I'm currently performing a Rocker Arm Piston Manual Engagement Test to see if the pistons in the rocker arm assembly are engaging, locking all three rocker arms in the assembly together.

When I performed the test, I applied 60-psi through the oil port, on the front/facing side of the head, while blocking off the relief hole. I tested each assembly by setting its cylinder to TDC and pressing down the mid-rocker arm assembly. The pistons were not engaging.

The air being applied is discharging from the oil control orifices at an unknown rate; therefore, I'm not sure if enough pressure is getting the pistons to engage? So I removed the cams and holders to get to the oil control orifices.

I plugged the orifices with my fingers and still no engagement. Air is slowly leaking from intake side of head and I'm trying to pin-point where.

Where is air escaping? No sign of oil or air being discharged from head gasket area.

I'm at a loss here. I'm following Helms on this procedure. Am I missing a step here? Its hard to imagine that all the rocker arm assemblies are bad.
Need some help, PLEASE!!!

 

Well... I'm going to proceed in removing the rocker arms and inspect them.

I need some help from the "Experts" or some advise on what else to look for.

 

Year and model?

 

1994 H22A


Last night I removed and inspected the rocker arms and they are in good condition. So I slapped everything back together just this morning.


Putting the timing belt on a H22A thats in a EK F'in sucks!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedjunky77 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">1994 H22A

</TD></TR></TABLE>
I dont see any specific to that engine listed, but Honda had a service news article in nov 01 about presure regulators. I remember on of the other techs having this problem 7 or 8 years ago before we got a good one.

You’re doing the VTEC rocker arm test in the
service manual. You can’t get the rocker arm
synchronizing pistons to engage the rocker arms
after you’ve applied the specified air pressure,
and you’ve tried rotating the crankshaft to move
them manually. The problem may be an air
pressure regulator that’s not supplying a large
enough volume of air to move the pistons. Air
pressure regulators made for nail guns and
leak-down testers aren’t really suited for this job.
If you’re having this problem, try using a different
air pressure regulator that supplies a larger
volume of air.

 

I was thinking the same thing. Since none of the pistons engaged, my Craftsman 150 psi - 15 gal tank must not have been delievering a high enough flow rate keep the head pressurized.

I'm pretty confident that my rocker arms are fine.

I guess its back to step one for vtec trouble shooting. I'm loosing my sanity!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by speedjunky77 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I guess its back to step one for vtec trouble shooting. I'm loosing my sanity!</TD></TR></TABLE>
I assume it's putting up a trouble code? Which one?

 

No codes...

Vtec is engaging but no power gain - feels flat.

I checked everything. Compression is good, oil pressure is good, vtec sensor & valve switch are good. I'm pretty much came down to thinking that not all of the rocker arms were locking. I could not engage the arms together with my air compressure (craftsman 150 psi, 15 gal tank). I then dissasembled and reensembled the rocker arms. They were all fine.

My Setup:
1998 CX HB
H22A - p28 - s200
Stock bottom end
Mild head work
Jun 1 cams
valve springs & Ti retainers
SK2 IM
Prospeed Header

Dyno last week at a shameful 175whp.

Should be around 210whp. Its killing me!

I'm going to take it down to Kearny Mesa Honda in San Diego and have them do the rocker arm test for me and a leakdown test.

 

Pacific Honda in San Diego was a waste of my time. Poor customer service!

Venting:

Let me start with how they first tried to scam me last month. I called their parts department to place in a order for new head gasket. The lady on the phone quoted me $100 + change. Seemed way too much! So I went to their parts web site and found that it was listed for $60. I placed the order online and picked it up a few days later. I spoke with the parts manager, a guy who went by the name Ace, and asked him why there was a $40 increase in price? Of course I got some lame BS excuse he said that they had a special promotion/sale if you place the order online. OK, that’s STRIKE ONE for them!

So... to get back to my previous post, and let my explained the great "Circle Jerk" I experience when I brought my car in for a simple leak down test and rocker piston engagement test. I called in the day before to make sure they could perform the test I needed. I explained in detail exactly what I needed to be done, even referenced pages from Helms. Of course the lady on the phone told me, "Oh... no problem we do everything here.... just bring in your car before 10:00am." I go out the way to leave my office to bring my car in at 8:00am and had a fellow engineer to pick me up at the service center on his way to our meeting. I speak with a mechanic and the floor manager to AGAIN explain what I needed them to do for me. Then the floor manager said the "TECH GUY" who specializes in that kind of testing has the day off today and I should bring the car back in a few days. I told the manager this is a fairly simple thing to do, why do you need a special "TECH" to do this? Of course didn't get the straight and honest answer I was looking for. He told me to go ahead a leave the car there and they will "TRY" to get to it if they had time. I had no choice but to leave it there at that point because my friend was there to pick me up. I told them I would be coming back on my lunch hour to pick the car up. When I came back to get my car I nicely explained to them that they wasted my time and they left my a complimentary bottled of water in my car the their logo on it. I almost got out of my car and threw it back at them...but I had to take a deep breath a shout out "SERENITY NOW" and drove off back to work all pissed off.

Funny thing I helped designed that freakin service center; it was a project I work on a few years back. I wanted to through my weight around because the owner is a client of mine. I seriously felt that they thought I was some silly "RICER" guy with a fixed up Civic. So that is STRIKE TWO for them.

I'm not a A-Hole, I just don't like getting jerked around.

Done venting:

So back to my car problem; does anyone know a good honest mechanic in the San Diego area?