Well first off i have a 97 2.2 manual. but check engine light is on an reading my engine coolant temp. sens. is bad butttt i bought a chilton repair manual an its pointing to the one at the goose neck as tht but i have found two for sure maybe a third but i dnt know which one to replace, an at 40 bucks a pop not tryin to do all three or two w.e. so any suggestions? secondly my vtec has not worked in a month or so. since then car has no power an gas mileage has went to u kno wht. an i heard of cleanin the screen in it but i cant find any diagrams to help me find, remove or anything to do it .... i think its on the left back side of the motor (the vtec solenoid tht is) so any help would be a blessing hope to hear sumthing soon .... Thx

 

chiltons manual is crap for our cars...i have one and its pretty much totally worthless. im not sure what to say ab your coolant temp sensor but you should start with checking your oil level for the vtec problem..it has to be full for the vtec to operate...good luck

 

yea so far your right bout the manual. but thx for the intel an ill do tht but you have any sites manuals or etc. tht you would advise?

 

i think there is a downloadable PDF of the shop manual floating around this site somwhere...do a search and see if that helps u

 

Yea you can actually test the sensor too to make sure it is actually bad if you have an Ohm meter. Honda is saying the resistance level should be 4500-7500 Ohms at 32 degrees farenheit, at 68 degrees it should have a resistance of 2500-3500 - Measure resistance across sensor terminals. Get it fixed quick because the PCM uses that sensor to control air/fuel mixture, timing, and idle speed.

I haven't worked on that specific car but I looked up the engine compartment location map and by the looks of it..your ECT sensor should be located underneath the Distributor Assembly to the right of the Vehicle Speed Sensor, directly below, or in front of the EGR valve (can't tell by the crappy picture)
I'm not exactly sure how to troubleshoot VTEC other than what was already said about oil level/pressure. Sorry.

 

sounds like she is in limp mode its when v tec wont kick in might be the sillanode for the vtec when you hit 2800 rpms it opens up but it wont if she is limp but i am no engine tuner that suck but see if some one can look at that got to have that v tec

 

I have a 3.0 and my VTECH wasn't kicking in and throwing a code when I got it and I got under there and the wire that goes to the solenoid was lose and had came part of the way out of the plug. I took it apart and bent the tab back out so it would lock into place in the plug and put it back in and it has worked since

 

when check engine light is on the car will go into limp mode(no vtec until problem is addressed). as for coolant temp sensor, there should only one on the head as ^james said. definitely check oil press.

 

Would this cause a '98 3.0 to sputter at about 2k after engine at temp?

 

if you are refering to the car being in limp mode, ...yes, but limp mode is caused by a sensor or part having a malfunction so you would most definately have a C.E.L. (check engine light) on and would notice something wrong.

as for the no v-tech, no, probably not, your car just wouldnt engage the awesomeness that is v-tech.

try a tune up first, these engines carbon up bad too, might just be tired.

 

No . . . I meant the ECT, would it cause "limping" ??

 

could yes. if it is reading wrong intermitantly than it could be giveing the computer all kinds of fucked up info and a possible side affect could be car going into limp.
a temp sensor sends ohms resistance readings to the computer so it knows the water temp. if its sending too high a reaging it will think the sensor is reading a cool temp. if to low a reading the sensor is saying the water is too hot. (maby vise vers on the high/low, its been a while scince ive tested temp. sensors.