Yesterday, while passing a car in a country road, I dropped to third gear and floored it. I only took my view away from the tach for a fraction of a second, enough to hit the rev limiter (the revs went up amazingly fast!). The engine hit the red zone a fraction of a second before I shifted up to fourth. It is the first time that I ever hit the redline in any car I ever drove. That got me thinking.

Do you actually do any damage to the engine by revving it high enough to activate the rev limiter?
Obviously, the function of the rev limiter is to prevent engine damage by over-reving the engine...but, does it prevent completely the damage, or only partially? I guess in the case of sporadic redlining, it should not be a problem, but what about if you race the car and frequently pass the 9k line?

Just hope I didn't do anything bad to My Baby.

 

yah i did the same, although i did it by slamming on the gas even though the car wasnt in gear, like you my car also hit the rev limiter and the red area began to flash!

Opps!
Mike

 

I don't think you have hurt anything. In an autocross, I ran the car against the rev limiter for around 3 seconds because I didn't want to have to shift. That was 3000 miles ago and I haven't seen any adverse effects.

I assume that's what the rev limiter is for. If it wasn't safe to use this rev range they would have put the limiter lower.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jake
[B]

I assume that's what the rev limiter is for.

 

The sole purpose of the rev limiter is to protect the engine from over-zealous VTEC-ing. I hit mine mostly in first or second, and occasionally third.

 

You can't damage the car by hitting the limiter. The rev limit is set so that the maximum you can take it to is still within safety parameters.

 

How do you run agaist the rev limiter? It's like hitting a brick wall when I hit it!

 

As long as you hit the rev limiter by accelerating, you have done no damage to your engine.....hitting the rev limiter by shifting incorrectly into a higher gear (numerically lower) can force the engine to exceed its safe rpm range, thereby potentially causing damage.

 

The only thing you'll hurt is your face if you are foolish enough not to be wearing your seatbelt...hitting the rev limited is immediate deceleration.

 

I've done the same thing five times or so in a year, and the engine is fine. You're completely correct in thinking that's what the limiter is there for. (It is embarrassing, though, and I try to avoid it. It's just that the revs climb from 7 to 9K sooo fast...)