ricerrrr

hello guys, using a friends account to ask this question

i have a 03 civic coupe ex, and recently, my check engine light has been coming on and off randomly. i took it to a local shop and was told that it was just from it sitting for so long without use, so i paid them the fee and went about my day.

2 weeks later it came back, and stayed on, and when i accelerate more than 50% pressure on the gas pedal, it will "cut out" and sputter, and could be very dangerous if i am pulling out in traffic.

i took it back to the same place (dumb i know) and they hooked it up to the machine and told me it was my vtec solenoid? i know very little about cars in general so i don't know what my best options are for purchasing this part and installing it. they told me after parts and labor it would be 400 to 500 bucks, which i thought sounded high, anyone care to shed some light on this situation? much appreciated

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

its a $150 part and 3 bolts to remove for replacement. usually you can take the old one apart and clean the filter screen. if there is dirt in it, thats prolly the issue. clean and reassemble, if it works and then comes back few weeks later, replace the whole thing with a new gasket. first step is make sure the oil is full on the dipstick.

rjones7755

I don't know why the vtec solenoid would cause that..? If vtec doesn't kick in all it's doing is leaving the cam in its normal profile... shouldn't cause sputtering

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

the vtec works in strange ways, and something does happen if you go above 2800 rpms. if you keep it below those rpms and still have the problems, it could be a different problem. i never had sputtering, but when the engine light came on the car would go into safe mode and trans would start shifting weird.

ricerrrr

thanks guys, sputtering isn't the best word, as it doesnt really make a noise, its just when i get to higher rpm's it will cut out i guess is the best way to put it. like i'm hitting a limiter or something. i am going to take the solenoid off and clean it thoroughly this weekend, and give it a shot. if that fails, i will ebay the part and report back.

rjones7755

Sounds like you're in limp mode. I'm pretty sure even if vtec had failed completely it wouldn't send you into limp mode. Sounds more like a sensor failure to me.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well if the engine light goes on, it will go into that protection mode where the trans takes longer to shift, rpm is limited to around 4k, etc. car doesnt drive normally. has nothing to do with whats wrong usually, its the ecu using a different "safe" program until you fix the issue. if you go wide throttle with a messed vtec solenoid, the engine could die.

rjones7755

Well not all CEL's with throw you into limp mode but thats possible too...i'd recommend taking it to another shop and getting it scanned again to make sure its throwing the vtec solenoid code