HOW IT WORKS

HOW IT WORKS

 Update - 10/2018 - New VCMTUNER II with automatic adjustment and full overtemp protection now available through the 'BUY' link.  The most advanced VCM controller in the world.

BACKGROUND

Owners of Vehicles with 3.5L V6 Engines have had too many trips to the dealership for engine vibration issues related to VCM operation.  In 2014, a lawsuit was won against Honda for the VCM mode causing excessive oil consumption known as the "honda misfire settlement".  Honda gave users of 2008-2015 vehicles an extended powertrain warranty to cover the repeated spark plug failures as well as excessive piston ring wear and failures to engine mounts.  At this time, the only option was to disconnect a secondary oil pressure switch on the engine to disable VCM operation.  Users reported their oil consumption was back to normal after doing so on Odyclub.com forums.  The problem was that a check engine light would still register with the vehicle and removing the oil pressure sensor would register the (CEL) Check Engine light which might also invalidate any warranties on the vehicle.

In 2014 a user on the Autoguide Piloteers forums named 'Tmuchacho' discovered that the VCM/ECO mode would not engage until the Engine temperature was above 167 degrees F as registered by the computer. (http://www.piloteers.org/forums/70-2009-2011-pilot/52001-vcm-cold-temps.html#post574897) Some users later soldered an inline resistor into a custom spliced wire harness and found several resistance values that kept the ECO light off on the dash.  Unfortunately  a single resistor value did not appear to work in all climates and with variances in all CTS (Coolant Temperature Sensors).  Later, a user named verbatim later sold a product called VCMUZZLER II.  Users of the product then needed to purchase multiple plug-in resistors that would work with the harness and swap them out seasonally to disable VCM year-round.  Depending on the resistor used in VCMUZZLER, there could be a large variance in the temperature gauge needle because the temperature could be some +/- 20 degrees off from the optional value to disable VCM operation between seasons, which could give sub-standard temperature readings to the dash on the vehicle.

TUNER SOLUTION

VCMTUNER utilizes a 10 position selector switch that includes a wide range of resistor values to accomodate a wide variance in seasonal temperatures, and allows one to dial in the value optimally to show a very small variance in the temperature gauge on the dash of the vehicle.   VCM can be re-enabled by putting the selector on position 0 without having remove the product from the vehicle.  For those users who are concerned about leaving the VCMTUNER on the vehicle during dealer maintenance, the product can be removed in a matter of minutes if one is concerned about the dealer making a fuss about it.  Not all vehicles have a battery box in range of the ECT1 sensor, so the VCMTUNER product has been revised to utilize a small compact tunable plug mounted to a factory pluggable harness that can be easily be re-tuned in fine adjustments.

Our original mounting solution only worked on a handful of vehicles, so a better solution was devised (see pictures at bottom of page).  My particular vehicle had motor mounts replaced at 68k miles.  They needed replacing again around 120k miles, as the vibration was so terrible my wife wanted to stop driving the car and sell it.  

Update: as of 10/2018 the VCMTUNER II solution now exists with automatic adjustment requiring no user intervention.  It also now includes the ability to restore the real operating temperature if the vehicle ECT temp exceeds 212F for peace of mind and also will automatically restore the real operating temperature when the unit detects the vehicle owner is attempting to do diagnostic work (e.g. throttle position re-learn) without pressing any buttons or intervention under the hood for a complete 100% zero intervention device when the car sits for a duration of 2+ minutes and the real ECT temperature reaches above 194F.  This same feature guarantees 100% normal fan operation when the vehicle sits for a duration of time as the unit uses an accelerometer to detect movement/momentum to estimate engine RPM across all 2005-2019 model years and restores the real operating temperature in that scenario, the minute the car accelerates the VCM disabling feature is re-engaged.

Both the VCMTUNER and VCMTUNER II are highly effective at disabling VCM, the VCMTUNER II will also disable the VCM 100% of the time in stop and go traffic as well as 100% on the highway when the ECT temperature warms up when the vehicle sits.  The original product (VCMTUNER) will disable VCM 100% on the highway once setup properly and about 90% in stop and go traffic when sitting for 1-2 minutes.

VCMTUNER RESULTS

After building the prototype and using the product, our engine vibration is now minimal and the car no longer burns a quart of oil every 2500 miles.  It also has substantially improved passing power on the freeway without hesitation.  This enhancement feels like a "Sport Mode" for the car as acceleration is improved.  Now that the VCM problem is resolved we love our Honda Odyssey Touring and won't part with it.  My wife once again enjoys driving this car and it's a keeper.

ORIGINAL PROTOTYPE w/ SELECTOR SWITCH (BELOW)

 

 

UPDATED VCMTUNER  w/ PLUGGABLE PORT. -55-257F TEMP RATING.

VCMTUNER 1.0 INSTALLED

VCMTUNER II - 10/2018

PATENT FILED JANUARY 2017

VCMTUNER is covered by US PATENT APPLICATION US 62/444,812 A.

Patent Pending covers use of digital, analog potentiometers in use with disabling VCM operation as well as the original prototype selector switch with different resistor values.  Patent Pending also incorporates optional OEM style dash switch to enable/disable VCM for use with various analog and digital implementations.

Update: As of 2019 the Patent has been fully granted by the USPTO as patent 10,240,541. This covers all analog and digital potentiometer / rheostat implementations in disabling VCM as a method and system.