Honda Distributor Replacement with Honed Trigger Kit

The intent behind developing the Honed Trigger Kit was to replace the original distributor on Honda’s D- and B-Series engines. Due to their age, finding replacements parts is increasingly difficult, therefore we wanted to develop a solution that would allow modern Honda cam angle sensors to be retrofitted onto the older engines.

Traditionally, the aftermarket standard for replacing the distributor has been the AEM Engine Position Module (a Trigger Kit by another name), but this has now been discontinued. As is often the case with Honed’s products, the Trigger Kit was initially developed for our own purposes, to replace the AEM on the B18c2 in our Civic sedan.

It’s important to note that the Honed Trigger Kit is designed for use with aftermarket engine control units (ECU) and is not compatible with OEM Honda ECUs, including the Hondata S100/200/300. We strongly believe that advancements in ECU technology and software justify the cost and effort of installing a standalone ECU.

Modern aftermarket ECUs allow for a 32×32 cell ignition tuning table. This significantly increases ignition timing resolution and is not dependent on the trigger tooth pattern. The Honed Trigger Kit is perfectly suited for high-rpm trigger syncing.

Remember that the trigger tooth count does not impact timing resolution, the ECU platform does. For reference, the OEM Honda ECUs have a 16×16 cell ignition tuning table and Hondatas have a 20×24 table.

In our case, we sourced two Hall Effect Sensors (part number 37510PNB003) from a K24 in an Accord Euro, but they are used in a huge number of modern Honda engines. While they can be sourced new for about US$100, their prevalence makes them easily found second-hand, offering useful savings of around US$60.

Back-to-back dyno testing on our B18c2 with a LinkG4+ ECU resulted in no power difference between the two configurations. The kit has also been extensively tested on Honed’s AH Civic track car running a Haltech Elite 1500 ECU on its D16a3 with no issues over six track days.

The Honed Trigger Kit does not have any soldered components or microprocessors inside it. It does not require any modifications to the timing belt side of the engine and the mounting of the OEM cam sensors is done in the same fashion as Honda does on modern L- and K-Series engines.

The Trigger Kit’s compact dimensions also allow for more packaging flexibility with regards to intake or intake piping, which is particularly useful in turbo applications like Honed’s EK1 with its D16Y4.

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