B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
As many of you already know, the USDM Accord equipped with the A20AX engine came with axles of 2 different length. The left side axle is almost 2 times longer than the right side axle. This is because the transmission is placed on the right side of the car. That kind of setup is not bad but not ideal for higher performance engines like the B20A. The way to get rid of torque steer is to use an intermediate shaft and equal length axles. Honda used that kind of setup on the B20A. This shaft is placed between the transmission and the driveshaft itself making it virtually an extension of the transmission.
A lot of people buying B20A from engine importers will not get the proper intermediate shaft for their engine or will not get any shaft at all. Some people got an automatic B20A shaft for their manual transmissions because the manual is so rare. The problem is that the automatic halfshaft will not work with a manual transmission because it is longer than the manual shaft.
Fortunately, I found a way to get around this. All of the B20A intermediate shaft parts are available in America (except 2, marked in bold).
Here is an exploded view of the B20A intermediate shaft with their corresponding part numbers
http://pages.infinit.net/omus/halfshaft.jpg
Parts in red are not available in America
2- 44510-SF1-000 SHAFT, HALF $101.98 Manual Transmission
2- 44510-SE0-980 SHAFT, HALF ¥9300 ~ $83.46 Automatic Transmission
3- 44511-SE0-980 SUPPORT ¥3700 ~ $33.20
4- 90102-SF1-010 BOLT, FLANGE (10X1.5) ¥205 ~ $1.84
5- 90165-SE0-000 BOLT, FLANGE (10X37) $1.74
6- 91057-SD9-008 BEARING, HALF SHAFT $23.54
7- 91260-SD9-013 SEAL, HALF SHAFT $7.30
8- 91262-SE0-003 SEAL, HALF SHAFT $9.96
9- 94510-40000 CIRCLIP (40MM) $0.90
10- 94520-68000 CIRCLIP (68MM) $2.26
I took all the prices from www.torringtonhonda.com
All the matching USDM part numbers are from an 88-89 Honda Prelude 2.0Si with a B20A5 engine
To have a fully functional B20a intermediate shaft, all you need to do is order the halfshaft support P.N. 44511-SE0-980 (#3 on the picture) from Japan and put it on a B20A5 Prelude shaft. The rest is absolutely the same. If you got an automatic shaft with your manual transmission, keep your support and bearing. just replace the shaft (#2 on the picture) with a Prelude shaft. You do not need to order anything from Japan.
Unfortunately, if you have an automatic transmission and need the intermediate shaft, the automatic transmission shaft will have to be ordered from Japan with the proper support. Since most of people here want manual transmissions on their B20A, it's less of a problem.
The bolt #4 on the picture can be replaced with a Prelude bolt too. The part number is not important for this one.
Once you have your B20A intermediate shaft ready, you will need to use another right side axle as your left side axle. Remember, we're using equal length axles here. This is why we'll be using a right side axle on the left side.
However, you will run into a small problem. The Accord inner joint has splines only about half of the joint length while the JDM inner joint has splines on it's full length.
http://carotman.no-ip.com:8888/perso...ts/Cardans.jpg
The USDM joint is on the left while the JDM joint in on the right.
If you read the whole story so far, you now know that the B20A shaft is the same as a B20A5 shaft (Prelude 2.0SI 88-89). This also means that the inner left side CV joint is the same.
The Accord and Prelude used the same outer joint.
The part number is : 44310-SB2-983 JOINT, INBOARD $220.76
I'm sure you noticed how expensive this joint is. This is because Honda sells the whole inner joint. You cannot buy the outer shell with the full length splines.
I suggest that you hit the junkyard and look for busted Prelude left side CV joints. You can then swap the outer joint from the Prelude on your Accord right side joint.
While you're at it, if you got an auto intermediate shaft with your manual B20A, grab the Prelude one for a couple of bucks and install the Accord support on it.
Voila! you can now use equal length axles on your B20A.
