lets say i do decide to ground my vtc's which arent a big problem yet. just some ticking sometimes when its cold, but nothing terrible. but i dont like it. and i'm also not fond of losing that power in the 3-5k rpm band. so, could i wire in a switch on the grounding wire? i would think it should work fine, since i'd be putting a switch on the ground. that way i could have them grounded like when i start the car up so i dont have the embarrasing ticking, and then unground them when the car warms up so i still have that power. thoughts on this? also, do the ticking vtc's eventually totally fail? or do they just tick and knock for the life of the car? i would think they eventually die, but i wasnt sure. TIA

 

This is an interesting question that James92SE is asking ... any VTC experts care to comment? I'm in the same boat with my VTCs and wonder if the activation after letting the car warm up would be a 'fix'

 

Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!!I wonder if Craig is gonna read this, I had talked to him like 2 weeks ago about doing this and I am gonna try it soon. I did the rewire and I am very happy with the results EXCEPT for the loss of power in the 3-5000RPM range like you said, James. I was thinking of wiring a switch that went into the car that allowed me to reconnect the VTC's if I wished to increase the power in that RPM band at anytime. This is very possible but the thing that concerns me, and I talked to Craig about this, is the possibilty of shorting anything out when flipping the switch while the car is running. I wouldn't do it while moving, just at a stop or while the car is off. I am going to try it this week and see what happens. Possibly tomorrow actually. I just need a toggle switch and then I will give it a go. Once I see what happens I will post and let you guys know.
-Adam

 

How bad was your ticking before you did the rewire? I'm about to rewire a 92 SE that I have tomorrow morning. If you have any tips, shoot them my way. Thanks

 

My ticking was getting pretty bad, to the point that it would do it when I started the car, and then go away, and then come back like every five minutes. I decided to do it after one day when it did it ALL DAY LONG!!!!!! I was absolutely horrified at the sound my car was making. Yeah, the rewire was soooo simple and worked like a charm. Get the intructions off of Craig Braces website. (I can't think of the address, just do a search here for Craig Brace and you will find the site address), But yeah, it is real easy, took me like ten minutes to do and that was taking my time and being careful. I still haven't done the rewire with the switch yet, maybe this week. Work sucks right now. But, yeah, if you have any questions, feel free to write me, fitz9999@hotmail.com Good luck and let me know how it comes out!
-Adam

 

I just successfully did the rewire! What a great thing it is. I have yet to drive the car, but it idles perfectly. No more noise!! I made the mistake of forgetting to shut off the ignition after checking voltages and stuck on the ground. It clicked, but obviously there was no harm done. Thus I'm thinking your switch idea may be a good one. I just don't know if it's good to be going back and forth. Big thanks to Craig and Ryan for instructions. I took a few pics along the way that I'll post to my website in the future.

 

that's the only concern I had with the switch. I also tested some things and grounded the VTC while engine was on and got a small spark but didn't seem to do anything more than that so it may be fine to do that, but that was my only concern. As for the switch, it would be simple to wire (getting through the firewall is a pain though).

 

Hey Congrats on the rewire. Sounds sooo much better, huh? Yeah, I wanna try the switch idea this week. I already have a hole in my firewall where I ran a power wire for my amp, so I can run the wire through that. I will try it and post this week.

 

Thanks. It ticked this morning, on startup, then went away right away. Then returned a split second and then went away. She said she heard a slight ticking at a stop light.