I have a 2002 civic ex. 1.7L Vtec, 5spd manual. It completely falls on it's face at 3800rpm no matter what gear, almost like a rev limiter. I was thinking the vtec kicks in somewhere around that rpm range. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have 100,000 miles on the car and this is my first problem with it.

 

Is the CEL ON?

Have you pulled the plugs to check their condition? When were they last replaced?

 

Cel has been intermittent since I bought the car 4 years ago. It always shows random misfire on all four cylinders. I put bosch platnium 2's in it about 30,000 miles ago. Tried the +4's but heard a lot of bad things about them.

 

Do you have any other codes besides the misfire codes?

The random misfire codes are the cause of your engine problem. Are the plugs are properly gapped? Have you inspected the plugs for fouling?

If the plugs are fine, measure the fuel pressure. One possibility is that the fuel filter is clogged.

 

I will do that. I have been told the only fuel filter it has is on the pump itself inside the tank.

 

That's correct, but measure the fuel pressure before you replace anything. Download the 01-05 manual at the Manuals link in my signature.

 

I finally got a computer to pull my codes. Here is what I found.

These are the reoccuring codes I have. I have been getting for months now.

P300 Random Misfire
P301 Cylinder 1 misfire
P302 Cylinder 2 misfire
P303 Cylinder 3 misfire
P304 Cylinder 4 misfire
P1456 Evap Emissions Control System Leak Detected (Fuel Tank System)

This is the new one I have got

P1259 VTEC System Malfunction

I cleared them all and so far so good but I still don't know what is causing it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

See post #4 and also check whether the gas cap seal is bad.

 

Thanks. Do you think that could be the cause of the vtec system malfunction?

 

I now feel really dumb lol The problem with my vtec engagement was becaue I was 2 and a half quarts low on oil. Problem solved though it runs great now. still diagonising the misfire issues. I will give update when I find a solution.