mtownsi

hey wats good. i have a 99 si with a b16a2 i/h/e/chipped p28. about 5 days ago i was driving and took it up to 550 for vtec and it didnt crack the same as wen i bought the car. like you hear the pitch change but barely any power. so i put the stock si ecu back in and still no power. so i checked the idle screw thats fine the pressure switch is fine and the solenoid is fine i disconnected the clip to the vtec solenoid and the check engine light didnt come on i thought it was supposed to come on? then i ran it wit the solenoid disconected and there is no difference from the solenoud being connected to when its not. i took the intake off the throttlebody ran it engaged vtec and still barely any power. i disconnected the negative post of the battery took the ecu fuse out. the fuse was fine put it all back together and still no power can someone plz help me thanks

VSM_EK

bump cause this sounds f'ed up

tallyturbo

cuz vtec is like 60 hp and it makes the car feel so fast.

j/k do you know for sure that the silinoid is clicking on or not?

mtownsi

yea i have the female side of the clip connected a a wire that i touched to the positive side of the battery and it was clicking

mtownsi

bumop bump

mtownsi

if my radiator is bad and leaking would that affect my vtec?

mtownsi

ok so the check engine light came on . saying code 14 wich is the idle air control valve circuit fault could that be the problem im gonna get a new one tonight but i wanted to know if it would fix my vtec not working

JDM B16A

BUMP! Cuz I want to know what's going on.

mtownsi

ok well i cleared the code that popped up yesterday and it hasnt come back. but i got my test light out and there is poer going to the solenoid and theres no power at the pin on the the wiring harness for the vtecsolenoid. theres power to the pressure switch tho. so does this mean i have to trace the vtec solenoiud wiring . or is there an easier way plaz help me

EX-T

Have you checked your oil? Did you let the engine get to operating temperature? Is your speedo working?

There are a lot of factors that go into the engagement of VTEC. The ECU has to have inputs from all of these for VTEC to work!

mtownsi

just changed the oil 4 days ago. and i took the whole solenoid unti off to clean the screen and everything was fine. i always let my engine warm up b4 i drive it. and yes the speedo is working fine

erasable180

the speedo has to do with vtec? so if my vss isnt working right my vtec isnt kicking in?

schardbody

some ecu's use the vss to determine load which has alot to do w/ vtec engagement. also, alot of vtec vehicles have to be doing a certain MPH to engage vtec (traction reasons from the mad HP of VTEC yo). this MPH can be altered or disabled completely w/ a chipped ecu.

95jeremie

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by erasable180 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the speedo has to do with vtec? so if my vss isnt working right my vtec isnt kicking in?</TD></TR></TABLE>

correct just got my vss ordered about 10 min ago installed a vtec light just to make sure and well not working

EX-T

One way to see if the solenoid is bad is to TEMPORARILY hook up a switch to it and try to engage it this way.

schardbody

yeah, he said he powered it and the soleniod clicked.

mtownsi

yea the solenoid is fine. theres no power getting to it tho and theres no power at the ecu for the vtec solenoid so idk

schardbody

theres not gonna be power to it until its activated by the ecu. im assuming you are going by whether or not you can feel your VTEC kicking in, if thats the case you need to use a light to make sure its not. dont just base it on "feeling it"

mtownsi

yea true . well i know this doesnt have anything to do wit vtec. but i installed a new radiator today and flushed all the coolant out and put new coolant. and now it kicks but not to powerfull oh and i how do i check how much voltage is at the solenoid wit vtec engages

schardbody

you dont check for voltage unless you hook up a digital volt meter to it and run it to the cockpit while driving. most people hook up a light to it and drive.

95jeremie

Vtec light install

Ever wonder when VTEC comes on in your car? Well, with this light, it will come on whenever VTEC engages in your car. This is a very simple mod to do, but takes some work to get it to look right. It was done on my 95 Civic EX. Your car may vary. I have my light setup the same way with no problems at all. That doesn't mean you won't. Use common sense and you'll be alright. Below are some intructions and some pictures to help you through the process. Any additional questions can be emailed to me.

List of materials needed:
LED (Radio Shack #276-271A)
10' of wire (preferably black and red)
Wire splicers and connectors
Electrical tape
Super glue (depends on installation)
Post-it note flags (See step 7)
Anything else you want to use
Installation time: 30 minutes to 8 hours.

1. First, locate the VTEC solenoid under your hood. Look for the wire that connects to it. There is a cover over the wire that you will have to peel off to get to. The picture belows shows mine, but it's all taped up because the picture was taken after the install was done.



2. Tap into the wire and use zip ties to hold it in place against existing wires under the hood. Just make sure its not touching anything that gets hot. Run the wire through the firewall with an unbent hanger. The wire must reach the dash, so cut off the correct amount. This wire will connect to the positive wire on the LED.



