B16A Vtec not kicking in

[180sx]

hi guys, just get back my car today ;) ( a DA teg with EG B16A ) , feel great , i went for a test drive after , i rev up to 8.2k rpm but i feel no VTEC kick in , so i have another go , i rev slowly from idle all the way up to 8.2k , still feel no vtec ........ so i drove back to the work shop and the guy said may be u havn't start the engine for too long , drive it for few days and try the vtec again .. but i am still worry ... where should i check under my bonnet ? it's actually using a EG SiR B16A engine with EF SiR B16A ECU + distributor .... and the engine have some metal rattleing sound when i rev it as well , it's like driving up hill with 4th gear ... i am really worry about this guys ... because i blew a B16A already ....... so where should i check ? any help will be appreciated :thumbsup:

PS : Compression test is 180-190 on all 4

[fatboyz39]

did u let the car warm up?

[[ricer]]

and the engine have some metal rattleing sound as well , it's like driving up hill with 4th gear
man i get this too
but i think its just cause im not in a low enough gear...

[180sx]

did u let the car warm up?

hmm b4 i get back my car , the car is on for an hour already ( the workshop was testing it ) ... and about the metal rattleing sound , i can hear that even i was driving with my 1st gear ....

[90xsi]

car shouldnt rattle under full load, check timing/timing belt if it was done
correctly, as i had the same problem. Was 1 tooth out.

[Menthu Rae]

Might sound stupid, but have you checked your oil level? Also, VTEC won't engage unless there's like 70% throttle and oil at certain pressure/temp and all these other things... so yeah, check your oil - happened to me once, oil was low and VTEC wasn't engaging/was jerkily engaging :eek:

[180sx]

thx a lot fo helping guys ~~~~ thumb up !!!! , will check oil lvl when i wake up tomorrow :P too bloody cold outside now ..... any more ideas ??

[180sx]

P.S : Vtec not kicking in at all ..... ( since i get back my car today )

[EuroDude]

Maybe your vtec fell off :P

Check the vtec solenoid functionality - from what ive read, you can try a 12v light bulb between the wires, or use a multimeter.

[h22a accord]

that rattling sound you hear are the symptoms of detonation. U may have a ignition timing problem.

Also, do a check on the ecu to see if you have any fault codes for vtec.

Thats where i would start if it was mine.

[FR33K]

if your vtec wasnt kicking in you cant take it to 8200 anyway
so it is probably kicking in and u dont know it..

if it wasnt kicking in you could only take it to 7000rpm max

and that rattling sound... i dont know why thats happening.. you should have a knock sensor to prevent that ??

[kyle]

why only 7?

Ive taken my B16a to 8000 when vtec wasn't working.

[SKREMN]

i had low oil pressure and my vtec wasnt working bumped it up and works fine now

[dc2dc2dc2]

maybe ur car is non vtec y0 ?

[panda[cRx]]

is the rattling sound your tappets man?

when you say 'get your car back' did u only just get as b16a swap done?

[180sx]

thx a lot for help guys ...... i checked oil lvl today , it's all good , so i give it a go again , feel very very weak vtec kick in , may be the engine still need some time to run in .... thx again , appreciated ~~

[FR33K]

how can you feel a "weak" vtec kick in ??

either it does or it doesnt...theres no in between

[ECU-MAN]

the rattling sound is your distributor, bearing has probably crapped itself

you really should do some propper tests rather than going for a drive and thrashing your car


start by checking your ecu for codes. you said you used a EF9 ecu, look for any fault codes on the ecu's red flashing LED.

check your ECU is sending a signal to your VTEC solenoid, use a test lamp at the VTEC solenoid in parallel to see if it get 12v when VTEC is ment to engage.

check you oil pressure, roughly you should have 30ps at idle and at 3000rpm 50 psi 5000 rpm around 75 psi

above idle the oil pressure should not pulsate or fluctuate.

check your sump for dents


after these test there are some more advanced tests you can do, but you really need to know what your doing and need a special tool.

[h22a accord]

the rattling sound is your distributor, bearing has probably crapped itself

you really should do some propper tests rather than going for a drive and thrashing your car


start by checking your ecu for codes. you said you used a EF9 ecu, look for any fault codes on the ecu's red flashing LED.

check your ECU is sending a signal to your VTEC solenoid, use a test lamp at the VTEC solenoid in parallel to see if it get 12v when VTEC is ment to engage.

check you oil pressure, roughly you should have 30ps at idle and at 3000rpm 50 psi 5000 rpm around 75 psi

above idle the oil pressure should not pulsate or fluctuate.

check your sump for dents


after these test there are some more advanced tests you can do, but you really need to know what your doing and need a special tool.


