My cousin has had his 2004 K20a motor in for nearly and year. It never quite delivered what I expected it to.

Just recently though I got the opportunity to drive it and I can say 100% certain that something is wrong.

I took off in first gear and when I pushed the throttle, nothing. Only a very sluggish acceleration. My 1993 accord lx is quicker off the line.

When the car hits vtec, it is almost explosive. Still not as powerful as it should be but it kicks hard and is obnoxiously loud. Incredibly loud.
Building rpm to vtec there is also an audible whistle, sounds like a turbo.

Here is some stats I got:
- Firstly, he's an idiot. He's been running 91 octane and the ecu is programmed for Japanese fuel.
- There are a couple wires that seem to lead to nowhere from the timing chain side of the engine.
- I did a compression test and it tested at about 185 across the board.
- I read a diagnostics on the engine and timing advance was around 27 degrees at idle. (not sure if that means anything)

Any questions, please ask.
Any answers, greatly appreciated

Tyler

 

stock ecu? what chassis? what mods?

i would first start by making sure it is actually an itr k20a and not one of the lower models. then figure out what those wires are for.

 

Did quite a bit of digging and discovered that the disconnected wires are for the VTC control. It very well maybe a timing issue as I thought.

The ecu is a stock Type R ecu and the only mod is a short ram intake.

Any more suggestions or answers are welcome. I'll work on figuring out the wiring issue.

 

Running 91 octane is fine.

What is his exhaust setup? The wiring def needs to be fixed but a clogged cat can also hinder you in the same way you are describing.

 

ummm yea. vtc is kind of important.

it's probably fully advanced at part throttle and stays there in vtec which would explain the low rpm sluggishness.

 

I'm curious. What is the standard premium fuel in Japan? He may or may not have ran 89. But if that is unimportant, then oh well.

My main concern is the VTC wiring problem. I understand that it is a function of the timing but how does it do so and why is it so important when hondas beforehand did not include it?

The exhaust is a stock Type S setup. Restricting for the R perhaps?
The wiring I noticed today and I should probably have kicked myself for not seeing the seriousness of it.
Fail on my part but I'll get it sorted tomorrow and return with results.

 

you cant compare american 91oct to japanese 98rom. generally speaking though, 91 or 93, whichever you have access to, is acceptable.

vtc is a a different system from vtec but they both work together. you cannot compare these newer k engines with anything honda did in the past. the b/d/h/f/etc. werent designed for it so it's irrelevant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtRlQrAc5IY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ywhX...eature=related

 

Very useful information doood! Much respect given.
It seems the engine would be fully retarded given that no power is reaching the VTC control solenoid.
Standby for report of a fix.
Thanks again.

 

Check for vacuum leaks.