I rebuilt a gsr 6000 miles ago and I'm wondering if vtec is actually working. I've never owned a vtec engine before this one so I have nothing to compare it to and I don't have the money right now to put the car on a dyno and try to determing if the vtec is working from the graph. (THough I would like to know what the power output of it is). First let me say that there are no ecu codes being thrown and there haven't been since it put it in. So I don't believe there is any electrical problem there. I swapped the c1 into a 93 del sol S and ran a shielded knock sensor wire and vtec wire.

My first question is where does the vtec oil pressure sensor sense the pressure. Does it see the oil pressure before the selenoid or after? LIke does it see zero oil pressure when the engine is beloew the crossover point and then actuall pressure when vtec engages, or does it just sense pressure all the time??

Second, and still pertaining to vtec are the secondaries. I know these are operated soley based on rpm, ie, they always open at 5850 no matter load/throttle position. WHat I don't know is if they will open even if vtec does not engage. This is prolly a crappy way to assess it becuase if there is a mechanical problem with vtec the ecu won't know it and still open the secondaries anyway, so this question is kinda moot now that I think about it.

Okay, third question. I know I can put relay in and a light to test is vtec is working electrically, but what about mechanically?? What would this do? I was think that I would start her up and let her warm up all the way and then while parked and at an idle, supply 12v to the seloniod so it opens and force vtec engagement. My thoughts were that the high profile would lean the mixture way to much at that speed and simply stall the engine out. KInda like putting a huge cam into a big block, they run like crap if you can even gettem to run below 1k rpm.

Can you guys think of any other way to test mechanical engagement?

 

You should really be able to hear and feel the VTEC switchover on a C1. Pull the vtec solenoid and check the filter screen. Make sure it isn't plugged blocking oil flow. You can test the pistons in the rocker arm assembly by pressurizing the rocker arm assembly with compressed air. I recommend referencing the Helms manual for this problem.