I-VTEC solenoids

[myeverlovinsir]

Here is some things I think all of you should know about.
If you have noticed that you have been burning alot of oil, 1 litre per 2000 Kms, and are not checking it to top up, be aware that the I-Vtec solenoids are prone to grabbing air instead of oil when you are critically low. (below the fill mark/hole on the dip stick)

What can happen;

Well, I was on an onramp, going arround at quite high speed to merge onto the the highway, got through the turn and acceled to highway speed. As I did, what seemed like the rev. limiter kicked in at 4k (coincidentially or not these were the revs I was at during accel) and my engine sputtered. I was limited to 4 grand on my tach. and could not exceed this. It would just back off and jerk, just like I was hitting the rev. limiter. Also my engine light came on.

I hobbled my car back to the dealer trying to keep it under 4 grand (hitting 4 grand a couple of times to see if was still limiting me, as it was) and they reset my CPU.

The cause was my low oil level and because I was going arround a lengthly onramp, my I-Vtec solenoids were starved of oil pressure, instead they got air. The cornering sloshed my oil to one side in the pan and created a gap in the pickup area. Once the engine light came one, i was limited to 4 grand, it was painful.

This info has also been documented in the honda technical forum (according to my dealer) and is a little known fact of having low oil levels and going arround corners.

After they reset my CPU, and topped up my oil, everything has been fine. I am now on a Honda monitored program to determine how much oil is being burnt and over what distance. They will be doing the oil refills for free from now on, just to keep a log of what consuption there is. I have had the car for 4 months and have 20K on it. Initially I was very concerned with the amount of oil I was burning, 1 litre per 2k seemed ridiculous, since they reset my CPU, I have not had any oil burn problems. Its nice to know that honda is at least helping me with this and not just avoiding the problem. I know some of you have been concerned with the amount of oil consumption these cars have. If you have an oil consuption issue, it is best to bring it up as soon as possible, and allow them to deal with it.

As a rule: If your gonna run the sucker hard, be prepared to put some oil in it, and check it often.

My Ever Lovin SIR...:o

[Si-Rican]

YEA MAN I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM JUS THE OTHER DAY. WHEN I TOOK IT TO HONDA THEY THOUGHT I WAS BEATIN ON THE CAR. AFTER THEY PISSED ME OFF WITH THAT CPAP I TOOK IT TO ANOTHERE DEALER N THEY TOLD ME THAT ALL SI'S HAVE THAT PROBLEM AT SOME POINT IN TIME.

[K20ACTR]

That same thing happened to me when i first got my car. I only had about 1500 miles on the car and when i took it into Honda they told me that one my VTEC solenoids went bad. They fixed it and my car runs smooth with no problems.

[ivtecrsx]

same thing happened to my base model RSX. couldnt rev past 4, brought it to the dealer. they said i basically broke the i-vtec, they couldnt tell me why, they didnt tell me how they fixed it...rep said they recommend an oil change...did that worked fine.

i guess i should check my oil more often

[Glix]

Switch your oil weight and the problem will go away.
Ditch the 5/20 and replace it with 5/30 bada bing no more oil consumption.

[BoricuaSi]

Originally posted by Glix
Switch your oil weight and the problem will go away.
Ditch the 5/20 and replace it with 5/30 bada bing no more oil consumption.

I tried this and the engine runs much smoother, it's almost like it's meant to run on 5W-30.

[jaydub]

Yep, my first oil change will introduce some Mobil 1 Synthetic to the car, 5w30.