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How to disable VTEC kick-in ALLTIME to save gas

 
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Old Apr 18, 2004
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Exclamation How to disable VTEC kick-in ALLTIME to save gas

Hi, I am new here , With 7 Gen civic EX AT, I would like to save more gas on freeway driving @ 70 mph @ 2800-2900 RPM, I am not sure is my VTEC enable at this range( Vtec could be on and off at this range), Can I remove the vtec switch, or plug ( where you guys hook up the VTEC light) such that my engine will not kick in vtec all time?? I know I will not gain HP, but what I need is more MPG on high RPM.

Aslo, may be we can tell how VTEC Vs non-VTEC , I am wonder is disabled VTEC as same as LX engine??

Please help ^_^

Last edited by smartblue; Apr 18, 2004 at 06:57 PM.
Old Apr 18, 2004
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In 5th gear, when im going 60 mph im already at 3000 rpms. Weird?
Old Apr 18, 2004
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Yea isn't there a plug he can remove?
Old Apr 18, 2004
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i think there is a plug for the vtec solenoid, that u might be able to unplug, but u might get a CEL....THIS IS JUST A GUESS
Old Apr 18, 2004
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You will most likely get a cel. The ecu looks for an vtec signal at certain rpms. Get a vafcII and you can raise the engagement point slightly. From mine, vtec will stay on at 70mph or above. At 65 mph, it stays off.
Old Apr 18, 2004
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Won't the engine starve like a ****? I mean... the whole point of high lift is to make the low lift low enough to make the low end effecient. Then you make the high lift so enough air gets in to make the car run better at higher RPMs. The low lift is lower than the A1 head, and the high lift is obviously higher.
I drive almost all highway miles... the car gets 39 to the gallon, how much better could you possibly get?
I don't see this doing much more than pissing the engine off.
Old Apr 18, 2004
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I had always thought Vtec wasn't only computer but it also has to do with the Cams from when it switches from a low to high cam at a certain RPM. I dont think there is anything you can do to shut it off unless by switching cams or something. I dont' think it would be a good idea to pull that plug BTW.
Old Apr 18, 2004
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VTEC= Variable Timing Electronic Control. Its the cam lift and timing advance. The computer triggers the solenoid.
I don't know what the parameters are for this car...
XXXX RPM
Oil Pressure at YY PSI
Coolant temp at ZZ deg F
Speed at least Q MPH
If everything is met, the computer engages VTEC.
Since the VTEC in this car is setup to optomize effeciency, I would think you want to just leave it alone.
Old Apr 18, 2004
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vtec kicks in @ 3200 rpm

some odd reason...when i had a vtec controller ...i set the kick-in point
at 6500 rpm (so i wouldn't use it for testing purposes)

yet....i tested it and it didn't save me much gas at all
Old Apr 18, 2004
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That's a good point. I measured gas mileage twice. Once by driving normal, and a second time flooring it and driving more aggressively. The mpg was around 25 for both tries.
Old Apr 18, 2004
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in the end, dont **** up your car
Old Apr 18, 2004
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in the end..

im wondering how to get 38 mpg...thati s 400+ miles for every tank..

daaaaaaaaammmmnnnnnnnnn....

important related mods:

-spark plugs
-oil
Old Apr 18, 2004
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Woo, I will NOT **** up my car after all of your great posts here!!. Hmm , my last queston is how the **** Honda clam 38 MPG on freeway, Is all honda mesure mpg @ 60 mpg inside tunnel ?? which at this point vtec is still not change to hi cam yet?? , I am wonder if mesure @ 70 mpg ( I really mean 70MPH ), not sure what will be the new mpg when vtec hi cam is in use??
Again!! Thanks for all of your quick replies!!!

Last edited by smartblue; Apr 19, 2004 at 10:56 AM.
Old Apr 18, 2004
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As people have already explained, VTEC does not waste or save gas. All it does is let more air (higher, longer duration intake lift) in at higher RPMS to keep the engine from getting choked off. Its intended to optomize the use of the engine's power band and effeciency. You'll waste more gas by driving fast than with high vs low lift. Wasting gas is a function of RPM. How many times your injectors have to fire per a given amount of time is what will waste gas. And just use the cruise control. If you're not on the gas, the car goes into some kind of highway mode, it leans the A/F mix out to save gas since all you need to do is keep the car moving and not accelerate. Good ol ULEV at work. Over inflate your tires by 2 or 3 PSI. There are ways to increase gas milage. Fvcking with the computer isn't one of them.

