Hey everyone, I had a street tune on my car last year and vtec worked. I took the vtec oil pressure sensor off as the AEM doesnt require it. took the car to get tuned today and no vtec. took the car home thinking maybe the bolt was too long so i put a washer on the bolt incase the solenoid wasnt getting enough oil pressure. i have my oil pressure sensor right off the oil filter relocation and it reads 24-26 at idle warm and 100psi after 1500rpm.

i pulled the vtec solenoid off and cleaned the filter and still no vtec. i checked inside the aem and its set to activate at 4,000rpm after 1.04psi and on above 60% tps and off below 40% tps ... inside the vtec parameters its showing "on" when those conditions are being met but still nothing. is there a way to check to make sure the solenoid is getting power at those rpms tps etc? id hate to spend $240 on the solenoid and have it be a broken wire when the ecu is sending power but its not making it to the solenoid but showing "ON" TIA

-craig

 

check the solenoid coil with an OHM-meter

grtz kistof

 

Is it a constant 12v and what resistance should it have?

 

I'm having the same problem as you, no vtec, even after 6k rpms but my engagement on my aem is 3.8k. Oil level is fine, cleaned vtec solenoid filter (wasn't dirty) I did a map whack and cleaned the IAC valve with break cleaner. Only thing it did was make my idle a tad smoother. Still no vtec. I'm on an aem 1052 with similar parameters as you.

Anyone have any ideas?

Also, I just recently (like 200 miles ago) changed the oil and the spark plugs. Everything worked fine up until yesterday

 

Hey crb, can you connect to your ems through your laptop? Assuming you have done it before and have the means necessary to do so, try to connect. I seem to be having the same problem on the same ECU, and multiple options on my ECU aren't working, like vtec engagement and o2 feedback. I also cannot connect to the ECU via laptop at all, which has never been a problem in the past.

Unfortunately for both of us, I'm starting to think its our ECU that's failing us. Ill be popping the stock ECU back in later today to confirm my suspicions.

 

i actually got mine to work.. for a second. I had a friend come over that is a honda tech, and he was asking about the vtec oil pressure sensor that i took off, put that back in and drove it, no vtec.. he was stumped thinking maybe the ecu was shot too. we checked the ohms and they were coming up low but still there. he said it may be the vtec solenoid as he replaces them all the time. so, to make myself feel better, i decided to tear it apart.. i took the three bolts off the top of the vtec housing and pressed down on the plunger and it popped open... there was a lot of resistance and when i put it back together and took the car for a test drive, vtec worked, but then 24 hours later when i drove it today to see if it was seized up again, it was. so im going to have to cough up the 240 for a new vtec solenoid. .. try it before you replace the AEM. Also, to save you a little time and hassle. the vtec wire is b12 on the ecu. check it with an ohmmeter. hope this helps you buddy

 

Well it sucks that you have to spend that money for a new one, but at least you know what the problem is, which is nice.

I went ahead and popped the stock ECU back in earlier today and took it for a drive. Vtec worked perfectly fine (at 6k rpms obviously) but ya no signs of problems, no codes, nothing. I'm fairly sure my ems needs to be repaired :/

 

im sure thats not going to be cheap. which really sucks. sry to hear that it wasnt an easy fix.