ignitor to turn it over though. On the whole I found this easier than I was led to believe by others. I had never wired a car when I started and didn't even know how to read a wiring diagram. But all of it is pretty straightforward is you are patient and take your time.

I ran the harness for the Boost control solenoid, pressure sensor, etc through the former AC port in the firewall. This saved a ton of unwrapping wires and removing the heater just to reinstall it. And the gasket from the bulkhead of the WRX fit perfectly to seal it up. Of course the wires will be rewrapped before the car is driven

inside view of the same.

That's the whole bundle, ready to be rewrapped, zip tied and plugged into the ECU.

engine harness running down the driver's side. Half that was in place (runs the lighting and fans) and half was added from the WRX harness.

And here's everything from the WRX harness that is leftover...

:disco:

Niiiice...

Dude, just get two US-spec ignitors and start the engine!

Then I have to cut the harness. I have a JDM connection looking into for me. I may have a 4 channel ignitor by mid week...

Hm, that's cool, then...

You wouldn't necessarily have to cut the harness, though -- you could remove the pins from the 26-pin ECU connector (for the four ignition channels and for the ignition ground) and put your own new ones in. You could go "back to JDM stock" any time.

sweet!

vrg3 wrote:Hm, that's cool, then...

You wouldn't necessarily have to cut the harness, though -- you could remove the pins from the 26-pin ECU connector (for the four ignition channels and for the ignition ground) and put your own new ones in. You could go "back to JDM stock" any time.

Not so simple my friend. At first I thought I could do that, but the connectors for the JDM ignitor run wires straight to the coils via the engine harness. I rewired the car with the JDM engine harness instead of rewiring the engine with the USDM intake manifold harness. Your suggestion would work for the ECU to ignitor portion of the wiring, but for the ignitor to coil portion I would have to cut and splice...

Oh, I see what you're saying. I forgot about that other half of the wiring.

Hey Matt, you and I are at the exact same stage, wierd, I just finished my wiring as well. Question for you, do you know what the ignitor looks like, or where it was located on the JDM cars, I have a few odd bits that I dont' know what they are, especially a square box that sits behind the boost control solonoid that came with my JDM harness, could this be the ignitor, it has four wires going in one side, and four wires coming out the other side and is about 15cm x15cm. Any Ideas?/
Thanks
Frazer

I believe that's the ignitor, Frazer. The 4-channel ignitor was mounted to the back of the bracket on the right strut tower that also holds the pressure sensor, the pressure exchange solenoid, and the boost control solenoid.

But that's weird that it only has four wires on each side... I would expect it to also have a ground wire. I guess maybe it grounds through its body?

And it is 5 and 4, there is a ground. See the G in the center bottom on the pic?

Ok, That helps sort of, I have found that I got an ignitor with my harness, but it does not have any of the numbering you have here. It is just a square box with 5 wires coming out one side and 4 out the other, like you have sugested above. However how do I tell which wire is for what coil without the numbering stamped on mine. Any sugestions, would I be safe to go with the diagram on your ignitor?
I've got a picuture if anyone can host.
Thanks
Frazer

You've got the harness, right? There should only be one way to plug it in to the ignitor. OTherwise, it will be wired just like my picture.

I picked up the SVX ignitor the other day and spliced it in. I then dropped in the battery and expected to turn the car over for the first time. Nothing, nada! I thought maybe the battery had died in six months of sitting. Pulled out the voltage meter, no problem. Stuck it on the starter, the starter is getting juice. Checked all fuses, nothing blown. I have some sort of break in the circuit for the main power relay. I was laid up sick for a few days and haven't been back to the car. I am sure it is some sort of very simpler oversight. I will spend some time under the dash today.

One question for you all: Can I turn the car over without the dash installed? Looking at the wiring diagram I think I should be able to. I didn't completely hook up the dash since I want to be able to remove it and troubleshoot if I have messed up any wiring. Is this the source of my issue?

D'oh!

The actual starting circuit should be very simple. The stock circuit goes like this:

positive terminal of battery -> fusible link -> SBF-4 -> ignition switch -> starter interlock relay contacts -> starter solenoid -> ground through starter body

The starter interlock relay's coil has its ground side connected to the clutch switch and its hot side connected to the "start" wire of the ignition switch.

And of course the starter itself gets power straight from the positive terminal of the battery as well.

So I don't see what the dash has to do with it. The engine will turn over even without an ECU.

It turns over if you jump the starter solenoid straight to the positive battery terminal, right?

vrg3 wrote:D'oh!

The actual starting circuit should be very simple. The stock circuit goes like this:

positive terminal of battery -> fusible link -> SBF-4 -> ignition switch -> starter interlock relay contacts -> starter solenoid -> ground through starter body

The starter interlock relay's coil has its ground side connected to the clutch switch and its hot side connected to the "start" wire of the ignition switch.

And of course the starter itself gets power straight from the positive terminal of the battery as well.

So I don't see what the dash has to do with it. The engine will turn over even without an ECU.

It turns over if you jump the starter solenoid straight to the positive battery terminal, right?

That's what I thought, just making sure I wasn't missing something really obvious. I haven't tried to jump the solenoid straight to the battery terminal, yet...

Starter issue resolved. I just didn't have the relay plugged in all the way. Turns overs, but won't catch and start. I have started a new thread in electrical to try and troubleshoot:
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... 2839#82839
TIA,
MM

Lookin good, let me know if you need another pair of hands.

If you want to come check my wiring feel free to come over. I am getting fed up with trying to get the damned thing to start...

Hey Matt, I got mine to turn over and fire(well sort off), i think my fuel filter is blocked and I need to replace it, because I got it to turn over, and Fire, but it only fired every once and a while. I'm pretty stoked, I'll get the filter, replace the fuel and go from their. I know i'ts not getting any fuel, so I'm going to eliminate a blocked fuel filter to start off with.

tried the stock ecu thing. wont work. ignition timing and cam timing is off. put in aus ecu from impressive and fired right up. as for fact ej22 wire harness it will work with extending iac wires and i had to extend oil press wire. if you compare the pinouts from cornell you will notice other pin locations that are differnt and need to be addressed.