D16Z6 v-tec question.

D15, D16, D17 and Mini-Me swaps
 Reply
User avatar

D16Z6 v-tec question.

By Heatherly
- Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:07 am #79837 Sooo I just bought a 95 EX right.

Seems like the v-tec solenoid (sp?) is a little rusty, which seems common for these old cars, but all my friends say that you should be able to hear v-tec kick in, and I think I can hear it but I'm not sure.

Should I be able to distinctly hear it, because my exhaust is pretty loud and I was thinking maybe that was just covering it...

Anywho, what I'm getting at is... should I maybe get a new v-tec solenoid, and if so, if it isn't working, would that be causing me to lose some power? :?

Thanx in advance.
User avatar

By biretsu89
- Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:24 am #79838 I could feel my vTAK more than I can hear it.. (d16z6 too..) .. I cant really hear it... I think its more of dohc motors you can hear the vTAK!... thats my 2 pennies worth...
User avatar

By flyinryan122
- Sat Nov 22, 2008 6:52 pm #79881 Sohc Vtec is not as loud because vtec lobes are only on the intake valves, due to lack of space.
User avatar

By suspendedHatch
- Sun Nov 23, 2008 6:49 am #79978 You really shouldn't be able to hear it or feel it. If you can then chances are that you've screwed up the factory calibration in some way.
User avatar

By biretsu89
- Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:33 pm #80000 how would the factory calibration get messed up by chance? My d16z6 just has i/h/e..... everything else is untouched O.o
User avatar

By Heatherly
- Sun Nov 23, 2008 5:46 pm #80039 Yeah... I'm at a loss. I didn't think I should be able to hear it either but everyone had to tell me I was wrong over and over at the car meet last night so me = confused, haha. We shall see. 8)
User avatar

By Greasedmonkey
- Sun Nov 23, 2008 8:04 pm #80064 I can hear mine engage sometimes, but I sure as hell cant feel it.
User avatar

By suspendedHatch
- Sun Nov 23, 2008 11:56 pm #80112
biretsu89 wrote:how would the factory calibration get messed up by chance? My d16z6 just has i/h/e..... everything else is untouched O.o


Changing the VE of the engine ie changing the intake pipe, throttle body, intake manifold, valves, cam, pistons, exhaust, or adding a turbo; in such a way that the power band shifts so that you have a big loss in power before VTEC engagement and a big power gain immediately after.

The best way to "feel" VTEC is to engage it too soon by reprogramming the ECU. Power dips sharply for a few hundred RPM and then suddenly surges. Some "chip tuners" do this purposely.

Remember, the power that you feel is torque, not horsepower. All OEM's try to tune the engine for a flat torque curve. Honda designed their cams so that just as torque begins to drop off in the high RPM's, VTEC engages and picks it back up again until redline. Horsepower is different. It starts at nothing and climbs all the way to your max hp and then begins to fall.

You can feel VTEC on the twin cam engines because it's such a big and sudden power difference (both the intake and the exhaust change their lift, timing, and duration resulting in more overlap). Later Honda came out with iVTEC which is completely seemless yet even more powerful than the B and H series motors.
User avatar

By Heatherly
- Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:47 am #80137 Thanx guys. Appreciate it tons. I think I'm just gonna try and clean the solenoid and see how that works out but I'm thinking that's it. 8)

Ohhh and btw before I forget, does anyone know what the operating voltage for the solenoid is??
User avatar

By -paul
- Tue Nov 25, 2008 3:07 pm #80299
suspendedHatch wrote:
biretsu89 wrote:how would the factory calibration get messed up by chance? My d16z6 just has i/h/e..... everything else is untouched O.o


Changing the VE of the engine ie changing the intake pipe, throttle body, intake manifold, valves, cam, pistons, exhaust, or adding a turbo; in such a way that the power band shifts so that you have a big loss in power before VTEC engagement and a big power gain immediately after.

The best way to "feel" VTEC is to engage it too soon by reprogramming the ECU. Power dips sharply for a few hundred RPM and then suddenly surges. Some "chip tuners" do this purposely.

Remember, the power that you feel is torque, not horsepower. All OEM's try to tune the engine for a flat torque curve. Honda designed their cams so that just as torque begins to drop off in the high RPM's, VTEC engages and picks it back up again until redline. Horsepower is different. It starts at nothing and climbs all the way to your max hp and then begins to fall.

You can feel VTEC on the twin cam engines because it's such a big and sudden power difference (both the intake and the exhaust change their lift, timing, and duration resulting in more overlap). Later Honda came out with iVTEC which is completely seemless yet even more powerful than the B and H series motors.


Really good info there, cheers!
User avatar

By suspendedHatch
- Wed Nov 26, 2008 3:08 am #80419
Heatherly wrote:Thanx guys. Appreciate it tons. I think I'm just gonna try and clean the solenoid and see how that works out but I'm thinking that's it. 8)

Ohhh and btw before I forget, does anyone know what the operating voltage for the solenoid is??


12 volts of course! But what does that matter?

A solenoid is just an on/off switch. VTEC is built into the cam lobes. Besides the solenoid you have the lost motion assembly that controls the physical switching of VTEC.
User avatar

By Heatherly
- Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:18 am #80433 Oh yeah I know, I was just going to check the plug, make sure the wiring for it is still good. :D
User avatar

By Vti93T
- Wed Nov 26, 2008 4:59 pm #80485
suspendedHatch wrote:You really shouldn't be able to hear it or feel it. If you can then chances are that you've screwed up the factory calibration in some way.


I have the same motor and I can hear/feel vtec just fine. At least in my car you can tell when it kicks in.
 Reply
Return to D Series