vtec issues

[esskater892]

I have a F20b. Vtec hits at 5g and after its warmed up and I put my foot into it, vtec work fine at 5 then about 6 it seems to not work. Like there is no power or a loss of power. It feels like it hits vtec then goes out of vtec. I'm not throwing any codes either. Plenty of oil and new vtec switch as well. Everything seems to work fine and idle fine. I do notice a pretty big plum of blackish smoke during vtec but that's expected. Help please I'm at a loss. I'm thinking of running sea foam through the oil and break booster and seeing if that helps.

[deevergote]

Why is the black smoke expected? Chances are good that it's tied in with your problem.

What ECU are you running?

[GhostAccord]

Black smoke from the tail pipe when VTEC engages is only expected on 300+ mile Civic's with kids behind the wheel.

X2 on what ECU and or tune you are running?

Sounds like it could very well be a fuel and/or timing issue.

[esskater892]

Not anymore than normal when Vtec hits. Not like straight up black smoke but ya. P28 from pherable not tuned yet been fine tho. I was thinking it could be that the vtec solenoid screen could be clogged a little.

[TracieS]

On my f20 I have the same ecu and base map and when vtec hits it black smokes to which leads me to think its probable tuned rich so you dont blow it up.

[deevergote]

So it's a generic tune. Yeah, that's likely the case. Rich can do as much damage as lean over time, though.

[92smokeaccord]

change the plugs..black smoke is really rich you fouled the plugs to death..same happened on markruthafords f20b that i swapped on a generic p series ecu from the drummer himself.it stopped after he got it street tunned and after about 1000 sets of plugs befor he got the idea.

[Losiracer2]

check inside your distributor for any corrosion on the connections, especially to your igniter.

My VTEC used to pop up near the 6.5-8k range, there was corrosion on the igniter terminals and the wires were hard and brittle. I swapped those out with fresh wires and everything worked as it should now

[esskater892]

Ill check the plugs. They arw relatively new. Like a month old. Only changes from the og pkugs cause the emissions. But ya same as tracie said. It is tunes rich. but its intermittent. like its kinda random. but will climb from 5 to 6 kinda hickup thenkeep going and hickup some more.

[esskater892]

also ive been driving it like this for just over a year and had the og plugs till i had to go through marta, i dont think its the plugs getting fouled. It just seems like its going in and out of vtec, so im gonna be searching around that area. I thank you guys for your input. Trmw morning im going to check under the cap and check out the rotor. Im going to take off the vtec solenoid, not just the top part, gonna try to clean the screen. ill post results after cleaning and a test drive. might do an oil change at the same time, bout due for one any ways.

[esskater892]

ive been reading the info found here: http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=830163

Im going to start with the simple stuff first.

[esskater892]

Ok, so to anyone who has read this or is reading this and has this problem or may have this problem. clean the solenoid screen out first. i took it off, 3 ten mm bolts, used brake parts cleaner. let it dry a little. put it back on. let it run for a while. then went to vtec and seems to work flawlessly now. also go read the link i posted if you are experiencing this problem too. im glad this was something simple. so for now fixed, will update if symptoms come back but lets hope not.

thanks to everyone who posted in this thread i appreciate your input!!!!