Hey guys. I bought my civic SI new back in '03 and have never had any type of engine trouble, That is until December of last year when my malfunction light came on and I noticed when my A/C was on while my car was in idle, my car would stall out. Turns out my catalytic converter was bad, so I took it to Honda and they replaced it. After it was replaced and right up until now, there is a constant rattling that is more pronounced when the A/C is turned on. I don't know if it is a loose panel or what. Then in Feb/Mar my malfunction came on and I noticed my V-tech was not working and my engine was running sluggish. Took it to Honda and turned out my oil levels were low, so they filled it up and it seemed to correct the problem. Then my malfunction light came on again in June. Back to Honda yet again. They told me my oil levels were fine and they cleared all but a couple of codes, P0341 and an over-rev code. I know that I have a couple times been in the red around 8000RPM from downshifting but quickly got out when I noticed. Honda told me that my problems now were most likely due to last time when I didn't have enough oil. They speculated that it caused more damage that was not picked up. That tried replacing the CPU and the V-tech solenoid. Neither worked. They wanted to replace the timing chain, the cam actuator and the tensioner but could not guarantee it would work. I was not going to pay all that money for something they were not sure of. So I took my car back. It's driving a Dr. Jeckyll/Hyde, somedays the V-tech works and the malfunction light is off and other days it's the opposite, plus the rattling noise. Was going to take my car for a second opinion but wanted to see what you guys thought.

 

8 grand in an si? you have kpro? and why would you down shift and it be that high, that like being in fifth then down to first.

 

I downshifted from 5th to 2nd

 

So what's wrong? It's rattling? That's probably the heat shield for your catlytic converter. You can remove it, it's not really necessary.

How do you know "vtech" isn't working? (it's technically iVtec).

 

Currently, my car will either be working fine with no malfunction light on or the malfunction light will be on and v-tech will not work.

 

damn 5th to 2nd!!!!!!!!! o ****! humm do you have kpro? im noth sure but a tuner would be able to look at the datalogs or other info the ecu picked up and he could tell you whats wrong with it.... that honda dealership is ****in up! they should of known atleast what the hell is wrong with it! humm did you check with the guys at ephatch. they are pretty good at figuring stuff out with the a3 when **** goes bad.... humm in the mean time i would keep checking the oil....maybe stay off the ac and keep the windows down and also make sure you dont do the 5th to 2nd no more. good luck and i wish i could of had more helpful info.

 

whats v-tech? The phone

 

have you compression tested it since?

 

Thanks. I will look into ephatch.

 

how can you tell vtec is working? there is no crossover or anything, i would check compression, as for the noise, probably just a heat shield like he said.

 

vtc controller... easy peasy lemon squeasy

 

Uggggh vtech is my pet peeve... But yes, ephatch or k20a.org would more than likely help you diagnose it.

 

Compression test wouldn't tell you anything about over-revving

You'll have to do a leak down test to see if you bent any valves.

In the mean time, enjoy your v-tech crossover revving 8k.

 

If you have a bent valve a compression test can help if the valve is no longer sealing.