Last edited by Boilermaker1; Apr 18, 2004 at 11:02 PM.
Old Apr 18, 2004
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I got great gas mileage when I bought E-10 gas, the gas with 10% ethanol in it. I got 47 mpg on the freeway, with the truck of my car packed, and the a/c halfway the whole time. Stock Firestones at 32 psi.
Old Apr 19, 2004
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Originally posted by smartblue
Woo, I will NOT **** up my car after all of your great posts here!!. Hmm , my last queston is how the **** Honda clam 38 MPG on freeway, Is all honda mesure mpg @ 60 mpg inside tunnel ?? which at this point vtec is still not change to hi cam yet?? , I am wonder if mesure @ 70 mpg, not sure what will be the new mpg when vtec hi cam is in use??
Again!! Thanks for all of your quick replies!!!
i did 36mpg on the freeway going between 60mph and 80mph. I did 34mpg holding at 80mph for about 3 hours. so under normal driving conditions, im pretty sure the civic could do 38mpg, but most ppl drive faster than that.... im not sure where you got the idea of 60 mpg or 70mpg from tho youre probably talking about mph, but like i just said, the claimed mpg is real, its just that we dont drive that slow. the vtec system wont make you use gas, but since you need to rev pretty high to get the vtec going, youre using more gas by forcing the engine to run harder. you could always experiment i guess. since yorue in an auto, just go up to 80mph and drop it in 3rd. i wont do it. but you can hehe
Old Apr 19, 2004
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i average about 32-34 mpg doing daily city driving and about 35-37 mpg on the freeway. i think this is amazing mpg!
well, my previous car was a mustang gt where i'd average 15 mpg in the city and 18 mpg on the freeway.
half the horsepower double the gas mileage
Old Apr 19, 2004
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strange ... when im running cruise control on all freeway for the whole tank i get like 24mpg ... i wonder whats wrong
Old Apr 19, 2004
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i wish i was getting more mpg.. im only getting 20mpg ''
Old Apr 19, 2004
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Originally posted by smartblue
Woo, I will NOT **** up my car after all of your great posts here!!. Hmm , my last queston is how the **** Honda clam 38 MPG on freeway, Is all honda mesure mpg @ 60 mpg inside tunnel ?? which at this point vtec is still not change to hi cam yet?? , I am wonder if mesure @ 70 mpg, not sure what will be the new mpg when vtec hi cam is in use??
Again!! Thanks for all of your quick replies!!!
About 6 months ago my mpg was su*king badly (25mpg city and 38mpg highway) I didn't pay much attention because I had heat on most of the time (winter). I didn't have time to take my car to get oil change at Honda(I get all my serivce done there) so I went to a local express change to get it done (only took 10mins compare to honda (1 hr). Then the tech there told me I had an oil leak (I thought it was just dirty+salt+dirty engine bay. I noticed it long time ago) Anyway since my car was under warranty I took it back to Honda for check up. WTF they told me the guy at express change put too much oil and caused the leak (I took the car there the day after my oil change). The service advisor told me it would cost $200+ to replace the valve gasket and clean up the engine bay. I was like !@*!&(*$&#$ and had a long talk with the manager. At the end I got it replace for free but they scratched the plastic valve cover badly and forgot to tie down the throttle cable brackets (something was rocking in my engine when I was driving home). After another long talk !@!#@&$( and they replace the cover. They made me wait over an hour to replace it (wtf 1 min job) and guessed what? My prescription sunglasses got stolen (300+ value) sigh I would never go back there agian.

At the end I avg 28-29 city and 42-44 highway =) with my LX 5 speeds. I think you guys should check for any oil leak and should get valve gasket replace when you do the valve adjustment.

Last edited by dacivic; Apr 19, 2004 at 09:33 AM.
Old Apr 19, 2004
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Don't rev the engine up and you can hit 70mph w/o going into VTEC mode. I've done it before, I've slowly accelerated from 60 and it saves some gas. Flooring it however from say 40 all the way up to 70 is a huge waste of gas... Like they said, avoid accelerations and stay a constant speed and you should be good on gas.
Old Apr 19, 2004
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Yea and use cruise control. It will help a lot on gas saving.
Old Apr 19, 2004
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Its not punching everytime I am at a stoplight that kills my gas, its driving like 80 on the highway. If I drive 65 or 60 (speed limits here) then I get about 35, because most of my driving highway. If I drive 80 or so, it gets cut down alot.
Old Apr 19, 2004
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is overinflating tires really conserve more gas?

right now i got firestone affinity LH30 with 30PSI on it.....or 31...
Old Apr 19, 2004
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ive gotten 400+ mpg/tank. even that with turbo.
Old Apr 19, 2004
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Originally posted by dreamybabie
vtec kicks in @ 3200 rpm
How did you get this number? I have been dying to find this out, is this an accurate engagment point?
Old Apr 19, 2004
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it's based on those dudes who got VAFCII on their car...
Old Apr 19, 2004
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It turns on anywhere from 2800-3000 rpms. I don't know exactly. It's always different depending on how you drive. All I know is the last time I drove 65mph with 99% highway miles, I ended up getting only 30mpg. That's with cruise on the whole time and no A/C. My car is messed up.
Old Apr 19, 2004
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Originally posted by gearbox
It turns on anywhere from 2800-3000 rpms. I don't know exactly. It's always different depending on how you drive. All I know is the last time I drove 65mph with 99% highway miles, I ended up getting only 30mpg. That's with cruise on the whole time and no A/C. My car is messed up.
did you have your window open? cuz thats even worse than using the AC when youre on the freeway. also depends if theres alot of uphill and how high youre reving.
Old Apr 19, 2004
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Windows were closed. I can't imagine having them open at that speed. rpms were constant at around 2900rpm, with vtec off.



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