theres a slight kick... and if VTEC is not working, there is absolutley NO power over the normal engagement point.

My VTEC quit for a while... and I came to find that the wire in the engine harness was bad (somehow). I hotwired the solenoid from the connector at the solenoid to the engine harness connector on the strut tower... and it worked fine... so I ran a new wire to replace the one in the engine harness. I didnt pull the old one out, so im not exactly sure what happened to it, I just ran a new wire in some wire loom and attached it to the origional harness with wire ties.

Maybe something to look into. Also, make sure the engine has plenty of oil... VTEC wont work if the oil is low.