KPL1989

Before the end of this past summer, I took my 2003 s2k out for a drive and it wouldn't rev past 6k. I had a CEL come on so I took it up to have the code read and it was p01259, vtec system malfunction. First thing I did was check my oil level, which was good..I always keep up on my oil/filter changes. Next I pulled off the vtec solenoid to check the screen for debris..the filter was clean. What I did find was that the wires going to the oil pressure sensor were no longer attached to the plug, I'm assuming a rodent got up in my engine bay and chewed through them, I'm not sure how else it could have happened. There were no wires exposed outside of the plug so I went to a junkyard and found the same plug off a different car (mid 90's accord I think is what I took it off), cut it off with a few inches of wire, and attached it to the harness of my car. I plugged it back in and unplugged my battery to reset the code. When I took the car for a ride it revved all the way to 9k again and the CEL didn't come back on, so I assumed all was good. But it wasn't. Once I started the car again the CEL was back, but it was no longer cutting out at 6k like before..it would rev all the way to 9k.. if I cleared the light, it wouldn't come back on until after I shut the car off and restarted it.

The car has been parked in my garage since November because I don't drive it in the winter. While parked and since I finally had a place to work on my car, I decided I would add a t1r header, berk 70mm test pipe, t1r 70mm dual exhaust, and a Kraftwerks SC kit. After the header/tp/exhaust install I obviously wanted to take the car for a drive to see how it sounded and if it felt any different before I installed the SC kit. First start it had no CEL and sounded AWESOME, but it kind of felt slower (I THINK) than before I had parked it. You could no longer hear or feel vtec kick in at crossover, but it revved all the way to 9k. Is it just the exhaust drowning out the sound and feel of VTEC engaging? I do not remember for sure if I could hear/feel vtec after replacing the oil pressure sensor plug at the end of summer, but I don't think there was a problem or I'd have noticed and tried to figure this out sooner.

If I disconnect the battery and drive the car, the CEL does not come back on until after I shut the car off and restart it. I don't even have to drive it for it to turn on after restarting, it just has to sit and run for a few minutes then it pops up. The car runs the same with and without the CEL. I am just not sure if vtec is working properly because I can no longer hear or feel it. My car has 150k miles (90k on head replaced under warranty) and it had never been modded before my ownership (2nd owner). Prior to the plug issue I never had any issues at all with the car the 3 years I've owned it, maintained it well, and didn't drive it too hard.

My next step to attempt to fix the CEL problem was going to be replacing the oil pressure sensor (because that's where the issue started), but I read AEM V2 doesn't even use it so why spend the money? But now that I can no longer hear/feel vtec it is making me a little paranoid that there might be a different issue.

Any input on this would be appreciated. Thank you!!

B serious

Put it in 3rd gear and drive at whatever speed corresponds to 3K RPM. Floor it to 9k. Did you hear VTEC this time at 6K?

Obviously, do this somewhere safe.

KPL1989

It is snowing right now so I won't be driving it anytime soon. But when I drove the car last, I did what you're telling me to do. I only went past 6k once while driving it because it was pretty loud at wot.

windhund116

Maybe something is wrong with the VTEC solenoid. Or that rat wiring problem has not been completely fixed.