I noticed that sometimes when the vvl is activated it is loud and sometimes i can hardly hear it. Why?

Both cams come in simultaneously.

It is most loud when the after an oil change.

Anyone else want to share their experience?

Peace

I set my VVL yesterday to kick at 7k and I felt it hit hard, but when I took my friend for a ride You couldn't feel it anymore :( IT seems to hit hard sometimes and not hit as hard other times.

ive noticed the same thing but its just random for me...

Ditto. For a while I thought it wasn't kicking in sometimes. I even installed an LED with the cam solenoid to make sure the trigger was working. I'll see if that changes with a Calum ECU and program. JWT WOT seems to be strong but the rest seems tame.

A lot of it depends on the oil pressure. If you don't use vvl often, the first time it kicks in the sound is not that loud, but when you get on it often, it sounds normal (loud). There're a lot of oil passages on the vvl system so it has to be primed inorder for vvl to kick in hard. Temperature is another variable, whether it is the exhaust or air temperature.

Wow so in order for it to always kick hard, you have to get on it a lot? Or is there like a warm up run 1st everytime you run it then it'll kick in? I wanna know this *** I'm leaning towards getting one for my b13.

Mr Sleeper your lucky there more than a few VVL guys in Socal.

Mostly depends on the oil pressure and how much oil you have in the motor.

Mostly depends on the oil pressure and how much oil you have in the motor.

So a high flow pump and larger oil capacity over a stock VE would keep the VVL available at high potential?

Wow so in order for it to always kick hard, you have to get on it a lot? Or is there like a warm up run 1st everytime you run it then it'll kick in? I wanna know this *** I'm leaning towards getting one for my b13.

Yes, at least once a day. Right before I get on the dyno, I would get on it hard to activate the vvl.

Also, if you half throttle the engine when vvl activate, the sound won't be loud at all.

mine depends on the position of the throttle, like 5speed said if it's half way open it won't sound as it should, it needs to be at WOt to be heard loud

Honda ECUs don't allow the camswitch until the engine reaches a certain temperature, so it would probably be best to wait until the motor is at operating temp.

That's how the factory ecus (Honda and Nissan) are set up. The engine has to be warm, and the throttle has to be more than half throttle before vtec or vvl activate.

Mr Sleeper your lucky there more than a few VVL guys in Socal.



Yep hopefully some of the vvl peeps can school me based on their trial and errors:)

A few possibilities:

- Oil passages dirty. The VVL system is "blind", meaning there's no oil flow THROUGH the system, it only goes in and out the same passages. Regular bumping of the VVL system is helpful to keep it cleaned out.

- Gimpy solenoids. They fail; both mine on my JDM engine were dead when I accepted delivery and I had to replace them. As a result, the oil passages were/are clogged up from oil sitting in there, cooking...

- Gimpy VVL solenoid activator. I'm assuming this is an after-install, and you're using an aftermarket solenoid activator (e.g., MSD or Greddy)? If so, check your electrical connections and ensure all is working properly.

If your electrical solenoids activate all the time as expected, then the problem is in the hydraulic passages. Ensure clean oil, and exercise those solenoids to flow oil in and out through there regularly. - GA

Greg did u get yours fixed? I rem you had a problem with it kicking over.

which one is louder when vvl activate? intake or exhaust?

Greg did u get yours fixed? I rem you had a problem with it kicking over.
Negative, not yet. I just got the new solenoids (using GA16 VTC solenoids) and I'll drive it for a while. If the passages don't clear out soon on their own I'll pull the valvetrain and clean it out manually...

is there an easy way to clean the passages? or is it just stepping on the gas and activating vvl to make oil flow and clean them?

is there an easy way to clean the passages? or is it just stepping on the gas and activating vvl to make oil flow and clean them?
If they are as bad as I think mine are, the only solution is to remove the valvetrain and clean it all out manually. For reference, when I bought my engine there was so much sludge (consistency of grease) in the solenoid body that when I tried to remove the solenoids I almost couldn't, because of suction. I pulled the solenoid body and cleaned it, but I can still see a lot of sludge up inside the head; I suspect the rocker shafts and maybe even the rocker arms are caked with the stuff.

I'm sure yours are not that bad. I'd suggest clean, lightweight oil (5w-30 or even 0W-30) and putting a manual switch on the solenoids to cycle them often. Even though the passages are blind, there's always some leakage past the rockers; if you're lucky you can probably clean them out within a reasonable time frame (a week's commute, for example). As the gunk starts coming out you'll notice your oil getting dirty, just change it if necessary to ensure it's clean. - GA