Got a CEL..... Sometimes... Need help

da9broda9bro Wagonist
in Engine & Drivetrain
Well i was driving friday night to go to a hooka bar with a friend and after I got the car over 45-50ish and stayed over that for a bit, my CEL came on. I dont have a loss of power, I just did a head gasket and valvejob a couple weeks ago and did some other various maintence as well. Only symptoms of the car running poorly is its terrible idle which I had before and after the head gasket so the two were not related. The car has relatively new spark plugs and wires and a good distributor and the grounds are all good.

Now my problem is that whenever I turn the car off, I lose the CEL. It wont stay on so idk how to check it. So i need help there.

Also, since the car is having no symptoms other than the poor idle which no one has been able to figure out, i really dont know where to start looking..

Comments

  • humorwvphumorwvp Wagonist
    Pull the carpet back on the passenger side, right under the dash. Remove the ecu protector plate. The ecu has a window with a red light that blinks. Drive your car around till it throws the check engine light, then pull over and count the number of times the light blinks. That's your code.
  • da9broda9bro Wagonist
    do I have a window of how long till the light will start blinking? I thought about doing that but I can only pull over so fast lol I had a 1990 integra so I know how to check when the CEL stays on, just never had it come and go like this on a obd0 honda
  • sofastsofast New Wagonist
    the light should blink within that ignition cycle no matter if the cel light is on or off.
  • humorwvphumorwvp Wagonist
    Yea like the guy above said. When the cel comes on, pull over leave the car on and take a peak at the ecu.
  • da9broda9bro Wagonist
    humorwvp wrote:
    Yea like the guy above said. When the cel comes on, pull over leave the car on and take a peak at the ecu.

    is it gonna continuously cycle the code while the CEL is on? or is just gonna do it once? if I gotta drive around and pull over multiple times to check this thing, I wanna make sure I know what Im doing lol
  • da9broda9bro Wagonist
    well drove it this morning till it got the light, pulled over, and it does the exact same thing as when there is no CEL on. one short flash every two seconds non stop. As far as I know, thats not a code
  • Old SkoolOld Skool Council Member
    http://ef-honda.com/ben/ECUcodes.php

    O2
  • humorwvphumorwvp Wagonist
    There is your answer. O2 that's a easy fix.
  • da9broda9bro Wagonist
    well maybe. doesnt always mean its a sensor, could be cat, injectors, improper valve adjustment, and other stuff, but I do appreciate the help in finding and reading the code!!!!!!! yall rock!
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