Thread: Cold weather = No VVL again...

im thinkin the t stat opens to early..

Funny. Same thing happened to me today. My ve runs really cold it seems. It struggles to get to operating temp with the weather we get in ohio during the winter. My idle increased itself by 200 thanks to the temp change in the past few weeks. I usually keep about 750-800 but with the motors temp being cold it stays a bit higher. I never understood why the idle shoot so high when its cold.

i noticed that also! usualy my cold idle has been at 1200 or so but lately its been about 1500 after about 15 mins of sittin there its usualy at 800 which is normal for her.. she runs really well the rest of the time, i noticed the difference right away an was like WTF? maybe i'll change my oil to some 5w30 an put a warmer T stat in

If you guys are using the temp sensor from the VE, that could be the problem. My car would stay "cold" unless I was idling at a stop light, then it would rise to the middle. Start driving, and it would drop back down.

Changed my temperature sensor for the gauge to a U.S. spec sensor, and it fixed the problem.

ya im using the sensor from my old de for sure, well actually its from my old old de lol but it worked fine, i also realized my normal idle is about 1500 an when its super cold it goes to 1700 or so which is understandable.

i let the car warm up real well an then drove it to the store to pick up some smokes.. on the way back from the store all was well in whosville

Have you pulled the solenoid assembly? Sometimes old sludge builds up in there causing issues like these.

Easy fix, just clean it out with some carb or brake cleaner. Enjoy popping cams again!

i havent touched that stuff.. i will do all that when i get some cams to put in for now just makin sure the cars warm does the job

My idle during winter shoots up to 2500-3k when i first start the car, the coolant heats up, the idle drops to like 1700-2k. Immediately after that the thermostat opens, idle jumps back up for a second, drops back down. Minute or two later down to 750 idle. No bouncing or anything. Never seen a car idle so high while cold

that in no ways explains their cold temps.

regardless of what harness you're using, the sensor that reads to the ecu needs to be the sensor that goes with that ECU, and the sensor that reads to the gauge needs to be with the gauge (some b chassis cars only have one sensor for both, and the cluster reads from the ecu)

that means for those of you running a DE harness/ecu, your temp sensors need to be DE sensors, and your cluster gauge sensor also needs to be a DE, whether its a b13, 14, or 15.

most of you are smart enough to know this, so for most, that explanation is a waste of time.

that leads to why it's probably the T-stat. when the car warms up, the thermostat stays closed so that the coolant heats up to bring everything up to operating temp. when its hot enough, a wax piston or bimetallic spring in the thermostat opens it to allow the coolant through radiatior to regulate temperatures. it then closes and opens as the coolant cools and heats up. its very possible that over the summer your Tstats got stuck open. you wouldn't have noticed because ambient temps were warm enough to keep things warm, and the operation of the engine heated it up enough to run normally. you don't see it with a cluster gauge, but if you have an aftermarket watertemp gauge, you get to watch as your coolant temp fluctuates about ~20*F between the opening and closing of the Tstat, and the rad and fans. again, a lot of you know this, so it's just for those who dont.


most of you probably have a DE lying around, its thermostat probably fits. test both with boiling water.

as for the solenoids not activating, a lot of cars with a variable valve lift mechanism (including Vtec) won't engage solendoids when the engine is cold.

Too bad I was not addressing his cold issues...Look at the 1st post of this thread.