i have a 90 hatch with a B16A. I just picked it up a week ago, for some reason it won't hit v-tec and it is hitting the rev limiter at about 7100 rpms. the wireing looks right and it has the PR3 ecu, when it is running the ecu has a red light that flashes 17 times in sequence. any ideas what is wrong with? i take into a local import shop tommarrow to have the valves adjusted because they are ticking. the motor has a dc spots exhaust from the header back, STR cam gears, STR fuel rail, unorthodox racing underdrive pulley, AEM cold air intake, and a B&M fuel regulator and guage. I'm just looking for any ideas on what the problem might be.

 

Your VSS is bad, so the car doesn't know how fast it's going, and won't engage VTEC. Does the speedo work? I'm not too familiar with the B series trannies, on the D's it's a cable that runs from the diff to the cluster, and the ECU gets the speed from the cluster.

 

yea the speedo works, and the tach works, i have been told that this engine should hit the rev-limiter at 8200 rpms. what is the VSS?

 

Variable speed sensor.

 

I have a b16a also in a 90 civic hatch.... and coincidentally I too have the exact same problem as you. I have a few questions.. When you are at idle and rev slowly, does the car go past 7,100 rpm?? when you hit 7,100 WOT is it like the car breaks up instead of a limiter??

At first we thought it was a wiring problem, but all of it seems right. then we thought it was oil pressure problem because the motor has a CTR crank pulley. but pressure reads good. So now I have no clue either, except to convert to obd1, because I think the wiring is still bad.

 

when i rev the car it will rev to 7100 and then a rev limiter hits. and my engine code flash is one long flash then 8 short flashes then a pause with 7 or 8 more short flashes then it starts all over again with on long flash.

 

so your throwing 1 long 8 short and then 7 or 8 short? find out exact... code 18 and 7?

there is no code 18 that i am aware of....

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
7 TPS - throttle position sensor
8 TDC - top dead centre sensor
</TD></TR></TABLE>

from the FAQ:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1200322

 

ok i have been messing with the car and i still hit redline at 7100 i have been told it should hit at 8200 can anyone tell me if this is ture and also i have my ecu code figured out it is 7 for the TPS and i checked and it isn't plugged in and i can't find a plug for it can anyone tell me how i would go about wiring in a plug for that and could the TPS being unpluggged have anything to do with it not hitting v-tec.

 

TPS i beleive is required for VTEC cross over. only hits @ 80% thorttle or something around there i cant remember. you can run wires.... check though you shoul dhave a TPS even on the std(may be wrong) follow the harness behind the manifold

 

bump this up for an answer, ive been working on my bros car forever with the same problem , im think ing last resort obd1