cityofcaterpillars

car is a 94 civic dx hatch with a d16z6

I wired in the vtec solenoid this morning and got code 21. I checked the the solenoid and it was bad. Read 0 Ohms. I swapped to a different solenoid and got the same code.

I ran through the entire helms troubleshoot for it. From solenoid to ground is steady 16 Ohm. There is continuity through all wires and no shorts.

I have no idea where to go from here. Any help would be very much appriciated

Former User

Did you reset the ECU to see if the code fails to return?

cityofcaterpillars

Sure did. Did it exactly the way the service manual says to. Pulled the memory fuse for at least 10 mins. Even pulled the ECU fuse and the neg battery cable. I didn't test the oil pressure switch but if that was faulty wouldn't it throw a code 22?

Former User

Did you clean the screen?

cityofcaterpillars

I did not. It didn't look that bad when I put it on. It was sitting for a while though so I'll pull again today and see what it looks like now that it's had some use.

Will the screen being dirt cause it to throw a code? You'd think they'd mention that in the service manual

Former User

cityofcaterpillars

Well I'll be darned. Guess I didn't look hard enough. I'll run through that tonight and see what I come up with

cityofcaterpillars

I took the solenoid apart and the screen is clean. I took the solenoid off of both valves and this is what I found. The pin on one is sticking out and can be pulled out. The second still moves but does not freely fall out. I'm assuming this second one is the way it is supposed to be.

cityofcaterpillars

Put everything back together. Rechecked my wiring and checked to oil pressure wires. Everything is how it should be yet I still get the CEL. The only thing I can check is the oil pressure because I don't have a gauge. I did notice that my oil pan gasket is leaking though. Enough to leave a puddle. Could this be causing the solenoid to code?

Former User

If you properly checked the VTEC wires and solenoid, then it's time to swap in a known good ECU.

cityofcaterpillars

Ill give that a shot as soon as I can find one. I did try it with another ecu that had a fried component from having an intake sensors switched and it still threw the code. Someone on another forum said to run 12 volts on it to see if the solenoid clicks. I assume that would still mean it's the ecu

Former User

If the same code is thrown on a good ECU, then you missed something with your electrical and mechanical troubleshooting.

cityofcaterpillars

well like I said the other ECU had some fried components so I cant say it's actually known good

Would not having enough oil pressure cause it to throw the code?

Former User

Generally, Code 22 would be thrown.

You likely have a bad VTEC wire, poor pin contacts in a connector, or a bad ECU.

cityofcaterpillars

I'm going to redo the pins on the ECU tomorrow. Would the type of wire make a difference? I'm using solid with about the same gauge as the harness wire. How likely would it be for the vtec portion of the ECU to go bad?

Former User

Maybe you should detail the wire tests you did and the readings you obtained.

HondaPartsHero

I know you're said you did the manual steps but here's a link
https://honda-tech.com/forums/hybrid...rk%22-1812135/

cityofcaterpillars

So I went and got some 18g stranded wire and redid everything including the pins in the harness. It works fine now. I don't know if it was the wire or the pins but Im just happy it's all working now.

Thanks to everyone in this thread for the help.

Former User

Good job. You might benefit by relooking at the service manual tests to see how you missed the problem originally.

cityofcaterpillars

Yeah I'm def going to do that. My guess would be either the pins out in the ECU harness weren't in good enough or it was the type of wire I used.