Hi Civic forum. Not new to Honda's but relatively new to Civics as this is are second Civic and 1st w/ Vtec. My sister bought the car new and was left to my nephew when she passed away 9 years ago my son bought it 2 months ago and we have gone through the car, brakes,timing belt, water pump, tune up, belts, hoses, getting it ready to put on the road. So my ? is i start the car let it warm up for 15mins just idling, everything is fine i rev it and notice that it seems to hit a rev limiter at about 5200 rpm in park or neutral. now i am puzzled as i thought it would rev to at least the 7200 rpm red line. So i do a little search here on HT for similar issues and find several threads pointing to the Vtec system and i start going through the Flow charts and discover that i only have 2.43 volts going to my Vtec preasure switch its suppose to have battery voltage. The wire from ECM to preasure switch has continuity so its not open. The flow cart says to replace ECM. I put it back together and take it for a drive. Get it fully warmed up w/ the car in drive i floor it the engine revs right up to 7200 rpm's w/ no hesitation and the car scoots down the road the Vtec seems to be working, i dont know how much of a boost ur suppose to feel when Vtec kicks in as my other Honda's are 5th gen Accords w/ Vtec and in them its a Mpg setup not a performance setup. So I guess my ? is will the engine rev to the 7200 rpm red line if the Vtec system is not working? And how much of a boost will i feel when Vtec kicks in at 6000 Rpm's?
Thanks Joe

 

None. This is a grocery getter.

 

Is this an auto or 5spd? If there are no CEL than you should be fine.

 

vtec will not work in park/neutral.

 

Vtec doesn't spike up the power.

would you say the car continues to 'pull', with all 110hp lol, past 5-6k rpms? Most engines have 'vtec' nowadays, some are set up so there is a noticeable boost in power. The 'proper' way of doing it is so that the curve is smooth, though. Traditional engines 'drop off' but a cool feature of vtec is that its less significant because it provides a better cam profile for high RPMs instead of being forced to focus on either lower or higher RPMs.

just as general motors, they recently added 'vtec' to their corvettes and pick up trucks.

 

5600 RPM is your VTEC engagement point, you won't feel a "boost" (and shouldn't, if it's operating correctly), and you have an autotragic. You won't feel a damn thing. Stop revving it out. It's not a sports car. It's not meant to be bounced off the redline. Drive it like a normal, sane human being.

 

This is an auto, and there is no Cel.

 

Yes I would say it continues to pull all the way up to redline.

 

Thank you, I learned something new today. That answered one of my?.

 

Then there's nothing wrong with your car.

 

I was mistaken about the engagement point thought it was a little higher.This is an Auto, and i don't make a practice of hitting the rev limiter! I don't rev it until it is warmed up. Never when cold! It was a shake down drive and would rather have something break while i am behind the wheel than when my son is! I do not Drive like that normally, i am a 51 year old male, the days of driving insane are long gone!
Thanks
Joe

 

I think your right. I learned a couple new things. Feel much better about how the car is running now!
Thanks
Joe

 

Auto ECU's limit the neutral RPM to 5k.

VTEC works when the car is moving, warmed up, ETC.

It operates with your particular ECU probably around 5500RPM. You might hear or feel it once in a blue moon if all conditions are right. But you most likely won't notice it.

With your D16Y8 engine, VTEC works by switching the INTAKE cam lobes to a higher lift and duration.

The principle is that the low cam is good for MPG, emissions, torque, etc, below 5500RPM. Then the high cam carries the power to 7200RPM rev limit. Your cam face timing is fixed with each respective position. So...there are only 2 different cam face options.

It's not a large power ramp like on some dual cam engines. It just keeps the car from falling on its face after 5500RPM.

 

Great informative post! That helps a lot.
Thank You.
joe

 

I've had this happen on another engine build of mine with a stock ecu. If they car is not in any gear than it won't let you rev past a certain point. Good stuff because there will be ******** who would want to **** with your car sometimes.