Weird VTEC problem...

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D See 2

Senior Member
The engine is a B16a SiR-II. It is in a 97 civic using a OBD2a-OBD1 conversion harness.

The problem started the first time I took the car for a drive after the swap.

The first time that you try and hit vtec it works fine. If you let it come out of vtec, it will not go back in until you turn the key off and then back on again.

I've tried 3 different ECU's and 2 vtec solenoids. I also hooked up a light to the solenoid wire and the light comes on every time it should be in vtec although it isn't. The car has plenty of oil.

No CELs.

Any ideas?
 
On the rare occasion that the motor does go into vtec, sometimes it will come out of vtec at around 7k rpm.

I'm thinking oil pump.

Plus, sometimes when the engine is at idle, the oil light flashes.

Any thoughts?
 
check your oil pan. there might be a dent in it causing the solenoid to be starved for oil.
 
sound slike your oil pump is on the way out... i'd replace it.
 
i read a quote somewhere that dents in your sump are very bad for vtec,what could be so detrimental about a dent in the sump..
 
hmmmm....new solenoid, check. new oil pump, check. oil pan dents, check. There is a similar problem with H22s, and i thought i had it in mine. It turns out that my timing was just way off and my knock sesnor was detecting a knock from the back fire. I dont think B16s have a knock sensor...and even if it did, it would show a CEL. You got me stumped DTEC...maybe do a search on H-T. A lot more threads...maybe someone has the same problem. Most of us have a lot of knowledge that will help you, but sometimes there is just shit none of us have heard about.
 
Yea, this one's got me stumped for sure. B16s do indeed have a knock sensor, but there aren't any knocks. I will check the timing tomorrow, but considering how well it drives now, i'm sure it's not going to be far from perfect.
 
i just finished my h22 and vtec pulls good the first time but once it comes out it wont go back in? and im in need of help also
 
check your vtec ground. And you are full of motor oil
right?
 
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I have a dent in my oil pan, in the corner by the oil pump, and my VTEC kicks on and off just fine. I'm also using an S2K oil filter, though. :huh:


i have one also. Never had a provlem. I beat the dent back out but still. I have used all types of filter, carquest,fram,purolator, and finally now all i use is mobil 1 :) . Its got to be a wiring issue. I thyink if it were an oil or oil pressure related issue then it wouldnt even go into vtec. if it did it would sputter when it crosses over.
 
yea its wiring. i just found something out today. i resoldered my vtec wires and made sure grounds and stuff were fine. well i went to launch against this rx-8 and vtec didnt kick in but i still pulled for 3 gears but i was pissed. so we run a couple times. only once did vtec kick in and only lasted for one gear. but at the end the ecu, inj fuse just blew. so i replaced it on the side of the road. blew again. so i had to get home. i afro engineered it just to get home and jumped the fuse with a wire. vtec kicked in every gear just fine not problems. i ate that rx-8 alive. but at the end of the road smoke poured out of my dash. so i pulled over and looked under there. there is a wire i guess that burned up because of something with the voltage but i have no clue what happened. and now stumped with a broken down accord :cry:


sorry for long post
 
Quoted post[/post]]
yea its wiring. i just found something out today. i resoldered my vtec wires and made sure grounds and stuff were fine. well i went to launch against this rx-8 and vtec didnt kick in but i still pulled for 3 gears but i was pissed. so we run a couple times. only once did vtec kick in and only lasted for one gear. but at the end the ecu, inj fuse just blew. so i replaced it on the side of the road. blew again. so i had to get home. i afro engineered it just to get home and jumped the fuse with a wire. vtec kicked in every gear just fine not problems. i ate that rx-8 alive. but at the end of the road smoke poured out of my dash. so i pulled over and looked under there. there is a wire i guess that burned up because of something with the voltage but i have no clue what happened. and now stumped with a broken down accord :cry:


sorry for long post


trace what wire burned up. Locate what it goes to and rplace it. If anything another fuse blew. Somewire was grounding out. i'm pretty sure. It touched chassis ir was switched and therefore shortening completley
 
yea it will be hard and a mess cuz its all burned but it will be fun. also. i have my pressure switch grounded to the front mount. metal part. i think my big problem was grounds. where did yall ground your shit?

thanks
 
yea so i finished cleaning up ALL the wires underneath the hood. now it looks nice and clean. and i regrounded to the screw above the vtec that attaches the plug wires. and once i replace the burned wire under the dash well see what happens.
 
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yea so i finished cleaning up ALL the wires underneath the hood. now it looks nice and clean. and i regrounded to the screw above the vtec that attaches the plug wires. and once i replace the burned wire under the dash well see what happens.


nice job :wink: Before i used to have at least 2.5 ft of ground that went straight to the battery.never had any problems. tell us what happens,

DTEC what about swapping vtec solenoids? Is it to much to to check the vtec pin? hell did the motor ever run right? i mean did it always have that vtec problem :huh:
 
i originally posted here becuase i had the same problem.
but hey when i jumped the fuse. i DIDNT have that problem. it ended up frying but for that good 10 mins. vtec kicked in nice and strong every gear. so i think im on to somehting.
 
well the fuse was blowing for a reason. why do fuses blow? too much current thats why. Or short circuit. when you jumped the fuse it helped because the wire was thicker gauge than the one the fuse came with. so lets just say you turned the 10amp fuse into a 30. By allowing the extra current during the short, you fried everything else that was not supposed to see anything abpve 10amps.


find out why you blew the fuse in the first place.duhhh NEVER JUMP THE FUSE UNLESS ITS AN EMEGENCY! Or unless you solved the problem and need the item to work again till you get a new fuse.
 
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