N.B. This information does not apply to the A20A. The A20A engine does not have any place on the engine to bolt the halfshaft.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Just out of curiosity, would this work in a 2nd gen with a B20A and two short SE-i axles which have the same spline pattern as the 3gee? Also, could a bracket be fabricated to adapt the steady bearing to an A-series? I'm sure it could but I'm just not sure about the availability of mounting points.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Yes, this would work with a 2nd gen. The goal is to have equal length axles. The length of the axles themselves is unimportant (to a certain point).
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Thats what I thought, as the CV length is outside of the Intermediate shaft system and therefore doesn't matter. Stupid question, but the B20A bits do have the same spline size as the 3rd gen accord, right?
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
just thought id throw this out there but i had a bent half shaft and i used one off a jdm 3g civic Si (dohc zc with the CG gearbox..might be the same as your d16 1g tegs) you just gotta swap the bit where it bolts onto the engine block. so far its working perfectly... same length and same splines as the b2k5 accord b20a gearbox..correct me if im wrong :)
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Nice info. So far, the 3G Accord, 3g Prelude and 1G integra have the same shaft. Just the part that bolts to the engine that's different.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Does the 1G integra have the longer splines on the inner joint as shown in the first post?
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
In fact, every Honda that has a male halfshaft has long splines. You just have to make sure that the shaft diameter is the same.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
indeed. but aparently a18 got a right axle to fit into the half shaft somehow :s
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AccordB20A
indeed. but aparently a18 got a right axle to fit into the half shaft somehow :s
From what I understand here, you can do that but the splines are so short it could possibly pop out?
http://carotman.no-ip.com:8888/perso...ts/Cardans.jpg
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Hmmm, from what I remember, if you use the short splines, it won't go all the way in.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
yep , that absolutley makes sense....
I found several at the JY today, I thought I took everything I needed to get Lude upper arms and the shaft, EXCEPT the dam axle nut socket. I was PO. it is a long ride to the yard!
If you get a reman halfshaft for a 3 gen prelude or 1gen integra, does it not come with that long spline? Can it be used just like it is on this Accord?
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
The prelude shaft assembly isn't the same length as the Accord. I don't remember which one is shorter. When I busted my axle, I just used another hybrid I made. I bought a reman axle for an 86-89 Accord and went to the junkyard to buy a "core" axle that had a busted outer joint.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
I just ran into this problem also. Carotnman can I use anything off of my A20A3 driver's side axle or does everything have to come from the prelude??
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
The only thing that needs to come off the prelude is the outer joint.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
carotman
The only thing that needs to come off the prelude is the outer joint.
you are confusing the hellaotta me, do you mean inner joint? the one that has the male yoke with the long splines to slide up in the intermediate assembly?
why would we need an outer joint? so you are saying the outer joint is long splined and fits into the hub but you can turn it around to fit the intermediate? what about the other end that actually fits into the intermediate of a prelude?
So what about the 1st gen integra whole axle on the driver's LH side, I know you said you used a later model teg but you only used the inner yoke joint?
sorry man , but I thought I had this right already, I need to know for sure before I buy stuff I do not need.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
Quote:
Originally Posted by
roodoo2
you are confusing the hellaotta me, do you mean inner joint? the one that has the male yoke with the long splines to slide up in the intermediate assembly?
why would we need an outer joint? so you are saying the outer joint is long splined and fits into the hub but you can turn it around to fit the intermediate? what about the other end that actually fits into the intermediate of a prelude?
So what about the 1st gen integra whole axle on the driver's LH side, I know you said you used a later model teg but you only used the inner yoke joint?
sorry man , but I thought I had this right already, I need to know for sure before I buy stuff I do not need.
I went to the junkyard and looked at the prelude driver's side axle and intemediate shaft. It looks like you just need to use the intermediate shaft from the prelude and slide your passenger side axle from the accord into the intermediate shaft from the prelude.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed
See post #16, the picture shows that the splines are not machined all the way down the shaft on usdm Accords.
I know from the outside it looks like it will work, but no.
Re: B20A Intermediate shaft revealed