Awesome post, we can all learn sooo much from ECU-MAN :thumbsup: :thumbsup: rep point:angel:

[180sx]

the rattling sound is your distributor, bearing has probably crapped itself

you really should do some propper tests rather than going for a drive and thrashing your car


start by checking your ecu for codes. you said you used a EF9 ecu, look for any fault codes on the ecu's red flashing LED.

check your ECU is sending a signal to your VTEC solenoid, use a test lamp at the VTEC solenoid in parallel to see if it get 12v when VTEC is ment to engage.

check you oil pressure, roughly you should have 30ps at idle and at 3000rpm 50 psi 5000 rpm around 75 psi

above idle the oil pressure should not pulsate or fluctuate.

check your sump for dents


after these test there are some more advanced tests you can do, but you really need to know what your doing and need a special tool.

man .... u are such a expert :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
thx a lot for help . appreciated ~~ will check it asap . thx again mate~

[locote]

weak vtec..... maybe ur expectation of a b16a is alot greater than what it realy is.

[180sx]

weak vtec..... maybe ur expectation of a b16a is alot greater than what it realy is.

hmmm may be .... my B16A is like a VTI civic now ...... the vtec doesn't sound loud at all ... and i can't really feel the vtec kick in if i don't pay attention to listen ...

[ulq-507]

yeah first thing should be check the oil ... second camshaft and pulley... third is FUEL !
u should find out one of those is a problem

[j3z3z]

VTEC obviously kicks in because without it you would only just make 7000rpm

[ECU-MAN]

not quite tru

if the ecu thinks Vtec is enabeld, but the the Vtec solenoid has not engaged, the low speed cam can rev to red line with no problems. because its not OBDII it will have an oil pressure switch for VTEC and the ecu should detect this logging a fault code


also he says his Vtec feals weak,

VTEC is not simply on or off. it is posible that 3 out of four cylinders are in VTEC and 1 cylinder is not. this will cause the engine not to roar like it normally would, the ECU cannot detect this so it cant log a fault.

the only way to test for that is to do a VTEC bleed test of each cylinder using a special tool.

[180sx]

thx again guys ~~ especially ECU-MAN , thumb up !!

[ErazeR]

first of all dont forget that honda has a very smooth vtech kick in technology unlike sportivo where u feel it close enough to a turbo.
to feel a big kick on a vtech you need to thrash the car to redline acouple of times then your vtech will scream totaly diffrent and at list you it works

[ECU-MAN]

dude its VTEC not VTECH

can you explain


to feel a big kick on a vtech you need to thrash the car to redline acouple of times then your vtech will scream totaly diffrent and at list you it works

not sure what you mean there

[AsH_]

Vtec Yo !~!

[i_own_you]

wtf???

[teaseR]

soo random.. outta no where
VTEC YO
=o)

[AsH_]

boredom...

[[HIREVZ]]

Pod Filter
Ftw!

[ECU-MAN]

spammers

shame on yal

[daniel b16a]

vtec kicked out

[Limbo]

Ok let me enlighten. I had the same problem.

Looks like your not getting enough oil flow. That's what happened with my b16 when they put a really small connector on the oil cooler. Vtec kicked in but not all the time and then it was 'soft'. That usually means the sonoid is not broken, as its only an on-off thing. You said pressure was fine??? so only other thing is lack of oil. Check the bodgy mechanics didn't somehow replace an oil line with a smaller one or a restriction like my bodgy mechanic did.

Took me ages to figure out what my problem was.

That was the only way i could describe it.

Now since it looks like you got an engine conversion to replace your previous b16, might be that there is a clog in you oil supply. This was the reason my car had 'soft' vtec engagement. As you said the car was sitting around for a while, i'd suggest a new oil change, maybe that will fix the clogg.

The noise tapping could be either exhaust tapping, or pinging it sounds like to me. Get the timing checked and put the car up on the hoist and see if you got something loose.

[Limbo]

if your vtec wasnt kicking in you cant take it to 8200 anyway
so it is probably kicking in and u dont know it..

if it wasnt kicking in you could only take it to 7000rpm max

and that rattling sound... i dont know why thats happening.. you should have a knock sensor to prevent that ??

Mine still worked without vtec, hard to get all the way up but still went to 8,200

[XB-16-AX]

if your vtec wasnt kicking in you cant take it to 8200 anyway
so it is probably kicking in and u dont know it..

if it wasnt kicking in you could only take it to 7000rpm max


I thought JDM OBD1 B16A EG SiR redline is only 7800rpm? ive got the same engine and im only taking it to 7800rpm coz thats what i thought the max safe rpm is.

can anyone confirm this? or is it OBD0 B16A that goes only up to 7600rpm?

