I recently got a cheap y8 head that i put on my y7 block in my 97 dx civic, I ran wires to the vtec solenoid and vvt pressure sensor right next to the vtec solenoid. Installed and ran a wire for knock sensor. The car runs great, but i cannot get vtec to engage. I tested the solenoid and it engages, and tried multiple vvt sensors. Knock sensor is brand new. No cel.

The y8 does have a broken valve cover bolt, so i was wondering if that would not let the oil pressure generate that needs to be generated in order for vtec to engage? or would pressure still build in the oil system and that wouldn't matter?

I searched for an answer to this, but only could find stuff on people trying to find ways to fix the broken valve cover bolt, nothing on weather or not it would make vtec not engage. Any info appreciated. and thanks for reading.


(edit) also i have installed the correct ecu p2p

 

How do you know that VTEC does not engage? It's not like in the movies where you're going to get pressed to the back of your seat once you hit 4500 rpm. If you can drive up to near the redline and the CEL does not throw a VTEC code, VTEC can be assumed to be working.

 

because there is absolutely no crossover at all, i should be able to at least hear the crossover even if it is just slight. maybe you could just let me know if a broken valve cover bolt would affect vtec, like i was wondering, thank you

 

Did you pull the oil jet out of the block when you installed the head?

 

the y7's oil jet is in the head

 

Gotcha. I haven't fucked with the y7/y8 blocks as much. Have you put a mechanical pressure gauge in to see what oil pressure it's pushing?

 

I have not done that, i just know the oil light is not on. That may be my next step. I figured someone would just be able to answer my question real quick ha, thanks for the advice, will try that if i can get a hold of an oil pressure gauge.

 

No... a broken valve cover bolt will not stop VTEC from working.

 

What is the part number of the ECU that you are using ???

 

Ok thank you. I will check part number in the morning, i know it was off a manual ex, same car as the head was from

 

This is the ecu i am running

 

The ECU is correct... so you either have a wiring problem or a mechanical installation problem with the Y8 head.

 

what about oil? i heard that the wrong weight oil can affect it also? pretty sure its not my wiring cause i went over it 3 times and made sure it was right before i soldered it. And what type of mechanical installation problems could i have maybe caused? I tried very hard to do it right and carefully.

 

 

pretty sure that i hooked up vtec correctly, its only 3 wires, that i more than triple checked. and im pretty sure you can hear the single cam crossover... and my oil level is in between the 2 dots on the dipstick..
I do feel that the reason its not working is oil/oil pressure related tho. other than that, im thinkin maybe i got a bad ecu, could the ecu be bad to were vtec wouldnt work but the car would still run and drive ok?

 

 

ha im pretty sure that the y8 and z6 are pretty dang close to same in horsepower so idk how much more fun it could be. and i dont think im gonna waste money on a tune for my super slow, pretty much stock engine, lmao. im just trying to get it runnin right myself.

 

 

Did you come on here just to be a dick? lmao. or to get your post count up one of the two. Well im not a spoiled brat, so i cant just go and build a 500 horse power car. seriously you can **** off, i dont need any more of your shitty advice/posts (white_eg1). I didn't go out and just buy my car, i built it.

 

 

I've been totally ignoring this thread because of ^^. Are you experiencing a drop in power after about 4800 rpms or so? If not, vtec is working fine. It isn't very noticeable on a single cam, even with an exhaust or intake, because it only affects the intake valves.

 

I actually thought it was a pretty good question, i doubt you even knew what a broken valve cover bolt would do to vtec till the other dude said so. And i may be an idiot, but at least im trying to learn instead of just paying other people to work on my ****. and i didnt come here to try to make other people look stupid, i came here to learn and maybe share what little knowledge i do have. And there doesnt have to be a drop in power for vtec not to be working

 

Let me rephrase my last post. I've been ignoring this thread because of white_eg1. Are you experiencing a power drop past approximately 4800 rpm or so? If so, I'd lean towards vtec not actually working. If not, I'd say it's probably functioning properly. The crossover on a single cam engine isn't very strong, and it isn't very noticeable. You will notice, however, if it loses power above roughly 4800 rpm.

 

Yeah that makes sense. but im not really experiencing power loss. It just revvs exactly like my y/7 setup, like exactly. I just got back from sort of a long road trip today and i was going up hill in 3rd and i felt it kick in (twice), it was noticeable just not super noticeable. but havent gotten it to work again, now im leaning towards an intermittent vtec engagement. I feel like the oil passage in the head that oil passes thru to activate vtec are clogged up partially or something like that. I think my next step is oil change to clean oil with new oil filter.

edit; i was also wondering, are the y7/y8 oil pans the same? ive heard something can be different with them but i think they are the same..?

 

I don't remember, have you pulled the solenoid off the head and inspected/cleaned it? An intermittent issue could also be a bad connection, so double check your wiring again, just to be certain.