My friend the other was dead set that when your throwing a check engine light (for anything) your v-tec will not engage. Is he a F&*%ing idiot? I dont understand why honda would program the ecu to shut off v-tec.

 

He is a F&*%ing idiot.

Not every cause of a CEL will make the ECU disable VTEC from engaging. My understanding is that the ECU has been programmed to disable VTEC to protect the engine (among other things) when certain sensor input is not present.