Vtec Does Notengage.. And Egr Code..

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fuegie

Jdm h22a Cb7
Vtec Does Not engage.. And Egr Code..

ive been reading through all the forums i could about this problem, but i still have not acually come to an conclusion on what could be going wrong. Seems like i am not the only person with this problem and every post i read is not really clear on what needs to be done in order to fix the problem, so let me tell you all a little bit of what my problem is. Hopefully somebody, anybody... can help me out, thanks..

93 accord lx 10th anniversary with JDM Auto H22a motor/tranny.
Running off p13 and Jdm H22a TCM.


Alright, let me see here.. First of all, i have had the vtec kick a few times, and i can really feel the pull when it kicks, but that was when i was using the V-afc. The Vtec kicked in only once in a while and when it kicks it revs up between 7500-8200 rpm. But that was the problem, it only worked once and a while. Then it eventually stopped working and nomore Vtec. I even replaced the vtec solinoid with my brother-in-laws H22a4 and it still did not work. And i replaced the EGR with his too, but still lights up as well.

The car started to run like crap with the V-afc and i tried to screw around with the settings, but nothing helped. Now i have removed the V-afc and it still does not have Vtec kicking at all. It also only revs up to about 6200 rpm, the stock redline for my f22a. Oh, and about the EGR code, it is still on even now. Why is that ? We have tried everything that we can think of. Even looked over the wiring and everything to make sure we did not mess anything up for EGR or Vtec. But the thing about the EGR code is that.. It does not come on right away as i start up the car, but maybe lights up after i've driven it for awhile. I can shut off the engine and turn the engine on and the code is gone. Drive for a little while just fine with no EGR code, but eventually will light back up.

If anybody has any solution to the Vtec problem and/or the EGR problem, please respond to this post or email/pm me. I have been having this problem ever since the swap and am getting so tired of it. I'd love to just get it fixed and acually drive it the way it should be driving. Thanks for your time and looking at this post.

Last but not least.. I also do have a Shifter problem as well. I am not able to get my shifter out of Park at all. The only way i can shift it into gear is to stick the key into the shift-lock and manually shift it into neutral before i start the car and then i can finally drive it. Any suggestions for that problem ? Please help..

-Lost and very very confused-:confused:
 
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Can't tell you much about the engine problems, but I think the problem your having with the shifter has to do with the brake. When the brake is pressed it activates a lever that allows you to shift out of park. I remember on my Accord that when I pressed the brake I could hear that thing click, I would see if you can hear it and if not check the wiring, I think its a seperate plug down there for that as well. It is odd that it stopped working after the swap cause you weren't messing with any of that stuff.
 
thanks for the reply on the shifter. But unfortunately, we have tried all that we can. My bro-in-law use to be a mechanic for Honda, and we looked at all that we could. There was power going through the wires and everything, but it just wont click. We thought maybe the part were it unlocks the shifter was bad, but it is not that either. I dont know where i saw this, but i read a post somewhere and they said that if we were to do an auto swap to a jdm h22a, then we need to run another wire or something before the shifter works. If anybody can confirm that or know anything of it, please respond. Not only to the shifter, but if you have answers to the vtec and egr problem as well, that will be a big help. thanks..
 
first of all take that piece of crap vafc off...it will help you narrow down the problems. once you have it off and running on the stock ecu reset the computer by disconnecting the battery and then pulling out the ecu fuse. wait a bit and then put it all back together. get it back out drive for a while and see if any codes come back up. if you get egr again figure out which part of the egr system is messing up (the code will tell you). make sure all of the wiring is good and you might even try blocking off the egr.

the code will come on after the car is warmed up and enters closed loop.

as far as vtec it sounds like there is a wiring issue or something of that nature. make sure it is grounded well. with the swap you should of had to ground the solonoid to the block.

let us know how it goes
 
Thanks again for the reply... i have taken off the vafc and it car does seem to be running better. I have resetted the computer plenty of times but still get the EGR code. Code is 12, i think for the EGR valve(Just my guess from the top of my head). I had tried to even swap out the jdm h22a egr valve with my bro-in-law's h22a4 motor but it still lights up. As for the vac hoses on the EGR, i belive that we have that on correctly. Even if it were to be off, would it make a difference ?