3. At this point, I recommend testing the light out before continuing with the install. Connect the wire you tapped into in step 2 to the positive on the LED. Then connect the LED negative wire to a ground (if you don't know where a ground is, just connect a wire to the negative on the battery, run through the firewall, and connect to the negative wire on the LED.) Put the LED someplace where you can see it temporaraly, i.e. the passenger seat.
4. Let you car warm up. (VTEC does not engage when the car is cold!) Then take your car out for a drive. Punch it! Let the rpms run up to at least 4500-5500 rpm, the LED should light up. On my 95 EX, it comes on at 5K. If it lights up then great, you can now mount it somewhere in your car, like your dash or any other place creative you can think of. If the LED does not light up, then check your connections, and make sure you have a good ground. (Also note that the car must be moving for VTEC to engage, meaning you can't sit in your driveway and rev it to 5500 and expect the LED to light up. You must be actually driving your car.)
5. If the light came on then cool. You can put the LED anywhere you want. I chose to put it in an unused spot on my dash (where the oil, and battery light is.)

Another spot the LED could be mounted is next to the defrost button, although it's harder to see while driving, but is a simpler installation.



6. In the above picture, the LED is not on. The one thing you could do is put some window tint film over it. Another thing I have found is some cars have an extra black piece that you can use, but my car did not for whatever reason.
7. The "VTEC" in the above picture was made using an inkjet printer and those Post it note flags. You can get them at any office supply store. They are used as page markers in books etc. The come in different colors, but I used green since the LED was green also. Plus, red is usually used for a warning light color. Use a word processor on your computer and type "VTEC" spaced out about three times down the page, in 10 point font of your choice. Print it out on paper. Then use the colored part of the flag to cover the words. Then print out again. I used four flags on top of each other for the final product.
8. Now you must take apart your dash and put the "film" in place. Basically, there are two screws holding in the dash cover. Then you must remove your hazard signal button. The dash may not want to come out, but give it a little force and it should pop out. Disconnect the clock after the dash cover is out too.




9. There are four screws holding the gauge cluster in place, remove them and then remove the cluster.
10. Clips hold on the front of the cluster (the plastic cover part.) Take that front part off. Also, the little rubber piece that goes over the rod to reset your mileage, just yank on it till it comes off. Insert the LED from the front and run the wires through the hole in the back and connect them to the wires with electrical tape that you connected earlier. This is a difficult part, make sure you don't rip out the wires after you connect them. You may have to superglue the LED in the slot, or just wedge something in there to keep it in place. Not the prettiest, but it gets the job done. You can do a better job if you'd like, I just took the lazy way out.





11. Now to put the film in place. On the back of the gauge cluster cover, you'll see a plastic piece where the turn signal, oil light etc. are. I cut off the unused spot, and put the film in the spot, holding it in place with scotch tape. (Cheap huh?) It should look like the picture back in step 5.



12. Let the superglue dry if you used any. Installation is reverse of removal. Take your car out for a test run. Depending on your car, it should light up between 4500-5500 rpm. On mine, it looks kind of weird, because of the round shape of the LED, but it gets the job done.


Now buy a shift light and you'll be all set!
I leave you with these words: These were the steps I used to install my VTEC light. You can modify them in anyway you see fit to make the job easier for you or better looking. Just use this page as a guideline. Some websites I have seen have connected to a wire in the ECU instead of the wire under the hood. I could not find that wire, and decided to go this way. I take no responsibility for anything strange that happens to your car, although I have had no problems at all.


can't find the link but got the info saved in a word doc. on my computer just did this 2 days ago took about 15-20 min.

mtownsi

bump for some more ides cuz i did the light thing and it worked so wat else

mtownsi

ok has any1 ever heard of bleeding your vtec. this kid i was talking to said that i might have to bleed my vtec cuz it could have gotten air in the system like brake or clutch lines. so he said to loosen up some bolt by the oil pressure switch and crack the bolt till oil drips out, ive never heard of this someone give me some more ides

fizeks

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mtownsi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok has any1 ever heard of bleeding your vtec </TD></TR></TABLE>are u serious... that kid is retarded and shouldnt drive a honda ever just for saying that... anyways no u dont bleed vtec... vtec is not a fluid, but gl on fixing your vtec. since its working now but not as powerful as u say, change your spark plugs and your wires. work your way up but gl with your problem

FalkenSiR

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mtownsi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok has any1 ever heard of bleeding your vtec. this kid i was talking to said that i might have to bleed my vtec cuz it could have gotten air in the system like brake or clutch lines. so he said to loosen up some bolt by the oil pressure switch and crack the bolt till oil drips out, ive never heard of this someone give me some more ides </TD></TR></TABLE>
LMAO Sig material right there