4000 RPM issues

hey Guys...

hopefully one of you genius's can help...

Basically just got my Honda Accord 2.0i Vtec SE Exec (auto) less than a week ago... did some work on it and got it through its M.O.T... ££££'s later... thought i would treat the car and got a full Valet... asked them not to touch the engine... (they mustn't of heard me... maybe a language barrier)... any how i drive the car away and the engine light comes on... checked over the engine to see it was cleaner and there was water on the battery... so they must of cleaned the engine either by steam or pressure washer?...

its an intermittent fault, most of the time the car wont let me go over 4000RPM its like there is a rev limiter... sometimes it lets me rev happily all the way... its like the Vtec is kicking in, which i ***ume is electronic?... has anyone had this?... or know how to fix it?...

would drying out all the plugs and connectors help?...

any help would be magico fantastico... i've already found advice on other problems with my car just by skimming this forum...

Thanks in advance!...

Is it a 6th gen?

Try to remove the distributor cap and rotor and see if its wet or damped and give a clean. Also, remove the battery for a night or the backup clock fuse in the passenger under tray to reset the ECU.

your car is going in to limp mode. it won't rev past 4k to protect the engine. your car has stored a fault code and you need to get that read. otherwise you could start playing an expensive guessing game.

its probably emissions related and is probably just a faulty lambda sensor. but get the code read to be sure. any good mechanic will be able to read the code for you. don't go paying Honda 90 quid for something your local friendly mechanic will probably do for free.

well my local mechanic checked it for free... but his diagnostic came back as 'honda specific'... he reset it and it came back on after a few seconds driving... i will try the battery removal and get the code reset... but other garages are gonna charge £30-40 just to diagnose the fault... ive checked alot of the connections and they all seem good... maybe an issue with the MAS sensor?... i dunno...

thanks for the replies so far...


EDIT - i believe its a 6th gen as its an x reg (2000)... or am i wrong?

Mikkeyb said:

well my local mechanic checked it for free... but his diagnostic came back as 'honda specific'... he reset it and it came back on after a few seconds driving... i will try the battery removal and get the code reset... but other garages are gonna charge £30-40 just to diagnose the fault... ive checked alot of the connections and they all seem good... maybe an issue with the MAS sensor?... i dunno...

thanks for the replies so far...


EDIT - i believe its a 6th gen as its an x reg (2000)... or am i wrong?

Click to expand...

sorry to jump in here but its not going to be a map sensor this would cos bad idle or high revs, its not a lamda sensor coz its only to do with fuel econ. if there was water in the dizzy then it would have trouble starting and would be mis-firing till the engine got warm. same with plugs and HT leads.

my geuss would a cam sensor or Vtec sensor is wet or faulty as this will coz your car to enter limp mode to protect your engine. as Crespo said.

pay the £30-£40 get the "P" code read, and there is a list at the top of this form with the means
this will indact what is cousing your porblem. there mite be a way of having the engine light display it as flash codes :S not sure tho


plz post back the code you get.

On the model with the F18B2 engine, it is possible to see the error without a scanner, although I have never tried it. Maybe its worth to try it your self and see if it does anything.

To do so you have to "short" with some wire the "service check connector" (a 2 pin connector in the passenger under tray) and then turn the ignition switch on.

Then the MIL indicates indicates a code by the length and number of blinks. Check your PM for more details

Did the mechanic say what the code actually was? P1399 or something like it.

If the code came back as Honda specific then you need a Honda reader to find out.

Pedro is talking about the paperclip test. There's a how to somewhere on here. Not too sure where though.

Firstly though, did you check that there was enough oil in the car? The Vtec works on Oil pressure, and if there is not enough oil then the car won't Vtec to protect itself.

As Gordon has said, i'd just pay the £30 to find out the code, and then sort it. Shouldn't imagine it'd be anything serious though as it came on after the engine was cleaned.

Actually, check that the Vtec solenoid is plugged in properly. Mine came loose after i'd cleaned the engine bay and the car wouldn't Vtec and the MIL light came on. It is located under/near/below the dizzy cap mate.

yeah 4250rpm? Thats the max revs before vtec on that engine, it happens when the engine is very low on oil, and as Simon says, it wont allow vtec to engage its a fail safe.

Vtec engines use oil in the combustion, during high rpm overun, so it doesnt have to be a leak to loose oil.

Might as well check the oil, no lost if its not that.

93 accord said:

yeah 4250rpm? Thats the max revs before vtec on that engine, it happens when the engine is very low on oil, and as Simon says, it wont allow vtec to engage its a fail safe.

Vtec engines use oil in the combustion, during high rpm overun, so it doesnt have to be a leak to loose oil.

Might as well check the oil, no lost if its not that.

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its worth checking but if oil was low then the vtec doesnt kick in lol and if it gets really low the oil light comes on.

check the oil cap is tight first coz the vtec needs oil pressure to work so loes oil cap means no pressure, i have seen that b4.
these are easy checks to make.

There would still be a code number. I chose P1399 because even Honda did not list it on their computer but that was the code my engine threw at me.

Get a cheap reader <£20 and diy.

Tony

Well thanks for all the info so far...

Good News/Bad News... i air cleaned most of the connectors... took the car out for a spin and all was good... took it to my garage reset the light and all good... then driving on the motorway the light came back on... and BOOM back into 'LIMP' Mode... parked the car up... had a cuppa... took it for another spin and rev'd above 4000 RPM...

SO i have no idea whats up with it...

the fault code my garage got was 'P1259'... any help is very appreciated...

cheers... ...

Mikkeyb said:

Well thanks for all the info so far...

