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VTEC Question

andy.lane1

andy.lane1

Members
Messages
107
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3
Location
Dublin,Ireland
Car
2001 1.8 SE Facelift
Hi Guys,

I have been all over the forum and I cannot find the answer I am looking for. Not a specific one anyway and oddly there is not a VTEC section that I am aware of. Maybe an idea for the future. I have a 2001 1.8 and ever since I bought the car I am not aware of the VTEC kicking in. Should I be. The car can be sluggish, I am not expecting much from a 10 year old 1.8 and it is the smallest engine I have ever had in a car so I have nothing to base it on but at what point should the VTEC kick in on that engine, should it be noticeable and if for some reason it is not working should there be any signs that it is not. The car is thirsty. Brim Filled the tank last week did 370 miles and the light came on. about 290 of those miles were motorway miles generally doing between 65-75 MPH.

Hope you can help me. As you can see from my previous posts the car is well kept had a full Honda service history before I got it and I just serviced it last week, oil, plugs, fuel cabin and oil filter. I adjusted the valves and also flushed and refilled cooling system. While I am on the cooling system I have noticed a smell of burning coolant both before and after doing it. I have noticed I am loosing a bit of coolant but there are no noticeable leaks I have checked all the pipes at the front of the engine and all seems fine. Is there something on the back of the engine I should be looking for?

Again as per usual gents all your help is appreciated

Andy
 
these things are really hard to gauge since there is no data to visualise, a diagnostic on a rolling road would tell you if the car was pulling ok and without that sort of data at least it's hard to say...but let's try to help anyway.

1) you don't say how many miles the car has but judging my the age it must be a fair bit...have you tried a injection cleaner like BG 44k or Forte treatment? The stuff off the shelve doesn't seem to work well at all.

2) The Vtec on the 1.8 won't be anything like the Vtec on the Type-R's that you read about so don't gauge on that.

3) the mileage per tank don't seem too bad, what tyres are you using? what inflation pressure? Carring anything heavy in the car? Are brakes binding? Air filter changed?

4) leaking coolant - get a small mirror and look for traces of white residue..if it's burning most likely if it is leaking is being burned at the manifold or somewhere hot so concentrate on those areas...you also don;t say what rate of loss you are experiencing.

Those are just brief things but without more to go on it's very hard...
 
In the 1.8 CG8 there is no a big vtev kick in, actually, only in 1st gear, when pulling quite hard, you can feel a bit of kick in.
It's more noticeable on the sound. When the vtec kicks in, the sound changes, and this is noticeable in almost any gear.
 
Like Skhell was saying, the 1.8 doesn't have such a noticeable kick to it probably due to the lower displacement (but that's just a guess, I'm a mechanical noob) and probably because it isn't as sports oriented as the cars that have youtube videos of V-Tec are. This isn't reccommended but go somewhere where you're not going to disturb anyone, put it into first gear, when you get to about 2,500RPM to 3,000RPM, floor it and hopefully you should feel/hear a kick in at around 4,000-5,000 RPM
 
IIRC Vtec engagement in the F series engines in 4250rpm. The kick is VERY subtle and as has been said the noise is what gives the change over away.
 
Hi Andy,

I would check your oil levels are correct as if the oil is on or below the bottom marker then vtec will not engage! It is designed to protect your engine if oil is low.

Like the others have said, you wont get a sudden woosh of power when it kicks in on the F series engines as the Vtec on these lumps are designed to save fuel under load rarther than give more power.

You will know when it does kick in because you will hear more intake roar.

Hope this helps.
 
These cars are only Single cam so you won't feel the kick or be pushed back into your seat when VTEC engages like you would in a DOHC.

I only really notice mine in 3rd gear, and only then after adjusting the tappets. It is only a change to the engine note and is over quickly because then it's at 6k and you have to change.

Oh for the 8k or so of the Type R...
 
AcesHigh said:
These cars are only Single cam so you won't feel the kick or be pushed back into your seat when VTEC engages like you would in a DOHC.
Click to expand...

That doesn't have nothing to do with being single cam engine. There are single cam Honda engines where the VTEC kick-in is very very noticeable.

The main reason why the the VTEC kick-in our our engines is not so noticeable is due to the fact they use a cam with less aggressive cam lobes, emphasizing fuel economy over power.
 
I stand corrected :)

I have never had a DOHC car but was always led to believe that the kick was due to the engine switching over to the other cam - like in the Toyota Corolla.
 
AcesHigh said:
I have never had a DOHC car but was always led to believe that the kick was due to the engine switching over to the other cam - like in the Toyota Corolla.
Click to expand...

The Vtec camshafts have an additional set of lobes which are electronically activated at certain rpm counts which change the cam's timing. Also, this electronic system knows when there is not enough oil running through and will not activate the extra lobes if you are low on oil.

The difference with the Type-R and the F Series is that the Type-R has two cams so therefore has 2 sets of extra lobes and the F Series only has one.

The Vtec in the F Series was really designed to give better fuel economy at higher revs rather than a power boost.
 
The Vtec kick in the DOHC Vtecs is simply something that you;ll never EVER get sick of!!! :lol:

370 miles to a tank is a little strange to me. I get that out of the Type R when driving normally. But then again there was a topic on here a while ago where a few people were getting stupidly low MPG. Like 250 to a tank :eek:
 
my dc2 gets around 220 to a full tank so think yourself lucky!

the vtec crossover is not supposed to be aggressive and noticeable, its meant to be a smooth transaction ideally, especially on a single cam or stock car.
 
When my vtec kicks in i find it to be fairly aggressive but it sounds like i have the only one that does! try having the car in limp mode you'll realise how much the vtec actually helps move you along :) Maybe your vtec is playing up ? sorry i cant be more help
 
If the Vtec system messes up, but i'm not aware that any Vtec unit has ever gone wrong, the EML will come on. The usual problem with a car not vtecing (if that's a word :lol: ) is either there's not enough oil, the oil pump has gone, there is a dent in the bottom of the sump stopping the oil being sucked up properly, or the Vtec solenoid has has a funny 5 mins. This is easy to check though, and is under the dizzy cap.
 
ngy said:
my dc2 gets around 220 to a full tank so think yourself lucky!

the vtec crossover is not supposed to be aggressive and noticeable, its meant to be a smooth transaction ideally, especially on a single cam or stock car.
Click to expand...
Think your missing the point jamie lol ur dc2 is a type r so has performance to match but our 1.8's are just that 0-60 in 10 seconds and still drinks like an alchy does whisky bad times for us :(
 
pete wardle said:
Think your missing the point jamie lol ur dc2 is a type r so has performance to match but our 1.8's are just that 0-60 in 10 seconds and still drinks like an alchy does whisky bad times for us :(
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i wasnt trying to compare, just a statement really!
 
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