ECU, Wiring, Sensors
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By teal_dx
#223990 Since Honda decided to make OBD1 vtec distributors have a different bolt pattern than non-vtec distributors, it's not practical to use one in place of the other even though the internals are identical.

Lets say you just swapped in a D16z6 engine or just the head (mini-me) and it didn't come with a distributor or the distributor it came with is bad. But there's never a shortage of non-vtec OBD1 distributors it seems...

This tutorial is going to explain the process of swapping the internals from one distributor to another.

In this specific case, I had a D16z6 distributor which was modified to use an external coil. my car was missing at high RPM so I wanted a bone stock distributor to begin troubleshooting. THere were plenty of non-vtec ones on craigslist so I bought one for a decent price.

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The D16z6 distributor is on the left, D15b7 on the right. notice the 'leg' pointing to the right is at a different angle. That bolt hole being in a different position is the main reason that a D15b7 distributor will not bolt up to the D16z6 head and vice versa.

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The D16z6 dizzy has a cap designed for an external coil. Because it was modded for an external coil, the previous owner removed the OEM internal coil.

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First remove the screws holding the cover on.

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The stock D15b7 dizzy with internal coil.

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Now I'm looking inside the D16z6 dizzy which was modified for the external coil.

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remove the rotor by taking out this screw. These can be tight, use the correct size phillips so you don't strip the screw out.

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Pull off the plastic cover behind the rotor. This is the D15b7 dizzy with OEM internal coil (big grey thing on the bottom inside).

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And Here's the D16z6 dizzy which was modified for use with an external coil.

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lol really? I had THIS in my car all along?? what a mess.... Never use those connectors for something critical to your engine such as a distributor, not to mention the high voltage.

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Here I am gutting the internals from the D16z6 casing.

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Be careful with this stuff, especially the ICM. These are very expensive and they can go bad after a while so hang on to the spare if you have one.


Now I pulled all the sensors I could get to from the z6 dizzy... back to the OEM D15b7 dizzy....

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Here's the OEM Coil I needed.


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Unfortunately the wiring in the z6 dizzy was hacked up so bad, I need to swap everything over now. These wires and connectors can be brittle so be careful.

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This is about as far as you can get from the front. Next thing to do is to remove the shaft to you can get the rest apart.

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There's a snap ring on the key. The key fits in the end of the cam one way only. The 2 teeth are slightly offset to one side to prevent you from putting the distributor on and having the timing off 180° and the engine not run. If you ever put one of these Distributors on before, you know what I mean about only going in one way.
So once the snap ring is removed (I only slid it up enough) then you can remove the pin from the center.
That pin locks the key to the shaft so they turn as one.
NOTE: mark which side of the shaft the 2 teeth are offset toward. Even though the key will only go into the cam the correct way, the key can be installed on the shaft of the distributor the wrong direction, turned 180° backwards. I learned this the hard way when my car wouldn't start once everything was back together. There's thin washers under the key too, don't lose it because it can stick to the key.
More pics of this when I put the dizzy back together later.


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Coil and ICM have been removed so far, now the rest can come out. Screws have been removed here. This sensor I'm holding has wires going through the center section.

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Pull the whole assembly straight out. The black sensor from above it still attached to the harness, just set off to the side, hanging over the edge of the casing.

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Here's the other 2 sensors inside that I'm going to remove.

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All these black sensors are connected with the same harness and I didn't want to cut & solder, it was faster to re-use everything as a whole.

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I cleaned the outer case out and it is ready for the donor organs.

From here on, just do everything backward that you already did.
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The last 2 sensors in the Z6 dizzy.

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The center section back in.

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The other black sensor screwed down.

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The ICM installed. Be sure you note which wires go where. Most of them aren't long enough to go to the wrong place.

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And finally the Coil.

Now... Here's where I have detailed pics of the Key
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Put some oil on the surface and then there's the washers that go on before the key. Put oil between the 2 washers too as well as the washer and the key.

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Here's where I messed up and put the key on 180° backwards. Looking back, it makes sense that there was that extra line on the right side of the case surface and also an extra line on one side of the top of the key. So this pic is incorrect. turn it so the outside lines match instead oon opposite sides.

