Vtec-e just killed my car

[Matt Timion]

I was cruising today and decided I wanted to see how vtec felt, even though it's only "vtec-e," I'm sure the power difference was noticable.

So i revved to 3000rpm while driving and I noticed a sudden boost in power. Very cool.

Then as I came to a stop at the stoplight my engine died. Tried restarting it, nada.

I pushed myself to the side of the road and it appeared that my oil light was on. I checked my oil level and the oil was below the lowest mark on the dipstick.

I walked to the closest gas station, got a few quarts of gas an then walked back.

When I got back I checked the oil level again and it was back to normal. The car also started right up at this point.

Can anyone tell me what might cause this to happen? Hopefully it's an easy fix. I'm beginning to get discouraged with constantly needing to fix something on this car.

[diamondlarry]

This is pure speculation on my part, not being a Honda person, but, could Honda have a low oil sensor That may have shut it down? The drain holes in the head might be gunked up enough and isn't allowing the oil to return to the pan fast enough? This would make sense since it happened after a slight romp& stomp. We'll have to have a talk about that later, "Mr Webmaster of a fueleconomy website."

[thisisntjared]

i bet vtec hasnt been used on that motor in a long time. as far as why it wouldnt start... very odd. vtec works off of an oil pressure switch. where exactly is the oil level? and when was the last time the motor was run before you bought it?

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by thisisntjared

i bet vtec hasnt been used on that motor in a long time. as far as why it wouldnt start... very odd. vtec works off of an oil pressure switch. where exactly is the oil level? and when was the last time the motor was run before you bought it?

The engine was a crate engine from japan, meaning it could have very well been sitting for years in a warehouse. I'm also willing to speculate that the vtec hasn't been used in a VERY long time.

[MetroMPG]

So what are you going to do? I'd try it again

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

So what are you going to do? I'd try it again

I might try again tomorrow.

I'm getting a bit bummed about my car. Preliminary fillups indicate that the gas mileage isn't what I expected it to be, which could be due to a number of problems. I really don't want to give up, but life situations may require me to have a functioning car really soon that can seat three people. As it is now I have three cars that can seat three people, but I wouldn't drive them farther than 20 miles from my house.

[rh77]

Matt-

I had a similar problem with a b16A2 in my '99 Si. The oil level dropped below VTEC operating range in a hard corner (neglect on my part) and it went into "safe mode". I freaked-out because it just limped along, so I went straight to the dealer to get the diagnosis Since VTEC is operated by oil pressure, my guess is that yours used additional oil and fell victim to a similar problem. Is your oil pan the same size and is the oil filter relatively new? Second guess would be that the oil is staying up in the heads too long and not draining properly (clogged?) Just brainstorming here...

RH77

[krousdb]

Just add more oil and try it again!

What is your FE like so far? I wouldn't get too disappointed until you get a SuperMID. It makes all the difference.

[DaX]

Don't get bummed Matt, but I recommend having a car that doesn't get tinkered with beyond tuneups and maintenace if you're expecting a 3rd family member (is a preemptive congratulations due? ).

As for the problem, it sounds like the VTEC just sucked up more of the oil. Have you checked the oil screen behind the VTEC solenoid? Check that and top off the oil and you should be fine. It won't hurt to have A LITTLE more oil than called for in the engine.

[MakDiesel]

everyone seems to know what they are talking about. Now, about keeping the oil level low...one thing that kills Honda heads as fast as a snapped timing belts is low oil. If the cam isn't being lubed enough, the friction in the bearings increase to the point the cam ends will seize in the caps and shear the sprocket key off as it locks up, ruining a few important parts. Just keep an eye on the oil level, I imagine it's the leading cause of death to most Hondas, because it sure isn't design failure. Mak

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by krousdb

Just add more oil and try it again!

What is your FE like so far? I wouldn't get too disappointed until you get a SuperMID. It makes all the difference.

GOnna try again.

I drove 130 miles before the gauge cluster fried. When I went to fill up it took 3.9 gallons. DO the math... it's nothing to be too happy about.

It's making me wonder what could be wrong. It's also very possible that there was a pump error and I have nothing ot freak out about.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by DaX

Don't get bummed Matt, but I recommend having a car that doesn't get tinkered with beyond tuneups and maintenace if you're expecting a 3rd family member (is a preemptive congratulations due? ).

As for the problem, it sounds like the VTEC just sucked up more of the oil. Have you checked the oil screen behind the VTEC solenoid? Check that and top off the oil and you should be fine. It won't hurt to have A LITTLE more oil than called for in the engine.

I'll check the oil screen this afternoon before I attempt to drive it again. I'm still trying to track down the wiring gremlin, which is turning out to be very difficult.

As for the 3rd family member, I'd love to tell you about it in private

[Jack]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

As for the 3rd family member, I'd love to tell you about it in private

Well one way or another it sounds like congratulations are in order. (except if you are getting your mother in law to move it **kidding**)

As for Vtec crap out I had the same thing happen to my CRV back when I had it. My oil level was at the add oil dot. When it stalled it wouldnt restart for like 30 seconds. I limped it home and changed the oil and it took a few "rev the crap out of it's" to get it working fine again.

So dont give up yet. You are down to the home stretch, just a bit to go and you will be running fine.

[Ryland]

what did you do to the engine befor installing it, as far as flushing gunk out of the engine? it might be a good idea to change the oil on it, treat it like a car that has been sitting for a while, figur that your rings are a little sticky, and that the rest of your engien is full of gunk, get some crank case gunk remover stuff that you add to your oil, install a new filter, and some of that gunk remover stuff, run your engine for however long they recomend, then drain your oil, and put yet another new filter in (the idea being that as it losten gunk up it might open the bypass valve in a used oil filter), I then like to take a hack saw and cut open my old oil filter to find out how much gunk I really did catch, giving me an idea on engine health.

[Gary Palmer]

Matt: I don't have vtec, so my perspective is largely speculative. From what I understand, vtec uses the oil pressure to drive the lifter/cam switch when it's engaged. It correspondingly allows oil presssure and volume to go where it's not at when it's normally being driven. Presuming you have reasonable oil pressure, I would pull the valve cover and check the oil passages which allow the oil to drain back into the pan. I would speculate that perhaps those passages are clogged to some degree from a lack of use or dirty oil or some combination. I believe if you have the valve cover off, you should be able to use a large wire, like a coat hanger or something, to check the drain holes from the head, back into the pan.

My expectation is the ecu probably has a "safety" built into it which shut's down the engine or something, when it detects a low oil circumstance. If you get the return passages cleared out, I would expect your oil to return more quickly, hopefully eliminating the engine cut out issue or whatever it is.

[Matt Timion]

I've been reading about the oil problem, and I think it's entirely possible that the oil level was never a problem. I think that my car turned off and I quickly tried to restart it, causing the oil and battery light to come on (like they always do when starting the car). I can't remember the exact proceedure I went through, so for now Im going to assume that the oil light and battery light were not related to the car dying.

It's much more likely that I have a bad ground somewhere, which seems to be also causing my gauge cluster to freak out lately. I need to troubleshoot the electronics first as it might also solve my other problems.

The only thing that I changed recently in regard to my wiring was when I relocated the ECU to behind the ECU cover. The ECU cover was made for obd0 ECUs and not OBD1 ecus. It's possible that I have a pinched wire. I will relocate the ECU back to the floor of the car for now and see if it solves the problem. I'm guessing it very well may be the problem.