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Any suggestions?? Yes, get it fixed.
i had a CEL thrown in our ODY and it turned out to be a leaky down-tube from the filler neck to the tank which the dealer located. took two visits to locate it but they did using a smoke machine.
geesh, it seems to me they are tossing everything at it in hopes of catching the true culprit, but not very selectively.
it seems they are forcing the customer to pay for stuff probably not needed. is that your read as well?
the price of getting a new OEM cap and slapping it on is even cheaper than an emissions check which is what $25 or $35.
the $20 may save the day... yeah, that is the route i'd go first.
then if the light didn't go out after a few days with several start cycles, i suppose i'd call an independent shop dealing with hondas regarding the code and inquire how they would diagnose and fix. i'd tell them what the dealer wanted.
also, not every dealer is going to charge the same amount for service or attack a problem in the same way.
good luck.
Anyway, my question is : can I nurse the rear sel leak until next year when I plan to get rid of the car? Based on my testing it looks like I am loosing around 1 pint of oil every 4000 miles. Does this seem like an insignificant leak? I know I know a leak is a leak but if I have to fix this then I am looking at $800 to $900 to fix it.
When I look under the car after I get home (45 miles commute), I see a drop collected at the bottom of the engine right where the crankshaft is connecting to the flywheel and clutch system ( based of my observation from the top of the engine too).
I know that oil leaks are hard to pinpoint most of the time, but are there more seals in this engine that could be leaking as well? I am afraid that even if I fix the rear seal leak, I may still see other leaks elsewhere.
Thanks for any input on this issue and I am very disappointed at Honda because I thought this engine could last at least 200K with no major problems!!
Lastly, should I trust the dealer assessment or should I get another opinion about the leaks?
sincerely,
Zak
thx
zak
In addition to this, the car has stalled out on me 4 times: 3 times in winter, and once last week (in 70 degree temperatures). It usually happens as I'm pulling into a parking spot, though it's happened at stop lights, too. The lights go out slowly, all of my warning lights go on (including the door ajar lights -- weird), and I lose power steering/breaks. The car won't start up again unless I give tons of gas.
I've tried running an error code reader to see if anything's been stored in the computer, but nothing comes up. I thought this was just a cold-weather problem, but last week's stall-out disproved that. In any case, I'm dreading the onset of winter with this car. According to Honda.com, the previous owner had the ignition switch fixed under recall, so I don't know what this could be. The car checked out fine with my mechanic when I bought it last summer.
Any ideas on what this could be?
Start with the battery, and measure the voltage of the battery with the lights on (to draw at least some power thru the circuits). Use a digital voltmeter to do this. Lets say you have 13.4 volts there. Now measure the voltage from the + battery terminal, to the engine block. This added the - battery cable into your circuit. See if the voltage dropped.
Do a similar thing with the + cable that runs to the starter (careful with poking around with a voltmeter on the starter), from the battery - terminal to the starter lug.
Common on older cars to have corrosion, usually up inside the connectors on either end of the cable.
The fix is to either replace the cable, or if the cable is long enough and the problem is at the end, cut off the connector and the bad end of the cable, and put on new connectors. Most cables are custom though and just the right length so that might not be do-able.
If this voltage is all good, then I would find a way to set up the voltmeter so it is monitoring your fusebox voltage while you are driving. I have done this with a couple short wires attached to a fused circuit. Pick a circuit that is a 'switched' circuit, which is something that works only when the ignition key is on. This will catch a problem if it is related to the ignition switch, or one of the main fusible links on the main power feed to the fusebox from the battery.
Hard to diagnose your stalling problem over the net, but you need to start eliminating potential problem areas, and starting with knowledge that your electrical is sound is a key step.
Any way to remove the converter and still have the car run properly as well as eliminate the error code? I know the o2 sensor will still be looking for a removed converter.
My 2002 Ex-leather got the exact same problem recently, right after my extended warranty was expired after 5 years.
Any help/suggestion please. My car is at inconvinient location to tow.
Put a digital voltmeter on the battery, and see if it is 13+ volts. If not, your battery is the culprit....go get a new one.
I doubt it is due to battery but tommorrow I will dry voltmeter.
Any other suggestion?
Thanks!
Each cell in a battery is 2.2 Volts, and there are 6 cells so you should have 13.2 + volts. If the battery checks out good, then I would suspect that you have corrosion in either your positive or ground battery cable. If you have a digital voltmeter, I can tell you how you can check to see if that is your problem. I've written the instructions previously in one of these Edmunds forums, but can do it again.
You can get your battery and alternator checked for free at one of the chain autoparts stores (Pepboys, autozone, etc), and they will do a load test on the battery and alternator to see if the alternator is putting out what it needs to in both voltage and current, and that the battery is holding the charge.
With a good battery and alternator, and then known good main battery cables, you then have a main fusible link (a hunk of metal sized to burn at typically 100amps or more). Since mentioned that you have a dome light but it is weak, I don't believe it's fried....but it could be corroded as well.
Corrosion in your battery cables in main fusible link, creates resistance in the circuit. What happens with this resistance, is that in electricity Voltage = Current x Resistance. So with a resistance in the wire, when you put current thru it, you will get a voltage drop across that resistance. That voltage drop on the other end, will mean that the devices that need the full 13volts to run, will get less than that and may not work.
From what I think you wrote your symptoms to be, you have lost the bulk of your electricity so it sounds like a battery cell has gone bad, or you have a very bad case of corrosion on terminals and/or up inside the sheathing of the cables.
There's other things it could be as well, but those are normally the culprits.
A silly question, I thought, if the battery is bad, if I use jump cable to connect to another car when I try starting engine, the engine should start. From what you said, seems that is not true, why?
How do I use digital voltmeter to check cable corrosion?
Thanks!
Andrew
Check your battery and alternator output. I'll search the forums to see if I can find my previous post which explained how to check for corrosion in the cables. I can't do that today as have other commitments.
Found the previous post in the electronic gremlins forum
Checking your battery to engine cables
You have two extra plugs though - more cost. It's a toss-up vote from me; I'm not sure! I think my car wants plugs more often than newer ones.
Sorry I'm not more knowledgeable on the spark plug issue.
Oil burning is identified by wet sludgy deposits, rich mixture by dry black fluffy deposits, overheated plugs by blistered or burned electrodes (caused by overheating or improper timing).
Normal plugs look rusty-brown to grayish-tan.
The swivel attachment for your ratchet is usually very helpful for hard to reach places. Have fun.
Oil filter not installed tight enough or an oil spill on the engine when the old filter was removed.
I read here not too long ago, don't remember which forum, where the poster finally figured out his overheating. When he had replaced the radiator, he had the wrong sized part. It fit, but had less fins that was supposed to.
http://techauto.awardspace.com/overheating.html
Mrbill
I need to replace two broken engine mounts on my 99 V6 4dr accord. I got an estimate of $320 from a mechanic who is known for honda repairs (not dealer).
Can someone please let me know if $320 is a reasonable cost (it seems high to me) thanks
(still) NotThereYet