ECU-MAN can you shed some light on this?

cheers!

[ProECU]

*bennjamin edit - drop it mate*

Stop ****ing with my posts dickhead.

Whatever happened to contacting the poster to sort it out? Hypocrite.
Someone please give Benjamin a ****ing clue.

Talk about that in your elitist(lol) secret geek forums....how about them apples!!

[XB-16-AX]

this is my offering...

The OBD1 ECU has 4 different rev limiters for redline.
They are as follows:

1. Vtec Inactive, ECT=Cold, RPM=6580rpm
2. Vtec Active, ECT=Cold, RPM=6580rpm

3. Vtec Inactive, ECT=Hot, RPM= 8115rpm
4. Vtec Active, ECT=Hot, RPM=8115rpm

those 4 points can be calibrated seperately in the OBD1 ECU... with the right software ofcourse.
thanks ...but im just using the stock P30 ecu ..so what is the max redline are we talking about?

coz i thought

8200rpm is for the JDM B16B - civic type R
8000rpm is for the JDM B18C - Type R
7800rpm is for the JDM B16A GEN2 - EG civic/crx
7600rpm is for the JDM B16A GEN1 - EF civic/crx

Full info:
http://asian_e.tripod.com/Honda_Engine_Specs.htm

anyone can confirm this?

[Limbo]

No the series 2 b16a is 8,200rpm, and mine does. Just rev it and it will cut out, then you will know where it is. I cut mine by accident when the car jumped up in the air whist i was accerating

The type R is much higher, don't own one but i know they can hit 9krpm

[ZeForce]

thanks ...but im just using the stock P30 ecu ..so what is the max redline are we talking about?

coz i thought

8200rpm is for the JDM B16B - civic type R
8000rpm is for the JDM B18C - Type R
7800rpm is for the JDM B16A GEN2 - EG civic/crx
7600rpm is for the JDM B16A GEN1 - EF civic/crx

Full info:
http://asian_e.tripod.com/Honda_Engine_Specs.htm

anyone can confirm this?

Those RPMs you just stated are where the engines make their peak power, the actual rev limit should be a few hundred RPM higher....

http://hybrid.honda-perf.org/tech/specs.htm

Check this link for all the engines approximate redlines

[XB-16-AX]

Those RPMs you just stated are where the engines make their peak power, the actual rev limit should be a few hundred RPM higher....

http://hybrid.honda-perf.org/tech/specs.htm

Check this link for all the engines approximate redlines

true..

u see im still using the stock RPM which is 8000rpm max ..so obviously when i rev for vtec the needle already hits 8000rpm .. but i could go more and see if it cuts out ..

funnie shieett..

[CRXer]

true..

u see im still using the stock RPM which is 8000rpm max ..so obviously when i rev for vtec the needle already hits 8000rpm .. but i could go more and see if it cuts out ..

funnie shieett..

Dude,your not tryin hard enough if u havent bounced the rev limit in 1st gear yet.

Stop nursing the concerto.My 18c stock limit was like 8100 if i remember so yours should be a little more.Give it a run to the top on the freeway in second & see where the fuel cuts out.

[XB-16-AX]

Dude,your not tryin hard enough if u havent bounced the rev limit in 1st gear yet.

Stop nursing the concerto.My 18c stock limit was like 8100 if i remember so yours should be a little more.Give it a run to the top on the freeway in second & see where the fuel cuts out.

ahhaha yeh i gotta give it abit more of a fun run!! its just that im a lil concern on the "safe levels"

will do the test one day - hehe

also is it easy to adjust the tappets?

sorry dude - ive hi-jacked ur thread =P

[AsH_]

i took my car 2 over 9k in 2nd gear... eg6

didnt sound too healthy... but i ripped a Ford LTD on da highway...


-------------------

my vtec isnt working... i pulled off da solenoid and the upper chamber didnt have oil in it... the valve was ok...
is this caused by oil pressure? im trying 2 figure it out...
the filter is clean...

[silver_screen]

my twin carbs goes to 8k... lol

[EKVTIR-T]

my twin carbs goes to 8k... lol
For how long?.......BANG!:p

[silver_screen]

shes been doin it for months now.. loves it :)

[XB-16-AX]

finally did a small test run ...took the puppy on 2nd gear and waited til it cuts out .. but unfortunately my rpm tacho only goes up to 8000rpm ..therefore i couldnt tell what rpm it cut out .. but when it did cut out i was on 120klm n vtec was screamin !!!

might get an external tacho or sumptin..!!

good shieee