Hi everyone. I'll try to explain my issue, to the best of my ability.

My EM1 is running its original B16A2. I took the car to a track day today. During the first lap, I noticed a bit of spluttering, from 7,000-8,000rpm. Not terrible, but I could definitely notice it. I didn't think much of it, so I ignored it and continued with the track day.

About 10 laps or more later, the issue got worse. It was spluttering really badly to the point where I pulled into the pits and stopped my session. I can only explain the sound as "put-put-put" and it seems to only happen in the VTEC range.

The car struggles to accelerate in VTEC. The car drives fine if I'm just cruising around because I drove home. I didn't need to tow it. Theres no abnormal smells, noises, etc. when driving under normal load.

My first guess would be ignition related? I checked my leads. They still look new. Next I checked the plugs. They had normal carbon buildup. Nothing that would affect spark. Theres plenty of oil in the engine as well. If anyone can shine some light on what might be happening, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

coil or icm could be biting the dust slowly.
they will die eventually and are the worst ignition problem gremlins.

https://www.team-integra.net/threads...ooting.342735/

 

I would be looking at the ICM and Coil as well.

 

Seems like its an intermittent problem. I did some road testing last night, to pinpoint exactly whats happening. Revved all the way to 8,000 in 2nd and it was fine.

 

Maybe your vtec solenoid screen is dirty or something and check your oil level in the morning to get an accurate reading not when the engine is warm or has been running.

 

I only just recently changed the solenoid gaskets. I’ll check the ignition side first. If its not that, I’ll take the solenoid apart again.

 

Update

Following tamboo's link above, I took apart my distributor. In the process, I noticed the points on the cap had white crust. Cleaned them off and installed the cap back on, to see what that does. Car drives fine in VTEC now. As a precaution, I'm ordering a new cap and rotor from Honda. If the issue emerges again, I'll look at the coil and igniter again.

 

Update as of 27 September.

I found out my distributor is from a Type R. EK9 or DC2. The thing that stood out was the distributor cap's design. I saw it on Tegiwa (Parts supplier in the UK) and they had it listed as B16B and B18C. Searched on their site for B16A2 and the picture was identical to the cap that didn't fit my car.
The distributor must have been replaced, as a whole, some time in the car's life.

Now onto how the car drives... Just cruising around, theres no issues whatsoever. Car goes into VTEC at 5,800rpm, as it should. You can even hear the crossover. Problem emerges at 6,500 to 7,000. Civic starts sputtering and you can hear small pops coming out of the exhaust, which would tell me theres still fuel being supplied. That would rule out fuel starvation right?
This happens in all gears. Car struggles to reach redline. Doesn't drop out of VTEC either.

New coil and ICM are on the way. Wasn't cheap either...

I tried taking a video, to show all of you, but the audio messed up. I'll try get another soon. I appreciate anyone that takes their time to read all of this. I'm thankful for any advice!

 

Got my parts in today.


The old ignition coil was really rusty.




So the new ignition coil is installed. I'm still getting issues. I couldn't replace the ignition control module because its unfortunately wedged in place. I bought an OBD2 one as you can see from the photo, but someone has wedged an OBD1 ICM inside the distributor. I'm not even sure if I can use the heatsink off it... I can't catch a break.

I managed to take a video. Heres the link to it on YouTube:
The car idles fine. The car crosses over into VTEC fine.