i have a 1996 civic ex i got from a friend, motor that was in it was a D16A non vtec cause the old motor blew and he went cheap and got whatever he could. long story short i put a vtec head on, eagle rods and pistons...head ported and polished, stainless valves titianium retainers and a skunk2 cam with aem cam gear, aem fuel pail and all the fuel acc you can think of, dont get me wrong the car runs good, i mean it screams... but no vtec cracks, just is straight through all the way to redline...its the original ecm and harness...vtec is hooked up but it throws the code for knock sensor. and this block doesnt have a spot for one so i need to know if it would be a good idea to drill and tap and put one in? and may that be the reason why my vtec doesnt work? thanks!

 

i would just swap out the entire motor...d16y8s are cheap. then (assuming your car has the original wiring harness and ecu) your vtakkk will crack. also it will be more reliable than a minime setup. look on ebay or some other places and find a d16y8 and be happy. trust me it will be easier in the long run...and you will have no cel (unless a sensor or something is bad) and you will have vtec plus the correct engine for your car.

 

d16a is a VTEC motor

 

i dont think by putting a Vtec head on a non vtec motor will cause it to have vtec.
you need the entire motor.
and is the ECU the P2P that comes stock with the 96 EX?
you might have a non vtec ECU aswell

correct me if im wrong

 

uh thats what a mini me is .. a vtec head as long as its wired and you are running the correct ecu yes it will work.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mikehawk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">uh thats what a mini me is .. a vtec head as long as its wired and you are running the correct ecu yes it will work.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yes you are right but if he put a head on that doesnt have a vtec selonoid or wired correctly (which its an ex so it should be) and you must have a vtec ecu. also, if you have some check engine lights the vtec will not kick in. and now that i think about it OP: that is one reason why...in an obd2 car you have to have the pressure switch, knock sensor, and somethin else. lol i cant remember off the top of my head...but an obd1 vtec motor only has 2 plugs...the pressure switch and the other one. someone help me think...lol what it that other plug on the selonoid???

so OP: there is one of your answers...your vtec isnt working because you dont have a knock sensor and the ecu is looking for one...like i said before...SWAP IN A D16Y8!!

 

i said that assuming .. a vtec head would have a vtec selonoid and if is it wired and running the correct ecu it will work assuming he isnt throwing any codes for pressure switch, vtec etc..

or he could covert to od1 and be done with it


Modified by mikehawk at 7:47 PM 11/4/2008