DIY: OMG my vtec isnt working, signal check light

**bungsai** · 17-10-2006 12:05 PM

So one day i wanted to check if my vtac was working, i was really bored. So i pulled apart my vtac solenoid...seemed to be ok. Then someone told me the signal from the ecu is 12volts when vtac is on....so here is a light to check that the signal is being sent to the vtac solenoid.......yo.

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

This was a pretty ghetto 10 minute version. This is what i did and it worked, i am sure that you can it in a better way if you have more time.

If you are not sure about cutting wires and stripping wires, i can write a DIY for that too.

Aim: Check if signal is being sent to vtac solenoid
Required: 5w, 12v globe. Speaker wire. Zip tie. Electrical tape. Wire cutters.
Steps:

1 - Find the vtac solenoid.

2 - Disconnect the signal wire that leads into the vtac solenoid. I accidentally pulled the entire wire out of the connector. This is ok, as it slides back in easily. This gave me a very easy connector to play with.

3 - Attach one end of the speaker wire to this connector. I happened to already have a metal connector on one end of the speaker wire, so i ziptied this to wire on the car. If you dont have the metal connector, just strip some wire and zip tie it on.

4 - Now that that is secure, run the length of speaker wire out of the engine bay and into the drivers cockpit and attach the 5w 12v bulb to one end. Attach another length of speaker wire about 2 metres long to be safe to the other end as done.

5 - run the other end out of the passanger side door, and tie it around the negative terminal on the battery.

6 - Now go warm up the car, and take it for a spin. When vtac is supposed to come on, the light will come on instead. At least you know that the solenoid is recieving ecu signal.

If you wish, this can easily be turned into a VTEC light, but just pulling a signal from the wire into the vtec solenoid, rather than disconnecting it all together. Of course you should then run both the +ve and -ve wire through the firewall and not around the car, that would be too ghetto. ALso, mount the globe properly.

Note - i think that the 5w, 12 volt globes have +'ve and -'ve terminals, so if the light is not coming on, check this. Also check all of your connections, and make sure the bulb is not blown.

references:also for future references, you can refer to these documents.

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16083
installing a vtec light

http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthr...highlight=vtec
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthr...=vtec+solenoid
http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=164863
vtac trouble shooting.

**aaronng** · 17-10-2006 12:10 PM

If it is an incandescent bulb like in your pic, there is no positive or negative.

**bungsai** · 17-10-2006 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by aaronng

If it is an incandescent bulb like in your pic, there is no positive or negative.

ah yes, thats right, i used an LED last time and it crapped me up the wall.

Thanks.

**CRXer** · 17-10-2006 01:08 PM

Should pull the pin out of the top grey plug as well,then push the 2 pins back together & wrap your wire around that exposed connection.

At least the vtec will still engage as well while your driving(if its workin) & please insulate all the exposed connections as well with a bit of tape.

Could use these pics as well for a "why wont my car start/battery wont charge" thread........ffs man,clean those battery terminals one day!

**Lukezen27** · 26-01-2008 03:51 PM

Thanks for the info man

Just did to test and see if my VTec was working and yup she's working...

Though It was much simpler to run one speak wire through the firewall and avoid the whole wire running round the outside of the car thing lol