i been driving my 97 civic with gsr engine for some time now and it seems like vtec would kick in and out all the time. i got the stock p72 ecu and even tried a obd2 p30 and it did the same. i checked my wires and it is wired straight to the ecu but i ground the neg. on the engine.well yesterday my vtec just completely quit.im not sure on what i need to test or check. maybe the vtec solenoid is out? or maybe the vtec pressure switch is out? either i dunno how to go about checking them. any advice would help thanks.

 

Are you throwing a EL when VTEC is supposed to engage?

 

nope. the only cel i have is for the fuel tank pressure sensor.but thats only when i use the gsr ecu

 

I would figure a CEL would be thrown if there were issues with either the solenoid or pressure switch. Can you take it to redline?

 

yeah i took it to 9k lol.

 

Unless I read wrong or B series are different, you shouldn't be able to do that if VTEC isn't working. We'll see what the experts have to say.

 

yeah it just left me stumped. thats what i thought too. :/

 

check your oil.. low? was the engine cold when you were beating on it or up to temp? vtec will only "kick in" with adequate oil pressure and engine temperature.

 

Does the speedo work correctly?

 

x2

My buddy found that out the hard way. Honda motors don't run very well missing 3 quarts of oil

 

i do have a minor leak around my oil pan. and maybe oil may be low since i last change my oil 2 months ago.i hope it is this simple. thanks everyone

 

oh and my car was always on regular temp when i tried to get vtec to "kick in"..

 

check the oil

 

Could be the screen in the solenoid gasket is plugged up not letting enough flow to your solenoid to actuate

 

I'll echo the "check the oil" suggestion first too.

Usually you'd have a code 21 and/or code 22 for VTEC solenoid and/or VTEC pressure switch due to the engine oil being too low to have the proper oil pressure to engage VTEC, but sometimes the oil is low enough to not allow VTEC to function, but not trigger the CEL yet.

If the oil level is good after you've checked it on flat ground, then I'd suspect wiring.

BTW:

Is that GS-R engine a JDM or USDM version?

The reason I ask is that the JDM engine's VTEC solenoid does not have the VTEC oil pressure switch, and if you're running a USDM spec ECU it will look for that VTEC oil pressure switch.

 

It could be, but that would usually throw a CEL 21 nearly every time.