fresh oil lowers vtec engagement????

I was wondering if this could be possible? I have heard that low oil level or really dirty oil your VTEC wont actuate, but I just changed yesterday, new filter and mobil1 synthetic and when I got the car vtec kicked at about 6 grand and you really heard it and felt a little kick, now it doesnt do anything at 6k, but at around 53-5400 it is doing something similar, except it doesnt have as distinct a sound or feeling like it did, is it because at 6k the small lobes have fallen off and when it switches to the big lobe it gets aliot of power instantly and now my clean oil lets it engage earlier like it should and it smooths out the transition. I am gonna rig a temp VTEC light to see if its working or not in a few days. cant even leave my garage or it will get towed since my plates havent gotten here, got puled over last night and in like 10 seconds theirs 7 cop cars, they think I stole it since my bill of sale looks cheap and since it was teal and now its blue (plus I had painted my valve cover so they smelled fresh paint) and my plate came back for a white civic HB (off my car in WA) I had a hell of a time last night.

so anyuways can it change the activation point or not?

you might not have put enough oil in. to my understanding old oil and a lack of oil can cause the vtec not to work properly.

its up to the proper level on the dipstick. I thought about that. I wasnt able to rev it all the way to 8k to see if it still pulled through VTEC like it used to (then Id know if it had actuated or not) cuz its all city with a bunch of stop lights. and it was late so I didnt wanna be so loud.

doesn't the vtec solenoid run off of oil pressure? if so useign thinner or heavier oil may influence how well it works. also if your oil is old and dirty it may also break down causing it to be thinner therefore less oil pressure.

I personally don't like the way my engine runs on mobil1 synthetic, it feels like it bogs in mid rpm's and vtec doesn't hit as hard, hell i don't even feel it at all in third gear. Not to mention mobil1 looks a little dirty even when its brand new, which I don't care for.

I do however like the valvoline synthetic.. I think its called syntec or something.

Also are you running 10W30? thats what the b17 calls for, so if you used 5w30 for instance it may have affected something.

damnit, yep, 5w30, I just remembered seeing the placemat thing on hondas parts desk that lists oil weights and the B16 said 5w30 and I remember the GSR did as well so I just bought that. that shouldnt be the differencethough because the guy left a half empty quart of oil in the car and its been running 5w30 synthetic when I bought it.

will it do anything major in 3k miles until I get back to 10w30, if it will Ill throw out 20 more on oil but I dont want to.

I wish I could go out and drive it, first time I stomped it I thought maybe it wasnt warm enough but I drove til it was all the way warmed up and it still didnt feel like it kicked, and I cant rev it in the garage to find out. and the risk of going around the block and getting towed just to see if its working isnt worth it. so if it is 5w30 not 10w30 it would be a bit thinner and maybe it wouldnt even kick til upwards of 7K??? I dont see same weight in just different manufacturers affecting it that much though?

what do you think of havoline synthetic oils, it was pretty cheap at autozone the other day, only 3.99 a quart, but never hear anything about it, used toi just put the cheapest crap in my car, but I dont like doing that anymore, well my old truck still gets the walmart supertech 20w50 thats like 4 bucks for 5 quarts

do you have a CAI? until i got my intake the vtec wasnt very noticable but after i got it in, it roars. what other vtec cars are you used to driving? the civic Si's vtec is VERY noticable (audibly) compared to the GSR... maybe your just not hearing what you're used to.... just some basic ideas.

yeah well since its winter I doubt a thinner oil will actually hurt the car so I guess its up to you, I was thinking of putting 5w30 in ine this winter since it was about -20 last winter. and anyway I doubt that it would contribute to the problem at hand as much as you say it is. Maybe you just gotta wait till you can get her out and test her?



As far as the civic SI and gs-r thing, remember he is talking about a 92 gs-r with a B17a which is quite different than a B18c, the B17a is actually more similar to the SI's B16 than it is to the 94 and up gsr B18c.

do you have a CAI? until i got my intake the vtec wasnt very noticable but after i got it in, it roars. what other vtec cars are you used to driving? the civic Si's vtec is VERY noticable (audibly) compared to the GSR... maybe your just not hearing what you're used to.... just some basic ideas.


I must not have been that clear, the car Im used to driving is this same 92 GSR, VTEC was very noticable @6k until the oil change, plugs/wires etc.

now it isnt, seems like it might kick at 5400 now but feels more like it just hits the powerband or whatever liek my 94 RS did at about 4k, it would pull alright and then at 4k it started to scream, but not cuz of VTEC. kinda like what it feels like now, not really an instant power change of switching lobes but more like around the 5400 area it just starts building power alot more quickly, and like I said Im sure Id notice the difference at 8k between small lobes/big lobe but wasnt able to rev that high due to the area. and it doesnt work at idle so this problem is just gonna tear my mind apart for a week til I can go test it out again.

is the knock sensor plug just pop on/off or is it like most of them on the car where you have to squeeeze and pull, might have popped it off while replacing the filter(coulnt get under the car so I did it from TB side of IM by reaching under) and that would cause VTEC to not work right? but the check engine light should alsoncome on Id think and I know the bulbs good it turns on for the few seconds everytime you start like normal.

and yes it has SRI right now as did it when I dreove it with VTEC working

im out of ideas??

best of luck figuring it out though.

yeah, I got plates in the mail today I think, not sure, I can see the box outside but havent gone downstairs to pick it up, if it is so Im gonna have to go out and hook a test bulb to my vtec silenoid and see when/if it lights. god I hop I dont get F'd with by the cops today, for spome reason east coast cops all got something up their ass, if I had a tape recorder I probably could have had 3 cops fired over here and Ive only been pulled over 2 times. I was being harrassed by 7 cops for almost an hour over the deal a couple days ago.

HAHA welcome to the east my friend... I had a cop tell me I was retarded and stupid and that I should drive out in a field and kill myself the other night... here's the kicker though.... I didn't do anything wrong... at all. My friend was in the car with me and was dumbfounded by what happened. haha

well, I bought some blue LED's today Im gonna go wire under the dash hooked up to the vtec silenoids wire and my underdash will just glow blue every time I hit VTEC. was thinking of making the dash VTEC light but dont want to right now and as long as Ill be running the wires might as well get some permanent use out of them so this is the route Ill take. the guage cluster looks like a PITA to get out since its one peice with thwe vents and other stuff so Ill wait to pull it out for when I get some reverse indiglos or something (cant find any cheap ebay ones for the 2nd gen that will keep my stock redline shown)

Ill let you know nwhat happens in an hour or so.

ok, didnt do the LED thing, found out its a green/white stripe wire at the silenoid and theres 3 of them at the ECU so I dont know what one to go to and dont wanna run a wire all the way from the solenoid. but it turned out to be low coolant level, I popped the cap and topped off the radiator and went out and VTEC is back, about the same RPM, but doesnt feel like it hits as hard.

I might use your years of wisdon with the B17 and throw in some valvoline syntec 10W30 when I get home, Ill run this oil for now though and it will be just about time when I get home for an oil change again.