As for the vtec wiring that you suggested.. My bro-in-law and i relooked at the wiring already too. Everything was hooked up correctly and is still in its place. Yes, we did ground it to the engine. Like i said on my first post, we did get the vtec to work for a little while but now it does not respond anymore. There is no code popping up for vtec oil pressure or vtec solenoid, so im assuming that the wiring is not the problem. Well, if anymore suggestions that you may have, please send them my way. thanks.
 
the egr valve problem isnt making sence. if the wiring is correct and the vac hoses are correct and the valve is ok...then why would it be throwing the code.

what wiring harness are you using? if you are using the accord harness and the prelude egr the connectors are different....so you may have the wrong thing hooked up (just a suggestion)

have you reset the ecu since you have took off the vafc?

if you are not throwing a code for vtec then something is wrong.....do you hear the motor change pitch? if you do then you secondary intake runners may be disabled. with out those working then you will be not be gaining power in vtec
 
I am using the Accord EGR.. as well as the accord wire harness.
The weird thing about the egr is that it doesnt come on right away like something is wrong with it. Sometimes i can be running the car for over an hour and it doesnt go on at all, but at other times i can only running for like 15 minutes and it kicks on. So that is were i am lost. If the egr was bad in the first place then right when i start up the car it should have check engine light already, but none. As for the vtec.. i have no clue about that anymore. I try to listen to the difference in tone between 4000-6000 rpms, but it seems to stay the same pitch all the way until redline. And also, for some reason.. i am only redlining at the accord redline, which is about 6300. I am currently running off the p13 and jdm tcm, which redlines at at least 7500 rpms. When i had the vtec working for a while, i even had it run as high as like 8300 rpms at one time. But i dont understand why it would only redline at 6300 rpm even with the prelude tcm on it. I will call up my bro-in-law and have him throw a post on here since he knows more about it. Hopefully he can answer some of your questions better than i can. But thanks for trying to help me out powerdriverh22, i really do appreciate it.
 
if you are not hearing a change in pitch then your vtec solonoid is not being engaged. it sounds like the ecu is running in limp mode and not allowing it to cross over. with the ecu in limp mode you red line will be dropped to about 6500 (fits right with the 6300 you are experiencing) and also vtec will not engage. the egr will not put the car into limp mode however it will put it into a "safe mode" and should run a richer mixture.

I have solved several egr problems in my day but your situation is a new one for me. be sure that the vac hose running out of the valve on the intake manifold is running to the top hard line for the egr soloniod and the bottom hard line is running to a nipple on the intake manifold for vaccum. Double check me on that (chilton or haynes) i dont have mine near me at the time so I am going strictly off of memory.

the reason that the egr code isnt coming on immediatly is because the egr valve only opens in closed loop. so as the car warms up it will stay in closed...when it gets warm and is ready to start mixing in exhaust gas to save on fuel it will open...but not until then.

like i said reset the ecu again. drive the car around and wait for check engine lights. after you throw one check them. just to double check any errors that could have been caused by the safc....hopefully you wont get a code 1
 
Fuegie, let's just throw the H22 into the Civic!

j/k.

We've chased just about everything we can to figure this out. I'll have to check the EGR vacuum lines again just to make sure it's routed correctly. A thing to note is that this is in an Accord chassis, so the EGR controls are located in the little black box by the firewall, and not by the power steering reservoir like the Prelude. It's possible we got some vacuum lines mixed up.

As for VTEC, this one has me stumped as well. We traced all the wiring and they're good. The pins are wired in correctly to the ECU harness. But it just doesn't kick over. There is no indication that it's in limp mode, since there are no CEL's on. The VTEC solenoid is grounded to the thermostat, we can try moving it to another ground.

Thanks for the help, we'll get this beast running smooth sooner or later!
 
ya i have this swap in a 94 accord...so i know exactly what you are all talking about.

the thermostat housing isnt a very good place to ground...ground it to the head or block....not saying that will solve the problem but its worth a shot. give a description of how the vac lines are routed...ill check mine after you tell me....that will give me an idea of that is going on there.

have the secondaries been wired?....what about the knock sensor?
 
IAB's are wired, along with the knock sensor. Never had a problem with those two.

I'll reground the solenoid and see if it kicks over. And double check the EGR vacuum routing. We did take apart the black box before we realized we need it. :p
 
Yeah, you have a few seperate problems. Some are connected.

EGR, tough one. With the stock harness and EGR, it should work fine. Codes kick slower in colder temperatures. The ECU waits for the car to hit a certain temp. I had the same issue with my Accord when I had knock sensor problems.

