i will be swapping a non california engine complete into a california smog car this weekend. i was wondering if anyone has done this with success. i will also switch ecus. my only other option is to totally strip both motors and keep the respective smog pieces with the cars. the time involved to strip both motors is extremely expensive so i am hoping i can get away with keeping the engine complete with all sensors and manifolds and keeping the ecus with the respective motor.

 

I think all you need is the cali-spec ecu, and whatever goes on the end of that little blue connector that people are always asking about that is for cali-cars only. Other than that it should be like a normal engine swap. The harnesses are the same, just some unused connectors for non-cali cars, so you can even re-use that.

Good luck!

 

Agreed.

Have fun.

 

thats what i was hoping thanks. is that blue connector for the egr sensor i think that is the only thing a cali car has that a non doesnt

 

What year is the non-cali engine?

The EGR difference between cali (has EGR switch) and non-cali (no EGR switch) that people talk about is primarily a '93 difference. If you put a cali ECU on a non-cali engine, the ECU will complain that it doesn't see the EGR switch operating.

Non-cali '94 cars have an EGR switch. I'm currently running a cali ECU on my non-cali '94 car and it's perfectly happy. I also once swapped my '94 non-cali ECU into a '93 non-cali car and it complained about the ECU switch.

'95 cars don't have an EGR valve, so they don't have an EGR switch, so '93 cali ECUs and '94 ECUs will not be happy with '95 engines unless you fake the EGR switch with a relay wired to open and close like an EGR switch.