Okay here goes... I bought an ep December 29th 2009 and it has been sitting up until March 5th 2010. I bought the car totaled and had to do all the repairs so that is why it was sitting. My wife went and got the tags Friday the 5th and surprised me with the car when she picked me up after work. It is 33 miles round trip to my job from my house,she drove it to my work with no problem and then I drove it back home with no problem. When we got back home we had to take the car back to the tag agency for inspection thats about another 20 miles round trip. We headed out there with no problems but on the way back I got on it just a little nothin major and about 2 miles down the road the check engine light came on and wouldn't rev over 4k. We limped it home and I checked it with the code reader and it was P1259 and P0341. by the books (P1259) is a vtec system malfunction and (P0341) is VTC stuck or contamenated. so I pulled the VTC off and cleaned it and made sure everything was moving freely and done the same with the vtec solenoid. I erased the codes and took the car around the block and almost home the light popped on again. I took the car to autozone and they checked it and it was the same two codes and they went in and done the print out and the first one was(P1259) vtec system malfunction and the second one was (P0341) their computer says that code is for the CKP or CMP sensor..........What should I do??? I tried to drive it to work Monday the 8th and the light came on when I pulled into work, Checked it and it was the same two codes. Tried to get it home after work and it stalled on me on the highway. still reading the same two codes. When I got the car I checked the oil and it looked cleaned so it never crossed my mind to change it. I've put maybe 200 miles on the car and the oil is black and runs like water off your finger. Could this just be an oil problem? Any info is GREATLY APPRICIATED!!!


Sorry for the long write...

Thanks for any help in advance.

 

is it low on oil? sounds like the car is in limp mode. change the oil to full synthetic have the codes cleared and see if it goes away.

 

It was about half a quart low so I added some valvoline 5w-20 synthetic blend 75000 mile oil. I erased the codes but it came back again. think I'm gonna change the oil all the way though. Is that oil okay for the engine?

 

5w-20 is what is recommended so yeah you should be fine. the p0341 is the camshaft position sensor code. some wires may be frayed or loose. disconnect the negative battery terminal and hold the brakes down for 30 seconds to drain the power down and reset the ecu. reconnect the battery cable and drive the car around and see if it clears everything out.

 

so erasing the ecu with my code reader won't completley erase the stuff off of it? where can i find the correct codes for my car? I've been useing the list of codes off this site.

 

sorry I have been using the codes off of clubep3 not off this site.

 

i just did a quick google search using the code numbers and came up with quite a few threads with the same problem. the vtec system malfunction code seems to be related to the vtec oil pressure switch or a fault in the vtec solenoid.

 

okay so I should probably just change the oil and erase the ecu and try it agiain?

 

I done volt checks on all my sensors and they are reading what I was told they should read. Is the K series engine that sensative to oil pressure and break down?

 

from what i've read most of our ep's have a problem with the oil pump being able to maintain a steady level especially in cornering which can cause problems. most of the time when a car goes into limp mode its usually low oil or oil related. i'd change the oil again and reset the ecu and see what happens. drive it around and give the ecu time to relearn its cycle and see if any codes come back.

 

Okay I'll try that and see what happens. so when I reset the uce should I unhook the battery or erase the code with my code reader? Thanks for all the help!!! it is GREATLY APPRICIATED!!! YOU DON"T EVEN KNOW!!! I've wanted one of these cars for so long and now I have one but it seems like I'm running into problem after problem... If you know what I mean.

 

i know what you mean man. when you drain the excess battery power out of the car and reset the ecu the cel will clear but you will still be able to plug in a obdII scanner and pull the code history if you ever have problems again. good luck bud.

 

Thanks agian!!! I'll post up what I figure out.

 

the car is 7 years old, I would look at replacing the vtec solenoid if your problem does not go away. Also, have you checked your oil pressure?

 

if anything i would think it would be more related to the vtec oil pressure switch than the solenoid.

 

Well not sure what to do now. It is making a funny taping sound on the intake side of the head. i pulled the valve cover and put the crank pully on the marks and then checked the cams and they aren't lined up like i would think they are suppose to be. The lines that are suppose to meet in the middle are about an eighth inch off or maybe three sixteenths off but no more than that. What could all of this be??? the taping and everything...

 

I haven't checked the oil pressure cause i don't have any way to check it. it throws oil all over if you turn it over with the valve cover off.

 

Still not running kinda thinking it may have tried to lock up on me... anyone know where to get a K20A3 for cheap!?!?!?!

 

check ebay and craigslist.

 

will do. thanks for all the help guys!!!

 

or k20a.org

 

OKAY GUYS!!! I found another K20A3 for 500 dollars and it has 13k miles on it...is it worth that much??? what could I part my engine out for? like my head and intake and stuff...Let me know please. Thanks,Richie

 

sounds like a good deal to me. scoop it up.

 

thats not a bad deal at all. my k20a3 has 82k miles and some guy at a local car meet (92 eg boy) offered me $500. = /