About 2 months ago my TL had a little hiccup when in WOT. In a hard first gear pull it began to hit what felt like the "rev limiter" right around 5200 rpm. It didn't do it every time, then. Now it's way more prevalent. At first I was thinking it was a tranny concern but now I'm pretty positive its a VTEC issue. The couple of times I've held the throttle as it bounced the limiter at 5200 rpms it bounces about 4 times then SLAMS into unholy VTEC hell (I mean it finds VTEC very well)

So, that being said... I do believe its the VTEC solenoid. Will a soft reset of the ECU help anything? Maybe an oil change with a good flush prior to draining (since VTEC is at its simplest an oil passage) or is a new solenoid the only option I have here?

 

Weird... If VTAK solenoid were going south it should throw a Code and the Check Engine would light up.. isn't any code at all?..


I believe even if the solenoid was bad there should be no REV-Limiter just the lack of VTEC kicking in, But I could be wrong..

 

if oil level is low, you will never activate vtec.

check simple things first, like oil level.
Flushing the oil doesnt sound like a very good thing to do.

if oil level is low, add oil.

if it's time to change oil, drain oil and fill oil to appropriate levels

 

Try removing the complete oil filter assembly with the VTEC solenoid valve.
There's a filter within the VTEC that may be clogged. The valve should work freely.

 

When it hits the limiter where the RPMs bounce, do you have a check engine light come on?

 

No CEL at all at anytime. Oil level looks good. Is due for a change. I run RP 10w30. I've found the spool valve assembly(solenoid sensor and spool) online decently cheap may change it if cleaning the solenoid doesn't work. I forsee wasting 6 quarts of oil coming :/

 

stop using royal purple.

their marketing is superb which is why you pay $$ for it.

 

I work for a place that retails it so I don't pay $$ for it. You have any other basis as to why I shouldn't use it??

 

oops, sorry to assume!

it's just too expensive for what it claims to do, when there are better oils out there.
i run redline 5w-30.

 

How much do you pay for redline?

 

Why are you using 10W is the real question in comparison to 5W, 10W feels like mud to our engines.

 

Besides (normal person price) Its not as good as its marketing (kinda like Apple). I had much better test results with Penzoil Ultra over RP when i had the oils tested after 12-15k use.

 

Before replacing sensors, test them. The DL for the factory service manual is floating around here. The test procedures are in that.

 

Today making a pull in 1st gear just before vtec, my oil lamp began blinking. Car hit vtec fine. Happened to be at my destination so I cut the car off with light blinking. Total time light blinked was less than a minute. Started the car 5 mins later, no light. Been driving it making it hit vtec, still hiccups going in.... any new thoughts?

 

did you replace anything?

 

You should consider stopping the WOT and check why the oil light is going on, you may have low oil pressure which may lead to engine failure.
Theres ways to test the vtec solenoid as stated above.
Is the engine emitting tapping or knocking noises ?

 

Id stop driving the car until it was figured out personally. You dont want to drive a car with bad oil pressure unless you want to buy a new motor.

Test the vtec solenoid and the oil pressure sending unit. Make sure they are working properly.

 

Well its times like this I'm glad I drive a Honda.... made rookie mistake number 1 and let the old girl run low on oil. Checked it a few weeks back... maybe a month and was fine. But last night checked the stick and it came out dry after first wipe. I'm a BMW tech and I allowed this to happen
Thanks for all the input guys and sorry for wasting time and resources!!

 

We won't tell anybody !!!

But, ya gotta find out where all that oil is going. When ya find out, let us know what ya find.

 

Will do for sure, don't beat me up too bad guys