Good News/Bad News... i air cleaned most of the connectors... took the car out for a spin and all was good... took it to my garage reset the light and all good... then driving on the motorway the light came back on... and BOOM back into 'LIMP' Mode... parked the car up... had a cuppa... took it for another spin and rev'd above 4000 RPM...

SO i have no idea whats up with it...

the fault code my garage got was 'P1259'... any help is very appreciated...

cheers... ...

Click to expand...

your code means theres a fault with the Vtec. there is a sensor for the Vtec on the engine this is normally a angle sensor that can detect the change in angle for the ECU to adjust accordingly.

your fault is happing when the engine is warm so am guess but the connection to the vtec signal is bad a the connector on the engine.
when it cools down the metal contracts and the a connection is made again.

hopefully not to sound dumb here, but how do i locate and fix?...

Mikkeyb said:

hopefully not to sound dumb here, but how do i locate and fix?...

Click to expand...

not sounding dum at all the sensor will be on the side of the engine near the top of the block,

i havent found it on my accord yet but its on the right hand side in the civics and is held in by a single 10mm bolt. there is normaly 3 or 2 wires on them.

check the plug for water and make sure the pins are clean and making good contact.

TIN-MAN said:

not sounding dum at all the sensor will be on the side of the engine near the top of the block,

i havent found it on my accord yet but its on the right hand side in the civics and is held in by a single 10mm bolt. there is normaly 3 or 2 wires on them.

check the plug for water and make sure the pins are clean and making good contact.

Click to expand...

well i know what my Sunday this week will be all about... 'operation fix my car or possibly chill all day with a super awesome Sunday dinner'... ...

Look in-front of the dizzy cap. It's the little clip that's popped it's head up.

Actually, come to think of it, on the ATR there's another 2 clips behind the dizzy cap. I can't remember which one the Vtec solenoid is off the top of my head, but's it's one of them. I think it's the green one. But not too sure if yours will be the same colour.

well i found a green one which looked like it was connected to a sensor (the sensor was screwed in with a circlip...)... ive cleaned and WD-40'd it... it it doesnt work i think i may remove the sensor... or should i replace it?...

it appears to only have an issue when it gets warm?... as works fine until ive drove it for a bit...?

Might need replacing. It might be worth a trip to a garage that can read the code properly for you. If they can't read the fault then they shouldn't charge you for the 10 mins it's going to take them to read it.

luvmyaccord said:

Might need replacing. It might be worth a trip to a garage that can read the code properly for you. If they can't read the fault then they shouldn't charge you for the 10 mins it's going to take them to read it.

Click to expand...

i know the fault code... i just dont get why it ok when cold and short drives but when it gets warm it kicks in... fault code is P1259...

A quick Google on P1259 shows that you are not alone. Here is a bit of info that may be of use to you.


there is actually an old service news about this very code. there are two things that could be at fault but you will have to check a few things that are outlined in the article before knowing which parts need replacing... please read carefully below



MIL with DTC P1259:

'98 Accord L4 VTEC

On '98 Accord L4s with VTEC, DTC P1259 (VTEC

system malfunction) can set at idle or above 4,000 rpm:

If it sets at idle, the problem is with the VTEC pressure

switch circuit (switch, connectors, or wiring).

If it sets above 4,000 rpm, the cause is low oil pressure in

the VTEC system.

To find and correct the cause of the DTC, do this:

1. Use the PGM Tester to check the vehicle's freeze data

or snapshot data to see when the DTC was set.

If it set at idle, go to step 2.
If it set above 4,000 rpm, go to step 4.

2. Disconnect the 2P VTEC pressure switch connector,

and jump its two wires.

3. With the ignition switch ON (II), the PGM Tester

should show that the VTEC pressure switch is ON.

If the Tester says the switch is ON, the wiring and

connectors are OK, so the switch must be bad.

Replace the switch, clear the DTC, and return the

vehicle to the customer.

If the switch is OFF, check for an open circuit

between the switch and the ECM/PCM or between

the switch and ground. After you repair the open

circuit, recheck the switch, then clear the DTC, and

return the vehicle to the customer.

4. Remove the valve cover, and check for a loose center

head bolt on the intake manifold side. A loose bolt can

cause a drop in pressure in the VTEC system.

If the bolt isn't loose, go to step 5.
If the bolt is loose, torque it to 22 lb-ft (29 N⋅m),

turn it another 1/4 turn, and then turn it another 1/4

turn. If the bolt won't tighten, its threads are

probably stripped.

5. Remove the VTEC rocker arms, and inspect them for

sticking or missing synchronizer pistons or other valve

train problems that could cause an oil leak.

If you find any piston or valve train problems,

replace the faulty parts. Then clear the DTC, and

return the vehicle to the customer.

If the pistons and the valve train are OK, do the DTC

P1259 troubleshooting procedure on pages 6-7 thru

6-9 of the '98-99 Accord S/M.

99% of the time the vtec solenoid is fine and that it is the oil pressure sensor that goes bad with the solenoid.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm... well mine has only kicked in at over 4000RPM... me and my step dad took it for a good 20-30 minute blast and it was cool... problem only seems to of been there after i got it valeted... and on a 4 mile (70MPH) round trip it kicks in... so i have a feeling it could be due to an iffy sensor?...


to be on the safe side i will change the oil and do what the step by step says... i know how to clear the code myself now so that's good... ive WD-40'd the connector and what not... next step is to check the sensor and go from there...

thank you for all the info so far... very appreciated... ... and its been a nice welcome to the forum...

Here you go, hope it helps:

just to let you all know spraying with WD-40 and pulling the fuse to reset the light seems to of worked...

thanks for all your help... ...

Simple fix for you then dude!!! Yay. Glad it's all done fella.