I was at Summit Point for HyperFest in my Crome tuned OBD1 B18C5 CRX HF. On my last run, I went to start the car, and on the way to grid, I noticed the car seemed to have a bad shake. It had not done this at all prior. It also threw CEL #21 (VTEC Solenoid), which it used to do months ago, but hadn't done in a while. Before, that problem was resolved by sanding down the ground near the fan/VTEC solenoid. I could always fix it by warming the car up, then turning it off and restarting it. So once on grid, I shut the car off, turned it back on when it was time to release grid, and sure enough, it never came back on.

I figured it was something on my tires causing the shaking...wrong. When I would get on it hard, the car felt like it was bouncing down the track. When I'd lift, it'd smooth out. Or if I didn't get on it too hard, it'd be just a mild shake. The car did not feel slow oddly enough.

I put on my street tires and began home. On the way home, I pulled the plugs and found one fouled in cylinder 2 or 3 (don't remember)...


So I replaced it, and went on, no difference at all. I replaced the plug wires yesterday, no difference. I also sanded down the valve cover ground, no difference. So I pulled all 4 plugs again, here they are:

Cylinder 1:


Cylinder 2:


Cylinder 3:


Cylinder 4:


Also, now everytime I start the car when it's cold, the damn Code 21 (VTEC Solenoid) is thrown. It then goes out if you restart it after even a minute driving around.

I have yet to replace all the plugs since putting on new wires, but to me they don't look horrible, I'm thinking of replacing cylinders 2 and 3 maybe.

What could be causing all this all of a sudden?


Modified by GI8U2racing at 6:05 AM 7/12/2007

 

Id double check all your electricals and grounds. I replaced my solenoid and thermostat etc... and missed a ground. The car ran like hell, and I'd get a shock periodically. Also, double check your plug wires. Even a loose one will make a car feel like hell. I'd run a compression test as well, just to be safe, seeing how it looks like your plugs are fouling in two but not all of your cylinders. Let me know how you make out.

 

Also, the radio doesn't work anymore, it won't turn on. This happened at the same time I started the car when the shaking began.

 

it sounds like you have some sort of ground issue as mentioned...

is the radio fuse blown?

i am curious about your ignition quality/ tune judging from that first plug pic, sheesh! that is some major carbon buildup...

 

I guess I'll go through all my grounds first

 

I went through all the grounds. They all looked alright other than one from the valve cover and one from the back of the engine (passenger side). I replaced both those, and added an extra ground off the valve cover. It is either barely better or not at all better. Same VTEC Solenoid code being thrown on the cold starts...

Please help

 

No ones going to comment on the cylinder 4 plug? Looks like youre running lean there... maybe its just some crap that got on the plug though, ive never actually seen a plug from a car that was running lean, but thats what my old bike used to look like when it was running lean... carbed 2 stroke though... Maybe check your injectors to make sure theyre all running in spec?

Other than that, try changing the plugs. Cylinder 2 and 3 look a little dirty. Try wire wheeling them real quick to see if that helps at all, if not you can probably rule them out.

 

Well I discovered my inner CV has like 1/2" of slop in it, that would probably explain the vibration. Looks like it's time for new axles...