Hey folks. Just got my EM1 out of storage yesterday, took it for a spin around the block before I put new brakes on.... I noticed that the car wasnt warming up, therefore no vtec engaging. I let it sit in one spot, it warmed up, but as soon as I started to drive, the temp gauge slowly went back to the cool side and no more vtec. Anyone ever have this issue? Replace the thermostat ya think? Thanks for any input!

 

 

Really.....

 

Yeah really. If it's a temperature related problem I don't know how you even started this post before checking anything that has to do with temperature. The thermostat is a no brainer. So is checking coolant levels which you ALSO didn't seem to do or mention.

 

thermostat is stuck open.

 

The coolant levels were fine. Ive had the car sitting in storage now for a couple years, and I was pretty sure I had changed the thermostat when I did the timing belt and waterpump prior to putting it into storage, but again, that was over 2 years ago. Ill give the t/stat a try.

I mainly started this thread to see if anyone else has ever had this issue, ive read people having bubbles in the system and that causing issues similar to this.

 

That was my first guess when i realized what was going on. But again, I thought I had replaced it when I put it into storage. Thanks for the input!

 

yeah change it and you should be good to go be sure to add 50/50 coolant/water mixture.

 

Well, I changed it, car warms up as it should. However... now Vtec isnt engaging properly, it kind of fades in and out. Kind of strange.

 

VTEC either engages or it doesn't. Never heard of it fading.

 

it may be engaging and disengaging from 5500-8100, maybe he has connection issues.... i personally have never seen a vtec engine do that but who knows...the car has sat for so long a mouse/rat could have chewed some wires...its possible

 

Yep my Ls Vtec does the same thing all winter my car would not warm all the way up especially if driving on the freeway, too much cold air running over the radiator. It is a stuck open thermostat not biggy easy to replace and cheap like $20. And yeah if you car is not warmed up then no Vtec, ECU will not engage Vtec unless it sees a certain coolant temp, dont know what temp it needs to be at though. Are you keeping full throttle while in Vtec? It can disengage if you are at say 6200 rpm and go from WOT to POT.