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The snap ring is slid up and I'm putting the pin in.

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Push the snap ring back into its grove and that pin isn't going anywhere.

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Back to the other side of the rebuilt distributor.... put on the inside plastic cover before putting the rotor on.

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Don't forget the rubber gasket before putting the outer cover on.

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The outer cover is held on with 3 screws and done!
User avatar
By OleFolk
#223997 Great DIY
This will save me alot of money :thumb:
User avatar
By OleFolk
#224053 I unscrewed the screw thats on the side of the rotor
I just cant get the rotor off

Edit: yeah I cant get the rotor off to save my life
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By chrono404
#224138 Awesome DIY like always.

If you get an OBD2 Engine you can do this exact same steps to convert it to OBD1.

You can also do this bewteen DOHC and SOHC distrubtors as well, the DOHC Dizzy shaft is keyed different from the SOHC. Make sure that the DOHC dizzy shaft goes back in the DOHC dizzy, Same with SOHC.

I did the above steps to convert the electronics from a d16z6 to make a OBD1 B20 Dizzy.
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By Ajax1989
#224140 wow ur my hero teal :thumb:
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By teal_dx
#224157
OleFolk wrote:I unscrewed the screw thats on the side of the rotor
I just cant get the rotor off

Edit: yeah I cant get the rotor off to save my life


try letting it soak with PB blaster? use the little straw on the nozzle so it doesn't spray all over the inside, just where you want it to go.
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By andyc
#242185 hopefully this will help me revive my coupe! I have 3 dizzies, one D15B7 thats dead and 2 that wont fit the B7 head.....

Cheers :thumb:
By cjw_89
#242203 Crazy,yet informative thread. Good job man!!... Question what makes a vtec dizzy a vtec dizzy. Can an nonvtec dizzy be modified cheaply to make it a vtec one ? I always wondered what was diifferent about those.

Also you can use a b1 dizzy on a b7 it may only bolt up by one bolt but the o ring is what stops the leaks.So if anyone ever gets in a jam and need a dizzy to move a car use an integra one if need be. Just switch your wires :thumb: ..

I had a coil give out on me the summer,coinsidentally just after i hit a bump and the honey comb in my cat plugged off my exhaust.Thought i lost my engine :shock:

Btw this is the best site for ANY info regarding our cars. Hater tech sucks
User avatar
By teal_dx
#242226
cjw_89 wrote:Question what makes a vtec dizzy a vtec dizzy.

there's no difference other than the metal case it comes in. (obd2 d16y5 dizzys do have different internals than other obd2 dizzys though)

cjw_89 wrote: Can an nonvtec dizzy be modified cheaply to make it a vtec one ?
absolutely, that's what this thread is about... how to switch internals from one housing to the other :thumb:
By rmp705
#269803 yo my dizzy does not have the bolt on the rotor how do i take it off
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By andyc
#269807 you mean the screw holding the rotor arm on?
User avatar
By teal_dx
#269809
rmp705 wrote:yo my dizzy does not have the bolt on the rotor how do i take it off



The screw is all that is holding the rotor on the shaft. If the screw is already out then just pull the rotor off of the shaft. It might be a tight fit, not slide right off.
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By EG Love
#273630 wow this really could have helped me last month, haha. my SI d16z6 dizzy blew a bearing, tore up all the internals. I searched everywheres for a used VTEC DIZZY but could only find ones shipped from ontario.. one local junkyard claimed to have one. After buying it, and realizing it wouldn't fit on, they claimed I asked for a non-vtec dizzy and re-funded my money.. what hell i went through, since the car was broke down out of town at a gas station for days lol. Ended up paying someone I know to re-build it for $100, and now I learn that the internals are just the same.. haha. live and learn i guess! :fucker: great write up
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By 1-low-92-EG-Sedan
#293997 i know this is an old thread...but just to triple check my self here...(some of you already know my situation) but i have a d15b7 dizzy that works..and im looking to purchase a 1990 LS motor swap with EVERYTHING i need to swap it into my car..the only issue is the dizzy on the ls does not work...they are both technically OBD1 and both non v-tec...i can just swap the internals of my d15b7 with the ls dizzy and it should work fine right??