What to do if your VTEC is not working?
Clearing the DTC, disconnecting the VTEC oil pressure switch and using a jumper wire to short the signal wire to ground and keeping your RPM below 2700 when driving would prevent VTEC from engaging and you could operate your vehicle. This ASSUMES that you actually do have engine oil pressure to keep from grenading your engine.
What does the VTEC system in a Honda engine do?
Image Gallery: Engines The VTEC system in Honda engines allows the engine to have multiple camshafts. See more car engine pictures . If you have read How Car Engines Work, you know about the valves that let air into the engine and let exhaust out of the engine. You also know about the camshaft that controls the valves.
Why does my Honda VTEC go into fuel cut mode?
If the pressure switch signal is not logical for the commanded state of the control solenoid, a DTC will set and the PCM will go into a ‘fuel-cut’ mode limiting engine rpm and performance. The PCM simply doesn’t ‘know’ what the state of the intake valves are, so you end up with the symptoms you describe.
How to fix the VTEC on a Honda Element?
Either clean the wire filter in the vtec control module or change out the entire VTEC control on the back of the engine. Or. And here is my fix of choice. Change the oil and use 10w30. The additional pressure will help the vtec. I have run 10w30 since my first oil change and never an issue.
Clearing the DTC, disconnecting the VTEC oil pressure switch and using a jumper wire to short the signal wire to ground and keeping your RPM below 2700 when driving would prevent VTEC from engaging and you could operate your vehicle. This ASSUMES that you actually do have engine oil pressure to keep from grenading your engine.
If the pressure switch signal is not logical for the commanded state of the control solenoid, a DTC will set and the PCM will go into a ‘fuel-cut’ mode limiting engine rpm and performance. The PCM simply doesn’t ‘know’ what the state of the intake valves are, so you end up with the symptoms you describe.
What to do about bad VTC cam gear?
I cleaned the screens and passages with 2+2, replaced the pressure switch, added a quart of ATF to the crankcase and drove the car for 100 miles before doing an oil change. Bad VTC cam gear turned out to be the issue on our 05 EX-AWD with a little over 200k miles.