The engine was compression tested before installation. The shop says the F22 injectors are being used right now, and they think I need the F23 injectors. So they're going to swap them out tomorrow and see if that solves my problem.

My theory: If I'm not running a CEL for VTEC then that means that it MUST be trying to work but it can't because there's an underlying problem. The shop says it feels like a fuel cut when you hit 52-5300 so hopefully the injectors are the culprits.

 

It will be interesting to see if/how they get the 23's injectors to fit the 22's fuel rail. Please take pics if they get them on there.

A test light hooked to the VTEC solenoid would confirm your theory.

 

They tried larger injectors, I'm not sure what engine they were from because they don't have any F23 injectors but they said the larger injectors didn't change anything. They tried 2 sets of them apparently. And btw this shop is 45 minutes away from me so I'm just talking to these guys over the phone lol I can't see what they're doing.

I read that VTEC engages anywhere from 2300-3800 rpms on the F23 accords. Is this true? I know it's variable, but the shop swears up and down it should engage at about 5500 rpms. That sounds a bit ridiculous to me. I think the DOHC engines probably engage at a higher point.

 

On the F22 the ignition coil is inside the dizzy correct? You used the dizzy from the F22 correct Roader?

 

The F22B1 - EX model with VTEC - has the coil inside the distributor. The F22B2 - LX (and SE?) model without VTEC - has an external coil.

I used the external-coil distributor/coil from the old F22B2 on my swap because I had no desire to change the wiring. I've heard the wiring changes are easy but on the other hand there's no advantage to using the internal coil distributor. I guess it's whatever your shop decided was easiest.

Re: VTEC engagement. You're right. Your shop is wrong. I don't know about DOHC engines but the P0H will engage VTEC somewhere around the RPM you stated. 5500 RPM is ridiculous.

Cody, if you don't want to go the test light route then you might consider finding a competent tech to figure this out for you...probably take less than a half an hour. The shop that did the swap seems incompetent. The solution is probably very simple, like they didn't wire the VTEC solenoid correctly (or at all.)

 

If the SE model indeed uses an external coil, I wonder, if that may be what's going on here? Does the F23 vtec use an external coil? Because they used the dizzy from the F22 NON vtec. Makes me wonder if they used the external coil from my old engine or rewired.

And yea I really felt that they were wrong about when vtec engages.

I'm pretty positive they wired the solenoid correctly. I went through and checked the pinouts and grounds and everything. If I had access to the car then I would do the test light but I suggested for them to try that and they said it's not going to tell them anything because they think there's another problem besides the vtec.

 

Disconnect the vtec solenoid and pressure switch and see if it will throw a code. That should gaurantee the wires are correct if it throws a code.

If you use the wrong injectors such as ones that don't use a resistor box you can fry your ecu.

 

The USDM F23A1 uses an internal coil. I don't think there's an issue here. If they used the distributor from your old F22B2 engine then they had to use the coil from that engine too. Otherwise the engine wouldn't start.

A visual inspection isn't good enough. There needs to be an electrical connection from pin A8 on the ECU to the single VTEC solenoid connection. A $5 DVM set on ohms would verify this. Absolute proof would be a test light, with one end connected to the solenoid valve and the other end to ground. It should light up when driving the car at the RPM you indicated.

 

I used the F22 intake, injectors and fuel rail for my F23 swap in my '97. I thought about using the F23 injectors thinking they might fix my pinging issue, but they are the high-impedance variety. Going off my (crummy) memory, the F22 injectors were 2-3 ohms and the F23 injectors were about 12 ohms. I'm guessing you might have to do away with the injector resistor box to get the F23 injectors to work properly.

I think you could use the F23 fuel rail on the F22 intake, but you would have to drill new mounting holes to match up with the studs. Again, if I remember correctly, one fuel rail had three holes and the other had two. The injector seals at the manifold are the same for '97 and '98. I didn't check injector overall length with a caliper, but I think they were close.

Once I discovered the difference in impedance, I didn't pursue the F23 injectors any further.

 

Jumping in late here, but I didn't see this mentioned in one of the previous 10 pages. If it was, sorry for the repeat. Anyway, while the connector is off, run a wire from the connector (the one that mates with the solenoid connector) to a DVM inside the car and check for voltage when you take it for a ride. Since the solenoid is single wire and grounded through the head, you won't have to connect the common side of the DVM to the computer ground. Just find a good body/chassis ground to use for your ground. It should be close enough.

Of course, be mindful of the dangers of distracted driving so bring your lovely assistant along to read the DVM. Redheads or brunettes are good, but a smart blond will work in a pinch, too. Disclaimer: no offense to blonds intended, it was only a joke.