Is that really possible? When the engine is too cold and VTEC does not engage, you hit that HARD limit at about 7000 rpm. Can you even rev to 8000+ if the VTEC cams don't engage?

(I'm not saying you can't, I'm just asking.)

 

Good point xviper. If the VTEC solenoid was not engaging due to lack of oil pressure, that would be a bad thing as the engine would have to be up to two quarts down to decrease oil pressure enough for the VTEC solenoid not to engage. Is it possible that the bypass valve inside the oil filter is open?

If this is the case, the oil would have to have been neglected considering it is a MY03.

 

The VTEC solenoid may not be just a simple "ON/OFF" valve or switch. It's possible it could "hang up" just like the Idle Air Control solenoid/valve, which may or may not throw a CEL.
There is the filter screen between the solenoid and head. It's possible that if the oil or filter was neglected or some foreign matter got past the filter, that this screen could be blocked. The manual makes no mention of ever cleaning that screen but then, if it wasn't needed, why did Honda put it there? Although I've never heard of or seen any S2000 with really sludgy oil, I suppose it could happen if an owner used poor quality oil, poor filter, too long a change interval or maybe even do something goofy like put bottles of "miracle" additives into the oil "as seen on TV". Who knows?

On the other, like already posted, this could be a simple matter of an owner "getting used to" VTEC.

 

i had one of my friends sit in my car and he noticed as well taht when i hit vtec it seems as if it doesn't even engage. He sat in my other friends s2k and he said himself the pull is not hte same durin vtec. About an hour later i just gunned the car and durin that one point the Vtec DID engage and have that pull but after that one thankful moment it was gone again. I always get the oil changed on time and i did use i believe synthetic. I paid 50 freakin dollars to get it changed at jiffy lube just to see if that might have been the problem about a month ago but the problem was still the same. I know it isn't gettin used to it cuz when it does kick in i can for sure feel it. The car seems as if it has lost about 20-30 whp. Btw. Thanks for the help guys and viper as well.

 

Well then dyno it and get an objective result. That will help you find the actual problem. You can also (I'm pretty sure) plug a monitor into the OBD II system and see when and where the car tries to engage the VTEC. All of this will be much more useful than just fretting about it.

Is the car under warranty? It may not be-- it sounds like you are a second owner. If so, did you buy it as-is or was it Certified or what?

Does it have a stock ECU? Stock engine?

 

yes. everything is stock and it only has 9k's miles on it. I bought it with 5 k's miles from a dealer. It should have warranty cuz hwen i took it to honda the tech drove it and said its fine but only for a min of driving and very careless driving as in didn't give a and just wanted to say its ok. He was more concerned about the scenery and what people were doing outside then the car itself. I am thinkin of takin it to a dyno and if i do, will i find out if there is something wrong for sure? or not? thanks guys.

 

Well if you take it to a dyno and they find it doesn't behave like it is supposed to, you will have some hard evidence to show the dealer. There are enough dyno graphs available on this site that you should have a decent baseline to compare against.

 

yea i think that is what i am going to go and do. Thanks a lot guys!

 

[QUOTE=B SweepeR B6,Jan 4 2005, 04:29 PM]yes. everything is stock and it only has 9k's miles on it.

 

[QUOTE=B SweepeR B6,Jan 3 2005, 11:29 PM]....