Rep Power: 0

This is kind of a sticky situation but, Ive noticed a loss of power that I just cant ignore. I have quite abit of money into my engine even though it is just a D16Y8 in 96 Civic but still at that this is whats bothering me: i hear rumor that if my check engine light is on then VTEC is not engaging. My question is, I know theres oil in it so trying to figure out that if I reset the check engine light if my VTEC would start working again all of a sudden if I CAN get the light to go off. But doesnt the ECU still know there is something wrong where it wont let VTEC engage or will my reseting, forcefully fix it??? Ive just never delt with anything like this??? My oil pressure should be fine so there no reason for that but anyhow any comments will give me ideas.

Thanks in advance.......

UPDATED: Maybe my light isnt even on because you can only see it at night when the gauge lights are on and you cant see it during the day at all. I wonder if its possible that other lights are just shining through making it appear this way. This is on a 96 with the mantainence light with the little sqaure indicator. On my 5th gen, day or night a big bright yellow check engine was on day or night.....Please help.

Also, I got oil in car and its not black so is that still possible to have bad oil which is making VTEC not engage...I have no idea, so many possibilities...Heck maybe VTEC is working and I cant tell, but a week ago my car ran 15.6 in 1/4 and yesterday a 16.8 Something is up and it wasnt my driving where i screwed myself a half a second in the 1/4 mile. something majors going on please help

 
Rep Power: 812

well its a safety issue, alot of time the engine light will limit rpms and even vtec. gotta get the light back off by fixing the problem. what is the light on for?

 
Rep Power: 0

I havent checked the code yet, getting ready to go to autozone and see what the reader say. Like I said though I wonder if its really even on because you cant see it during the day, just at night when the cluster lights are on. Im just aggravated because Ive lost all this acceleration with 1000 miles of driving. it just got worse and worse. I did reset it by pulling the back up fuse out for awhile but the light still appears to be on(at night). I just wanna make sure my engine is at its full potential for the upgrades it does have.

any more info is much helpful. Thanx

 
Rep Power: 812

well the engine light should be on all the time even during the day if the car is turned on, not just at night. but whatever the problem, you need to fix it otherwise doing the reset will not help, the light will just come back on.

 
Rep Power: 0

OK heres the thing. I just got back from AutoZone, they said my mantainence light is a totally seperate light from my check engine light. But he ran it anyways and is coming back that I need to replace o2 sensor before and after CAT. So whether its true or not about having a check engine light besides the matainence light I wonder if The O2 sensors can make the VTEC not engage since the Check engine light is not on(according to autozone associate)?????

 
Rep Power: 812

the maint.reqd. light is meaningless. it just comes on at set mileage intervals even if nothing is wrong. just reset it by holding down the trip meter button, put the key to ON position without starting engine, and keep holding the trip meter for 20 seconds. the light will be reset and turn off for another 10k miles i believe. the check engine light is the icon of an engine, and that means theres a problem with the car. if the light is not on, i doubt they were able to read any codes. and your car is fine. but if the o2 sensors are starting to go bad, the engine light may come and go, due to the sensor slow response time. in which case, codes would be stored even when the light is off.

 
Rep Power: 253

Take a picture of the check engine light during the day and at night. Sounds like there is nothing really wrong with your car. Kinda hard to explain your random power loss.

 
Rep Power: 246

You need to know what the codes are. You can check it yourself by jumping the service connector located under the dash near the passenger kick panel. Then when you turn the ignition switch without starting the motor, your CEL will flash a 2 digit diagnostic trouble code. Count the long flashes with long pauses and that's the first digit then the short flashes with short pauses will be the second digit. Then there might be a really long pause and another DTC might come up.

If you primary O2 sensor is not functioning at all then your ECU will go into limp mode and only operate below 3000 rpm.

 
Rep Power: 0

hmmm....
maintenance light on a 96 civic? i also have a same model here, but there is no maintenance light in the dashboard.

maybe the specification is different. i live in jakarta.
the maintenance lamp i ever see here is on BMWs, or other European car.

 
Rep Power: 812

they started this on the newer 01+ civics, as a way to make dealers more money. people that dont know better get concerned, bring the car in, and find out they are due for the 10k mile "service interval" which involves inspecting a few parts, oil change, and tire rotation for $300.