Hi guys, im new here so please dont destroy me LOL. So i just recently bought a 1997 civic ex coupe 5 speed and it had a check engine light so i wanted to get it checked out to see what was wrong with it. Later my mechanic told me that the obd2 port was not responding and it could be a very expensive repair. So i said ill hold off for a couple days to see if i can diagnose the problem myself. Checked the fuses for the obd 2 port and and saw no blown fuses or anything. I then checked the ecu itself and saw that the ecu had the part no. of 37820-p06-a52 an ecu from a 92-95 civic dx which i saw is actually an obd-1 ecu. So i brought that up to my mechanic but unfortunately said he cant just tell me that the ecu itself was the main problem so thats what brought me here to ask. Could the ecu be the main problem of why the port won’t read and was it possible to swap the ecu for one that actually matches my car and maybe that would fix the issue? Thanks guys ur responses will be much appreciated!!!

 

that ecu is shown as the correct years you mentioned but listed paired with the 1.5 not even the 1.6 your car has. the obd1 ecu has to be read with triggering a cel blink code or a special obd1 capable scanner. if the po even hooked everything up right to allow an obd1 scanner to still work. however the wrong ecu with the wrong engine could also be your whole problem.

 

really? because it shows this ecu as for a different generation honda civic so I just thought maybe I could just get an ecu that was for the exact same model year and it would work right, maybe after I have someone reprogram it to my car. Im new though so I do not really know that much. Thanks!

 

obd 1 swap isnt uncommon but i don't think its plug and play so swapping the correct obd2 back in might not be so easy. also left middle edge under the exhaust on the block should be an engine stamping. if yours is a true ex it should say d16y8. if it doesn't it could be the reason for the different ecu