Ok so i have a 98 with the 2.3 sohc vtec 5mt with 170k . My mother bought this car brand new and didnt take very good care of it, or get it serviced regularly. She only got it fixed when it was broke and hardly ever changed the oil just added when it was low. My problem is the vtec isnt kicking in and im getting horrible gas milage like 20-22 a gallon instead of 30 like it used to. The car has no ***** after 4grand like it used to. Whats the problem ????? Also my clock and milage gage lights wont come on at night but there the only ones. Iv checked all the fuses and how do i tighten up my e-brake cable bc i pull it and it barely works. Thanks for any help i get

 

You may have a sludge problem (from not changing the oil) that prevents the vtec actuators to engage. There's a vtek troubleshooting procedure in the manual - find one on this forum. Do you have the engine light on? There's a dtc p1259 fault for vtek pressure switch and solenoid - and troubleshooting.
If that does not work you get into the rocker arms and the fun stuff. All in the book.
As for the gas mileage - is the car maintenance up-to-date? The same book - see above - will give you maintenance schedules for your mileage.
Clock - there's a bulb behind - check the forum.

 

ok i see your problem... i have a 98 acura cl 2.3 and i had the same issue .. HAve u noticed if the Speedometer is working correctly? is it reading the Speed of your vehicle?

if it i not reading . the Sensor refered to as the Speedo sensor has gone out ..

if the speedometer is reading .. the only other problem that the issue could be would probally be the V-Tec Selonoid is bad the speedo sensor is readily avail thru Napa Autoparts. this repair is if a difficulty range from 1-10 id rate at like a 2-3 for beginners its location is on the right side of the vehicle under the hood and on the top of the tranny just under the intake tube (usually has to be removed to be accessed. check it out and let me know

 

if the speedo sensor has gone out .. it has no vtec due to the car reading as if it was in neutral and just revving the engine .. with no Speed reading the car only reconizes as " not moving " and no need for any Extra pulling force

 

Ok there is no check engine light on and my speedometer does work. I did just have another 5mt put in. My mom drove it so long with a bad axel it messed up the barings in the tranny, and when i first got it back the speedometer didnt work, but he just forgot to plug it back in. My temp gauge isnt working right bc it got broke when changing the tranny could that have anything to do with it ? Also im pretty sure the vtec not working correctly is def related to the poor gas mileage. The car just doesnt run any where close to what it used to also iv noticed it wants to idle high after driving for awhile like around 1.5 grand. I'm really thinking its some kind of computer or electrical problem. I kinda went over the motor and made sure everything was hooked up and no loose wires were out and checked all my fuses. Also the car did sit for about 6 or 7 months before i was able to afford the new tranny. I thought maybe it just needed a good tune up and ran really good but iv put almost 2000 miles on it already

 

VWballplayer8,
After you rule out the speed sensor... Are you gonna try to fix this yourself? You can remove the VTEC spool valve & clean it out. But if that's the problem, it should throw a check-engine light. Does it?? Verify the check-engine-light bulb because it's supposed to come on for 2 seconds when you first turn the key ON.

Adjusting the brakes... The cable is below the big console storage box. Un-snap the 'floor' of that box. Check that the balance between the 2 cables is OK, otherwise there's more work back at the brakes.

 

On the end of the head, under the distributor, there's 2 sensors. One has only 1 wire; that one's for the dashboard temperature gauge. Next to that is a sensor with 2-wires, that's for the ECU (water temperature) & THIS one could influence the engine's operation.

 

ok first i just wanna thank you for all the help !! so... second the sensor that goes to the ecu for water temp is the one thats messed up. i should be getting one of those tomorrow so will see if thats the prob. i will be doing all this myself im a painter and body man but im also very mechanicaly handy. where and how do i remove the vtec spool valve bc im sure that wouldnt hurt to go ahead and clean out. also i figured out the e brake today at work bc i had a little free time and some simple tools in the car but they def are uneven under the console so what do i have to do in the back. iv already jacked it up and got under there and looked so i have an idea of whats going on, and i just changed all four rotors and got all new pads. geez my mother left this car in terrible condition and even with all the abuse and neglect it still runs lol thats why i love honda's plus there pretty easy to work on

 

If that coolant temperature sensor (2-wire) was messed up, then your check engine light should have come on.

You may want to stop by an autozone and have them read the codes. They will be P####. That will help identify any other problems.

 

VTEC spool valve is on the backside of the head, near the distributor end. Look for a cylindrical solenoid, with a triangle flange (3-bolts). Don't un-do that flange, instead un-bolt the whole thing from the head. There's a gasket with a screen that can get full of crud. Get a new gasket since it gets hardened with heat & age.