Shifter. It's your JDM TCM. You need to run one more wire to the new unit from your shifter. Do a search, I forget which wire since I never did it myself.

VTEC. I agree with the wiring problem. Drop the VAFC(you did) and rewire VTEC, soldering all of your connections and make sure your ground is rock solid.
 
sorry guys for not updating as of late. Since the holiday was upon us, its been kinda hectic, but i just wanted to drop and say something so i dont leave you guys hanging or anything. But we didnt really get to do anything as of now. I drove up to Minnesota and for some reason, i did not get a check engine light at all. Drove almost 5 hours straight without a check engine light. But as i was driving within the city of st.paul for about 15 minutes, the check engine light came on for like twice. That is so weird. On my way home from Minnesota, did not get any check engine light either ! Im so confused. My brother-in-law said maybe since im running at more of a constant rpm, it probably isnt triggering the EGR, but unsure of that. As for the Vtec, we havent had the chance to rewire it yet. And also thanks for the info on the shifter, i kinda knew we had to add a new wire or something, but wasnt sure where to. And as for the RPM not going over 6200, im still clueless. But i am using the Jdm Tcm like the other guy on his post as well. When i had my vtec working for a little while there, i was acually running my 93 accord Tcm and i revved up to as high as about 8300 rpm(only with the vtec working). But after the vtec stopped working, i switched tcm hoping that it will solved my 6200 rpm problem, but still didnt. So ill probably try to get things going by this week something and give you guys an update. Thanks for the info.
 
i didn't read all the replies, so i don't know if anyone has said this yet, but a dented oil pan can kill vtec, cuz it needs a certain amount of oil pressure to activate. check your oil pan for dents if you haven't already.

my $.02
 
i didn't read all the replies, so i don't know if anyone has said this yet, but a dented oil pan can kill vtec, cuz it needs a certain amount of oil pressure to activate. check your oil pan for dents if you haven't already.

my $.02

i've had a similar prob to this with my old crx hf w/ D16Z6. it turned out to be my thermostat. it was stuck open. so coolant temp wasn't reading correct temp. this caused my VTEC not to kick. i replaced it and i had VTEC again. not sure if this is your prob but it's worth a look.
 
thanks for the replies... and about the oil pan, yes... it got dented during shipping. Wow, does it really cause for vtec to not engage if it is dented ? I might have look into it.

And as for the thermostat, yes.. my thermostat acually was bad at first and that was why i did not get any vtec. I switched out my thermostat and i had vtec, but only for a short period of time. And then all of a sudden, vtec nolonger engaged. So now im kinda lost. EGR check engine was poppin' up though. But i heard that EGr does not affect vtec, so i dont know either.

But as for update on my car.. The last week or two, i havent had any EGR check engine light come on at all. The weather here has gotten alot colder too. High's in the mid 20's around noon, and sometimes as low as single digits in the morning.
I try punching the pedal every now and then to see if the vtec works, and i do kinda feel a little difference once in a while.. but it doesnt feel like the vtec though. I have had my vtec work before and i can really feel it pulling. But this time, i cannot feel it pull, but only feel a little difference when going over about 5300 rpm. Not only that, it only seems to work in maybe like 2nd or is it 3rd gear.
I was reading another post some time ago, and they said that if it feels weak, maybe it is only the secondary vtec or something? Im not sure. If anybody has any idea about this, please let me know. And also, my redline is still stuck at only about 6300 rpm. Still cant get it to go any higher. I've been wanting to switch my TCM back to the accord(currently running off Jdm H22a TCM), but ive been too lazy to do anything. If anybody has the answer to the redline problem too and has found the cause of it.. please lt me know as well. thanks.
 
TCM doesn't effect redline.
There is no secondary VTEC, just IAB's.
Cold weather can cause your motor to run cooler, and codes don't kick until your motor hits a certain temperature. I had a hell of a time fixing my knock sensor problem back in the day because I had to drive the car for 45 minutes or more to make a code pop up. It's hard to troubleshoot when the CEL doesn't pop up on a 20 minute drive.
 
this might sound stupid but simple things often work out... change oil? i overlooked that last season over winter...for egr problem i had the same thing going on worked fine, swapped h22a in and egr code, ripped intake manifold off and traced wiring found a poor soldering job (mybad). check something like that.
 
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