Had a V-tec failure

[master7]

PEACE- yesterday i was on the highway just zig zaggin my way along then i see this BMW coming up fast with one of the rich tight ass drivers behind the wheel. So i stay on it ......slow up a little to take a turn on a ramp and throw it in second after slowing down for the turn . As soon as i clear the turn i go to throw it in third and punch it , but instead of a smooth ride i get jerk jerk jerk , i am like ooohh shit car not in gear? i take it out of gear and throw it back in gear and jerk jerk -of course the BMW flys by , then a school bus, then granny flys by, car wont let me get on it. Then tranny light pops on. I made it home thank gosh!! well i took it to the dealer and they said the v-tec has a safety system were if oil is running thin or low it will cut the v-tecs power or something like that...so i just got the oil changed and everything was back to normal.. i was like as long as it is still covered under warrenty ...i'm good ..but glad it was not any real tranny problems---learn from me---if you run hard change the oil more often then suggested- cause you are driving most likely not the way the average go to work store home person is:rolleyes:

[jerky]

could also have been due to lack of oil pressure. check your oil level constantly because our cars eat oil like crazy. that hard turn porbably swooshed what little oil you had left to one side of the engine and triggered that vtec safety thing - limp mode. check your oil!:)

[blackyEP3]

Wow...........never heard of this!!! Scary!:eek:

[cbecker333]

Originally posted by master7
if you run hard change the oil more often then suggested- cause you are driving most likely not the way the average go to work store home person is:rolleyes:

Better yet, use synthetic. My car has never been more than 1/4 below the upper dipstick notch, even after 5,000 miles. I'm not sure its because I use synthetic, it could also be differences in driving habits or how the car was made...

[sleepinEP3]

Originally posted by cbecker333


Better yet, use synthetic. My car has never been more than 1/4 below the upper dipstick notch, even after 5,000 miles. I'm not sure its because I use synthetic, it could also be differences in driving habits or how the car was made...

i agree. i changed mine out for mobil 1 at 800 miles. i just hit 6k and i havent experienced any oil consumption problems really.

[glizard]

The vtec hydraulic valves run off the oil pressure and thats why it shut down. as far as oil consumption goes i think you are wasting your money w/synthetic oil if you are changing it every 5k. The only need for synth would be if you drive it so hard you burn oil.
I drive the piss out of mine and have never lost more than a 1/2qt between changing. the oil is never burned or black when changing w/very little deposits if any. Hey i'm not saying synth is not good but at $2-$3 a qt extra for something not needed seems a little excessive.
master 7 you must drive like a mad man to burn that much oil or you were a little late on changing it.

[cbecker333]

Originally posted by glizard
Hey i'm not saying synth is not good but at $2-$3 a qt extra for something not needed seems a little excessive.

Thats how most of my friends feel...synth is prolly only for you if you are moderately to mostly obsessed with your car and don't give a shit about money;)

[ADAMnQuickCIVIC]

i did not know we had a tranny light...
:confused:

[SiR nateDOGG]

Had the same problem, hard jerk at a red light. The car wouldn't take the gas, took it to dealer, they said temperary vtec shutdown, flash ecu. What year

[master7]

I got a 2002 si- got it like the end of june /beginning of July. Yeah i run her hard - i will open her up every chance i get wether a trip on the highways or just because someones gives me the vibe "I can do anything better than you can- no you cant yes i can" :D I really started running hard when i got my AEM CAI - i love to hear the engine roar and people looking in the sky for a jet :eek: and i recently had her dropped with TEin so i love the feel of the road much better......peace

[mattyb]

The other day I dropped a thread about the same thing. I am glad to see that the collective applied knowledge of the members on this site is greater than your average Honda dealer. I and my mom had the same problem with our EP's!!! Loss of VTEC ish power at harder acceleration. Someone suggested oil pressure, and I think you have confirmed it. Thanks, and I hope all is well with your car.

[hypnoj]

Alright, what's the deal about not needing to get synthetic oil? I've never put synthetic oil in any cars I've owned until this one. It was very expensive, so I shouldn't be using it? What kind of driving do I have to do to until I need synthetic? How many miles can I go before I change my oil on synthetic? let me know.

[cbecker333]

Originally posted by hypnoj
Alright, what's the deal about not needing to get synthetic oil? I've never put synthetic oil in any cars I've owned until this one. It was very expensive, so I shouldn't be using it? What kind of driving do I have to do to until I need synthetic? How many miles can I go before I change my oil on synthetic? let me know.

You are going to get a WIDE range of opinions on those types of questions but here's what I know. Synthetic oil doesn't have to be "Very expensive", I use this stuff: amsoil 5W-20 (http://intershop.amsoil.com/cgi-bin/Amsoil.storefront/3efb04d8080f4f66271dd1f0e3f006a7/Catalog/1377) and it ends up being just over $5/quart. AMSoil claims you can run 7500 miles without changing the oil. Personally, I think you ought to change your oil filter every 5000mi and so doing the oil at the same time just makes sense, even if you could run on it for longer. You can drive the car as hard as you want without "needing" synthetic. Its a question of how fanatical you are.....

I've been running on AMSoil for over 8,000 miles (5,000 + 3,000)

hth

[02SilverSiHB]

I guess I'm lucky not to have this problem. I drive fast most of the time, rev it out a lot and never have had this problem. I've been changing the oil every 3k miles using honda oil...fingers crossed.

[furious]

Originally posted by 02SilverSiHB
I guess I'm lucky not to have this problem. I drive fast most of the time, rev it out a lot and never have had this problem. I've been changing the oil every 3k miles using honda oil...fingers crossed.

where you find Honda oil?

[cbecker333]

Why, at your local honda dealer of course! :D

[AkronSi]

Originally posted by cbecker333
Why, at your local honda dealer of course! :D

Not my dealer, they use Kendall. But, I change my oil myself, so Mobil 1 for me. :D

[JSIR]

I've run a couple track events now, running hard all day and lots of hard cornering , in very hot conditions. You'd think that's where such problems would show up not during highway crusing.

I guess it pays to run good oil, top it oup regularly, change it regularly, and use a good Honda oil filter. Keep in mind that some aftermarket oil filters will lower oil pressure to an incorrect level and it could cause a similar problem.

thanks for the heads up info !

Joey

[blueiedgod]

Yesterday, we are driving in the mountains of NW new jersey, looking for places to buy. And going enthusiastically over one of the hills, I noticed that my "check engine light came on" As soon as it did that, the engine would not rev past 4000 RPM's. I stopped, checked oil it was bellow the lower dot, added some oil. And the engine is happy, but stupid "CEL" is still on. Now it hesitates at like 2500-3000 rpms and then picks up. I think VTEC may have been damaged. I am suspecting that Honda dealer did not ut enough oil in. I had service doen at 5000 miles and i am at 6500 now. The manual specifys 5 quarts, I think that a tech, thinking "it's a civic, it need 4" only put in 4 quarts.
Going to Honda by my work, on monday to have them pull the code. Hopefully it does not reset by then.

[cbecker333]

Originally posted by blueiedgod
The manual specifys 5 quarts, I think that a tech, thinking "it's a civic, it need 4" only put in 4 quarts.


My book says 4.4 quarts....but the car always takes at least 5 when I change the oil - your hunch sounds right.

[blueiedgod]

well, it took 2.5 quarts to bring it up to the upper dot. I am calling honda tomorrow, to find out what the deal is. either i am burning oil like mad, or they did not put enough oil in when they did the oil change 2 thousand miles ago.

I am going to monitior my oil from now on.