Your oil pressure should be around 25 psi when it is fully warm.

My oil pressure never reads above 75 psi no matter what. Normally stays between 60-75psi during driving.

Not sure if that helps. Some gauges are junk and you don't need that much oil.
At idle the warmer the car the lower the oil pressure will be. That is a good indacation of when the internals are up to the correct temp for hard driving.
I never hit boost until my oil pressure gauge reads 25psi at idle.

 

I know that on most honda engines they have a spring on the pressure side of the oil pump control valve that is externaly accessible. If that valve get's stuck you can have some pretty erratic oil press. readings. Do you have any other oil lines coming off the main pressure port on the block For a turbo feed?I have found out that when you tee off of the main oil press port that it can effect the vtec operation.

 

I don't have any Tees, only the oil gauge. ALso I ruled out faulty gauge by using a known working one. So I did try two gauges and both read the same thing.

The oil pressure never drops to where it should be, so I am assuming that the actual regulator is bad in the pump. I don't know the technical name.

I am doing this just to find if I have a vtec oil pressure problem, but now it looks like I have a straight oil pressure problem.

With having erratic oil pressure, it could also be extermely low at some points as well if it isn't regulating correctly. I am going to have my brother monitor it this week and see what he finds out.

 

How many miles does the motor have on it? Is there any codes? I would intentionly leave the vtec solenoid or pressure switch unpluged , and see if it throws a vtec code. Just to ensure correct comunication with the ecu. This is a K20A2 correct?

 

its a K20A2 and it runs AEM, so there are no codes. Also the problem is not electrical. I ran vtec off a 12V switch, it does the same shit. So it is definitley a mechanical problem.

Motor has 25K on it.

for future reference.

http://www.k20a.org/forum/showthread.php?t=6650

 

if you have a cheap gauge, well my boost gauge crapped out....

 

I have 80psi at idle warm or cold doesnt matter, 70psi during vtec switch and up to 100-120psi during load... Car has higher compression though

 

inspect your rocker assemblies to make sure all the vtec pins are in place. inspect the oil squirters to make sure that one has not been damaged causing excessive oil pressure drop. Checking oil pump is a no brainer at this point I'd figure. Also, make sure that the sealing bolt in the lower block is in place. If that sealing bolt is not there, you will have some pretty kicking oil pressure drop when using a k20a2 oil pump.

 

inspect your rocker assemblies to make sure all the vtec pins are in place. inspect the oil squirters to make sure that one has not been damaged causing excessive oil pressure drop. Checking oil pump is a no brainer at this point I'd figure. Also, make sure that the sealing bolt in the lower block is in place. If that sealing bolt is not there, you will have some pretty kicking oil pressure drop when using a k20a2 oil pump.

Where is that? I really haven't taken a look at a K20A2 block out of the car. Pretty much new to me. I have built a few D and B series motors, just never touched a K. The problem for me is the time to do all of this, because of being in school and work on other cars (drag car).

Also I tried two gauges to rule out the faulty gauge approach.

I have 80psi at idle warm or cold doesnt matter, 70psi during vtec switch and up to 100-120psi during load... Car has higher compression though

Did you have your oil pump shimmed or anything to get the higher oil pressure. I think my bro said the car stays around 60 psi when in vtec, but it still drops out at this Psi. I really need to tap for oil pressure in the head.

 

Where is that? I really haven't taken a look at a K20A2 block out of the car. Pretty much new to me. I have built a few D and B series motors, just never touched a K. The problem for me is the time to do all of this, because of being in school and work on other cars (drag car).

It's on the block just underneath the baffle plate on the intake side of the motor.

What RPM is your VTEC engaging at? will it engage at a higher rpm? You should have no trouble engaging vtec from 3000rpm on.

What condition was the motor in when you bought it? was it working before?

If the motor was running before, and was not changed then it's highly likely that you've just got something funky happening with your oil pump. If it was a freshly assembled motor, I'd inspect the rocker arms, run the VTEC tests in the helms with compressed air, etc etc etc.

 

It's on the block just underneath the baffle plate on the intake side of the motor.

What RPM is your VTEC engaging at? will it engage at a higher rpm? You should have no trouble engaging vtec from 3000rpm on.

What condition was the motor in when you bought it? was it working before?

If the motor was running before, and was not changed then it's highly likely that you've just got something funky happening with your oil pump. If it was a freshly assembled motor, I'd inspect the rocker arms, run the VTEC tests in the helms with compressed air, etc etc etc.

I have had vtec coming in at 3000, but I drove it everyday so I just tuned it for 4500. It was working when cody @ lovefab first did the swap. He tuned it and did a bunch of long pulls, then it started acting up. As far as I know the motor was in good shape we he got it.

 

Not sure where your at with the vtec issue? Dont know if these pics will help but here are a few....

 

My oil pump etc is all stock, I dunno why it has high psi, maybe its just a good pump..I beleive that some of the early K20A's had bad pumps in them. Maybe you need to check it out..

 

My oil pump etc is all stock, I dunno why it has high psi, maybe its just a good pump..I beleive that some of the early K20A's had bad pumps in them. Maybe you need to check it out..

Ok that is good to hear. I was atleast told from Cody that vtec wouldn't stay in if the pressure was any lower than 65 during vtec on an S2k. My bro has told me that the pressure is below 60 when vtec engages. I am trying a vtec solenoid that I just got from another member hopefully this weekend. If that does not solve the problem, the oil pump is coming out.

I am also changing the oil, any one have any suggestions on what weight.. .or better yet.. what is stock?

 

Not sure where your at with the vtec issue? Dont know if these pics will help but here are a few....

Thanks for the pics/manual pages. I don't have a manual so that actualy helps me out. :up:

 

Well I put a BRAND NEW vtec solenoid in the car. It seems to engage smoother, but it still ends up dropping out on the top end. Like going 2nd to 3rd, then into 4th... it will drop out as soon as you hit 4th.

Also oil pressure while in vtec is around 68-70 all the time. Even when it feels like it is dropping out it still stays at a constant oil pressure. Which is boggling my mind at the moment. That says to me there is nothing wrong with the oil pump or pressure. But it would have to be something in the head or maybe ignition??

 

Well I put a BRAND NEW vtec solenoid in the car. It seems to engage smoother, but it still ends up dropping out on the top end. Like going 2nd to 3rd, then into 4th... it will drop out as soon as you hit 4th.

Also oil pressure while in vtec is around 68-70 all the time. Even when it feels like it is dropping out it still stays at a constant oil pressure. Which is boggling my mind at the moment. That says to me there is nothing wrong with the oil pump or pressure. But it would have to be something in the head or maybe ignition??

Sorry to bring this old dead thread back up alive. I seem to be running the same problem here too, and would like some answers too. When warming up car, the pressure goes to 60psi and to 40psi when warmed. Cruising it stays at 90psi, but when vtec is in...it usually stays at 90, but now its increasing past 100psi. Is this normal or what's wrong here?