I have a baseline 98 prelude. Recently I have noticed that the VTEC does not always engage when in first gear. VTEC engages fine (5200rpm) in all other gears without hesitation. When in first gear the vtec does not always engage, especially when i'm not pressing the gas to the floor. But when I floor it in first the vtec will engage. Why is this happening? When taking turns in first the vtec will not always engage as well. Any ideas?

 

I was thinking the problem might be the VTEC solinoid gasket or screen. I am relatively new to Preludes, though I love mine, and don't know exactly where on the motor the vtec solinoid gasket/screen is located. could someone tell me where it is located, if this is a legitimate concern, and how difficult it would be to replace the solinoid. Thank you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lovethatlude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a baseline 98 prelude. Recently I have noticed that the VTEC does not always engage when in first gear. VTEC engages fine (5200rpm) in all other gears without hesitation. When in first gear the vtec does not always engage, especially when i'm not pressing the gas to the floor. But when I floor it in first the vtec will engage. Why is this happening? When taking turns in first the vtec will not always engage as well. Any ideas? </TD></TR></TABLE>

CHECK YOUR OIL! I had the same problem.

on the turns it make be sucking oil away from the pump, and vtec runs off oil pressure. The first gear issue I'm not certain on.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=945852

 

oil pressure is fine. i recently installed an autometer oil pressure gauge and it's reading around 20-25psi @ idle and 50-75psi driving (depending on motor temp.) So I don't think it's the oil, but I'll check.

 

Justed checked the oil level, at about half, so I leveled it off at the top. Took a drive around the block and everything's fine. Never realized the vtec was that touchy about oil level. thanks

 

It also depends on the TPS, how muc throttle you put to it. If the ECU doesn't read a lot of throttle Vtec won't really engage.

 

thank you. I didn't consider that, b/c i didn't know that! Now that you've mentioned it ... that's exactly what was happening. As said before, my oil pressure remained optimal throughout. And the vtec wasn't engaging "especially when i'm not pressing the gas to the floor." Now I know there's a TPS. Man, this forum is great. (Thanks for telling me about the oil too DsR, something to know in the future.)

 

Another thing to consider is enginer temperature; if the car is cold, VTEC will not engage.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lovethatlude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> (Thanks for telling me about the oil too DsR, something to know in the future.) </TD></TR></TABLE>

no prob brofa'

 

haha yes. oil is vvery important to vtec. sometimes my vtec does engage well in 1st gear as well or it lags. but thats fixed when oil is changed