Rep Power: 222

I have a VTEC light in my dash, works well. I finally got an OBD1 ecu to run my B16A in my EJ8. The problem now is though, the vtec comes on at 5500 rpm and turns off at 6. Sometimes I hit vtec and it carries to 9grand but then when i shift into second and try VTEC again nothing. If i shut the car off and try again it works fine but then shuts off again at 6. I cleaned the screen maybe four months ago so it can't be all that dirty. I am slightly overdue for an oil change but i haven't heard/read anything about old oil causing THIS sort of problem. I'm thinking it is oil related though, maybe the dirty oil is causing drop in pressure?! i'm running out of ideas and running out of patience. The cam seal is seeping oil a bit, and i have to replace a quart a month or so. It wasn't a problem before so i don't see it being a problem now. The oldest the oil can be in the block is 3 or 4 months (1 qt/month *4 months = 4 quarts self changing oil ) the filter is extended life for 7k mile intervals and i only got 5k on it.

The car ran PERFECT before my old ecu fried. I got a new one and finally got vtec working and now it's doing this. I can't scan it for codes because the ecu is obd1 and the car is obd2 and i don't have 120 dollars to have Honda scan my ecu. Does ANYONE have experience with issues like this? Or have an idea what the **** is going on with my ****?

 
Rep Power: 277

Sounds like you used too many oddly shaped pieces in your Lego brick house.
You're not going to have much luck without buying an OBD scanner for $100 (ELM327 scanner from www.obdpros.com) or putting the car together the way it's supposed to be.

 
Rep Power: 222

....explain to me EXACTLY what you mean by putting the car together the way its supposed to be?

 
Rep Power: 0

If you have a light that shows when the VTEC kicking in, then I would guess that for some reason the electrical signal that engages the VTEC is having a problem, unless you have the light running off an oil pressure switch. If you just have it tapped into the signal at the soleniod, look to your controller.


ROb

 
Rep Power: 245

i'm tired after a long day so please for give me for beeing so foward lol

first of all did u hook it up corectly? no one wire vtec thats the ghetto way. theres a oil presure switch thats just below the solonoid. it should be grounded and going to the ecu with the wire for the solonoid. did u get a conversion harness? if so then it should say what wire does what.

2nd. is it chiped? and does your check engine light work? if vtec has a problem it will set a code and turn on the light. if it's chiped it could be a shift light for all we know. AND YOU DONT NEED A SCANER ON OBD1. again if u wired it corectly there should be a wire off the harness or if it's a stock OBD1 car then a blue or grey plug on the passenger footwell right above the stock ecu location by the heater blower. short that or short to gnd and the check engine light if not chiped will flash OBD1 codes. long blink for 10 short for 1 and 21/22 are the VTEC solooid and oil switch respectfuly. so if up is on and it blinks -__------__-----__-__ thats 21 and 2 dashes at the end for 22. if u have anyother codes it will read them out too. form 1 up to 41.

 
Rep Power: 222

my light is spliced into the vtec signal wire coming from the ecu to the solenoid. I am using a PJDM conversion harness from obd2b to obd1. Ill try grounding out the wire and checking for flashes. It is chipped and the chip im using ran and engaged my engine and vtec perfectly before.

Has anyone heard/experienced vtec problem due to oil brand/weight/viscocity? Is it possible that being 100 miles overdue for an oil change will cause these sorts of problems? I mean vtec oil pressure bla bla bla i know all that **** but follow my logic:

I'm thinking the oil pressure is dropping at higher RPMs to the vtec solenoid in mid vtec. If the oil pressure was too low period, it wouldn't engage at all. Im not throwing any hard codes because the car drives and idles perfectly. I can rev all the way to redline. In first gear i can hit redline in vtec. In second (once i turn off and restart the car) i make it to 6. I'm thinking its easier to build pressure in 1st gear (engine spinning faster) than it is in 2nd (engine spinning slower). The screen is clean, checked it again last night. My oil looks groovy but im not sure about the filter. If my oil pressure is dropping halfway through vtec, you think maybe this is my problem?

If the solenoid was broken/malfunctioning, i wouldn't get any engagement at all correct?

 
Rep Power: 0

You aren't getting an electrical signal to the VTEC solenoid for some reason, thus your light going out. It isn't about oil getting to the solenoid, it sounds like it isn't getting electricity. So you have to figure out why the pcm is cutting the VTEC off.


