So this is my first post on HT. I hope you guys can help me with my issue. I have a 1995 Civic EX with the 1.6 VTEC motor. Recently I was going down the interstate and I realized that my car was a little louder than normal. When getting on the off ramp I noticed that it was a lot louder as well as my RPM's are a lot higher than normal. My car is completely stock for now and it sounds like I have some kind of ridiculous mods done to it. I have already cleaned out the VTEC solenoid and replaced the oil pressure switch as well as the plug that goes on the oil pressure swith. Anyone have any other ideas what would be causing my VTEC to be stuck "on"? Oh and I have searched and didnt find anything helpful.

 

Louder does not necessarily mean VTEC is stuck on...

What are your RPMs at idle?

 

if the vtec solenoid was engaged at idle i imagine it wouldn't run very well, if at all. just unplug the vtec solenoid and see if it sounds any different. you could also use a test light or multimeter to see if the plug is getting power when it shouldn't be.

 

Yes I understand louder doesnt mean VTEC. But im now idling around 1.5ish. Im not at home so I cant verify. And I can kinda smell gas outside of my car. Oh and my car is a LOT faster now. And at idle it really doesnt run very well. Kinda loping (?) like a v8. I dont know why I havent unplugged my solenoid yet. I unplugged the oil pressure switch but not the solenoid.

 

Did your intake tube fall off? Or have a hole in it?

 

Well it was driving fine before my drive home from work. Im off tommorow so I can check that out, but where is that at? Im not too mechanically inclined but im trying to learn a lot because I love hondas and I love my car when its working right.
Never mind is that the tube that goes to the airbox?

 

Yes, you may also want to check to make sure your exhaust system is intact all the way through since that's the majority of the sound suppression coming out of the engine.

 

But would a peice of unhooked exaust or missing exaust cause HP gain and higher RPM's?

 

if vtec was engaged at low rpms the engine would run like ****. i bet you have a busted exhaust of a vacuum leak

 

negatory. you've got an iacv or vacuum issue.

 

I know it doesnt make sense but its the RPM's that are gettings me. And my MPG's are terrible. I drove it a little more like that and they have tanked.

 

sounds like a iacv to me

 

Ok i will try cleaning iacv as well as checking the intake as those are the easiest to do especially since im dumb with cars.

 

just for fun, check your cam timing. really.

 

Looping means that you have some kind of air leak, if it smells like gas that means that one of your injectors is stuck open which keep dumping fuel, and have more then likely saturated your intake manifold gasket that is made of compressed cardboard, and is now leaking...Which is giving you poor gas mileage and a looping tach.

 

There is nothing that can "go wrong" with the motor that will produce a noticeable performance gain.

 

^^I agree. I've always heard that if V-TEC was always on all the time the engine wouldn't be able to idle? Good luck finding the problem though.

 

Is it even possible for VTEC to get stuck on?? the ECU needs a bunch of parameters fulfilled for VTEC to engage in the first place, such as oil pressure, throttle position, and being above 25mph.

Also, if your car is completely stock, then you won't be able to hear a difference in exhaust note when VTEC engages anyway. I rev the **** out of my 93 Si every day, I would know You need at least an intake to hear SOHC VTEC, and even then it's usually VERY subtle (I've heard one very loud crossover, on a Y8 with a B16 intake, but I think that's the exception rather than the rule).

 

my y8 is almost stock, only intake, and it gets pretty loud. almost like a gsr sound to be honest with you. at around 5k. i'll see if i can make a vid clip of it.

 

What kind of intake do you have? My friend uses an AEM intake designed for a B16A2 and the crossover is ridiculously loud. Surprised the hell out of me the first time I heard it.

 

i have b16a with only a weapon-r intake and its super low especially 1-3.

 

A bad exhaust leak somewhere could make it louder and might make it feel like more power I guess...

 

noone has said this????????? WTFBBQ?

my guess would be its out of timing , slightly advanced or retarded will change how it runs (would explain loping sound , more fuel/gas smell , and the performance change)

 

you can thank that to the y8's intake manifold design. they have a nice twangy cross over.

 

You got it. I found a decent leak in my exhaust. And I also forgot to mention that I was getting a CEL code 22. And that is why I changed out the oil pressure switch. Im suprised noone asked why I changed that out lol. And I also changed out the plug that plugged into it and I was still getting terrible MPG while still getting the code. I forgot to mention all this and reseting the ECU got that code away. So now im getting better MPG's but its still running like poo. Thats also probably becasue of the exhaust. But thanks for all the help guys. Even the guy that told me to check my timing lol.