Does anyone have a picture of all the parts that make up the vtec solenoid. My vtec doesn't work and I've done every possible test there is. Ecu is fine, no codes. I took off the valve cover and vtec solenoid and hooked up air pressure to the port near the vtec solenoid and noticed that the rocker arms do lock in place once there's pressure. So it seems that the vtec solenoid valve is not allowing pressure to build. I looks like there's something missing too. Any help would be great.
Thanks

 

How do you know it's not engaging? Will not engage without temperature and oil pressure being read by the ecu.

 

I've been driving the car for a couple of weeks without vtec, and decided to troubleshoot the problem, then I took the solenoid off.

 

What kind of engine do you have. The b and d series have slightly different setups. I to am having vtec engagement problems and am not getting pressure to the solenoid. Am at my wits end. I'm about to just weld a 4an fitting to the oil passage and source the additional pressure from the oil pump directly via z10 adapter.

 

So it did work at one time? Which motor?

 

I have a b16a1 swapped into a 91 crx si. Today I swapped the vtec solenoid assembly from a b16a1 into 95 si with a b16a2 and and it worked fine. So i guess its not the solenoid assembly itself. I guess its more troubleshooting for me.

 

I don't know if it ever worked. I assume it did at one point. I had the motor shipped from a company in montana, which got the motor from Japan. I've had the b16a1 swapped in for about 3 weeks now, and it hasn't worked yet

 

Are you sure you are using a vtec ecu?

 

One common thing i hear people checking for is oil level. I've seen alot of recommendations to have your level at the max mark on the dipstick, not more because thats just more work for the engine. Also make sure the car is at operating temp so the oil flow/pressure is correct.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=164863

good luck.

 

If this thread won't help you, nothing will

 

It seems we have a similar problem. So I take it you went through the helms procedure for checking for oil pressure to the vtec solenoid?

 

what was the oil prssure for the vtec solenoid. Might be your oil pump is worn out also. It can also be that your cat clogged and not letting the exhust flow out causing some back pressure. Check if the spring inside the vtec solenoid is moving freely. I had this problem also, My car would not engage vtec. I made a manual switch to test it out, by hooking a wire to the positvie terminal and than to the switch and from the switch another wire to the solenoid. The car would bog down or seem to redline. The rpm would move slowly once it hit vtec and stay in one place. I fixed it after someone told me it was my cat. I rmoved the cat and drove down the freeway and the vtec was working no more bogging down at vtec range.


[Modified by ImportRacing, 4:41 AM 10/3/2002]

 

O.K. I'm going to try and answer everyone's response. I have a pr3 ecu, throwing no codes. Oil is full, and car up to tempurature.I did the wire test for the solenoid and it clicks. The speedometer works, and there's no dents in the oil pan.The entire solenoid assembly is good because I put it on another car, and vtec worked. I hooked up a mechanical oil pressure guage to the port on the head by the solenoid, drove the car and the guage reads about zero until I get to about 5000-6000 rpm and then it jumps up to about 75psi, which I believe is normal. The only thing I haven't done is swap the ecu for one that definetly works. But if it was the ecu, then why isn't there a code and why would the solenoid open up and allow the pressure to jump to 75psi. Also, can you have a bad vss and still have a working speedo? Thanks.

 

If you're getting 75 psi over 5k rpms, then you should be getting vtec (anything over 57 psi is good). Your system is operating normally. How do you know you're not getting vtec?

 

Actually, that's a good question. I'm going only by sound. I have a 95 civic si with a 99si b16a2, and when vtec engages on that car, it sounds much louder and much more radical. It's such a big difference that I figured that it's not possible for the b16a1 in the crx to be that much quieter. The only difference is that I have an aem short ram intake in the 95 si and I have a stock intake with no resonator on the crx. I think I'll try and put the aem short ram on the crx to see if I can hear it. Also, I'm expecting the crx to be a bit quicker than it seems right now.

 

Is there a way to actually know for a fact that your vtec is working?