ROb

 
Rep Power: 222

off hand do you know what would cause the PCM to cut out the power? I have a VSS signal wire, my dizzy is wired correctly i checked for codes and theres no issue with the solenoid. You think the PCM is bad?

 
Rep Power: 222

more details: changed my oil tonight. needed it bad. no metal shavings in the oil. took it out on a run once the oil circulated and warmed up and i went from 5500-8000 in vtec, once i hit 8100 vtec went out and didnt come back on at all. i turned the car off, turned it back on, and sped up to about 40mph. in neutral i can activate vtec all day long all the way to redline. once i hit vtec in gear it wont come on again. furthermore, i can go to vtec almost completely in 1st but the second i go to second nothing. Now if i dont hit vtec in first, after turning the car off and back on, and hit it in second, it cuts off at 6500 every time. I'm starting to think maybe rob is right that its a pcm problem.

 
Rep Power: 222

update:

Now throwing codes. I have a code 6 (ECT sensor unplugged or malfunction) and a code 21 for vtec solenoid spool malfunction.

Funny thing is when i plug my p2t into the car, it throws different codes. I do have a gates 160 thermostat in the car i dunno if that will have anything to do with it. I don't think i have the pressure and temp sensors switched since the car ran with vtec before like it is now.

Code 21: VTEC SPOOL I took the solenoid apart and cleaned the screen and cleaned the solenoid, it was clean no blockages or errors there. As far as wiring goes, NOTHING has been changed since the car ran vtec before. I am using at P06 converted for VTEC with a chip. You think maybe the guy who converted it didn't do a good job?

 
Rep Power: 222

right now i'm 80% positive that it is a faulty ECU. The solenoid works perfectly and is clean as can be. I ran a power wire from the battery to the solenoid and it clicks as it should. My oil pressure and vtec pressure plugs check out with a continuity tester, and are plugged in the correct locations. If i run power to the vtec signal wire on the harness I get a click from the solenoid as well. The wires haven't been touched since the car ran with vtec and the harness is from a 2000 EX so i doubt they are corroded. I cleaned the solenoid thuroughly so no issues there. I read in the service manual that CODE 6 can be faulty sensor, grounded sensor or faulty ECM. CODE 21 says faulty solenoid, wiring or faulty ECM. The chances that both those wires are FUBAR at the same time is pretty slim since they are on opposite circuits and opposite sides of the harness. What they both have in common tho is that they both will trip if the ECU is bad. I tried resetting the ECU and no dice, still trips those codes.

Unless someone has a better idea of whats going on, or has an idea/test that I haven't tried yet let me know. If not, i'm going to try my FOURTH computer....

 
Rep Power: 245

Are you taking any sharp corners when VTEC cuts out? We've had that happen in the GSR we were racing. It was caused by the oil in the pan sliding to one side to the pickup couldn't draw the oil up causing a loss of oil pressure. A baffled oil pan solved the problem.

How do you know that VTEC is dropping off? Can you feel it? Did you datalog the solenoid signal? All you know is your light goes out. Did you check the continuity of the wire going to the light?

Also check your grounds, especially the one at the thermostat housing. Make sure it's real clean and secure.

Good luck.

 
Rep Power: 222

nope. going in a straight line. I'm going to adjust my tps sensor just in case but i doubt that has anything to do with it. I mean vtec wouldnt engage AT ALL if it was a problem

 
Rep Power: 222

so what i did was checked my TPS sensor. It was reading 3.2 at WOT (hence the code) so i adjusted it and reset the ecu. Then i got a code 5. Reset it again after checking the map and no codes but the idle was ****ed up like woah. So i set the idle screw way down, which threw off the idle reading. Instead of beign .48-.49 it read .32-.35 so it idled weird but no codes. So i drove it and hit vtec, code 21. I got to thinking, well there was no code 21 on the P2t, only for Crank position and tps. So i plugged the P2t back in and no vtec, so i spliced the blue rpm signal wire from the b16a2 dizzy to the yellow/green ignitor signal wire of my ex harness and VOILA! VTEC! Now the only code i have on the p2t is code 65 (my catalytic converter is umm "missing") did some research and got with Katman of FF-squad and it turns out the P04 I was using was chipped wrong and coincidentally, the rev limit on the DX civic it came off of is where the vtec was turning off, so i guess the ecu thought it was still a dx civic and threw the code 21 because the ecu was telling it to cut off at 65-6700 rpm. I feel kinda stupid now for not doing this earlier but oh well now this post is out there for other people with the same problem/swap.