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EM Light / Engine Check Light

J

jakey1973

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Location
Berkshire
Car
2001 Accord Sport
Hello everyone.

My engine light is on - could it be anything to do with a blowing exhaust ???

A couple of weeks ago my Engine Check light came on when I was on the M4. After a few days it went away, so I thought it must of been a random one-time occurence!

Then at the weekend all of a sudden the car had a major spasm and the light came on again. This time it hesitated and felt like it was mis-firing but without the loud noises and it seemed to die on me! After a few seconds it then came back to life, but this time the light has stayed on since.

So; Ive read up on here and on the web about this and it all seemed to point to the EGR Valve. So tonite I have just spent a couple of hours taking it off, cleaning it with carb cleaner and got most of the crud removed. To be honest I didnt see any 'valve' so to speak so all i did was my best to clean that and the block-end holes where the EGR fits with a big squirt or few, thinking the valve must be hidden in there somewhere, and refitted it.

I then started it up and the light had gone out. I stopped and started it 3 times at 1 minute intervals to check if would come on again but all was clear. It was at this point i noticed the familiar raspy sound that you'd recognise as a blowing exhaust. Anyway thinking all was well i took it on a test drive but now frustratingly after a couple of miles the light is back again. So even tho I had initially dismissed the exhaust, but now I am thinking it could be contributing to this light.

In the meantime I do have a fault code reader coming to me, but i thought i would ask the question whether a blowing exhaust could actually throw up this engine check light? And if not if anyone has any other ideas on what could be happening?

Any help would be very welcome and much appreciated!

Geoff.
 
Graet detail of fualt Geoff ;) .


What engine do you have tho? i.e. 2L, 1.8L, petrol or deisel?
What millage is your car done?

Ye engine management light (EML) can come on if your exhaust is nackered! It can couse the lamda to read too high or low depends on whats happing.

check under your car to see if its "blowing" any where.


A sneeky feeling ave got If its a petrol model. I would be thinking ignition, the coil packs are a comon problem with the honda engines

(lol this is the part where he says its a deisel :lol: )

hope to here from you soon
 
Hi thanks for the reply, its a 1.8L on a 2001 which has done just shy of 115k. Thats handy to know. i dont know where the lamda sensors are positioned but the blowing seems to be coming from the middle box area.

Ive now got my little scanner thing so i am going to check that at lunchtime!

ive also heard about 'coil packs' - what are they? do you mean the spark leads by any chance?

thanks again!
 
Pepster said:
Before you go and spend your hard earned money swapping parts the best investment you can do at this moment in time is to get the error codes read off the ECU,

you could have a faulty o2 sensor swapping parts is the worst thing you can do without understanding why the MIL light is on..
Click to expand...


OK noted will do. Thanks!
 
Ok chaps; the code it came up with is P1259 01/01. My scanners's reference guide doesnt list this code!

and when i got in the car, started it up and the exhaust had fallen off !! so gotta go get this replaced anyway :-(
 
Hmmm..... Been doing some digging arround about this, came up with this hit. Admittedly its from the US but i ***ume the lumps are the same if not similar:

http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=1485884

Anyone got any ideas??

I havent checked my oil level to be fair, i have some left-over Fuchs at home i bought for my old CTR but cant remember the viscosity. Can someone on here confirm what i need for my 1.8L please.

I seriously hope its not anything to do with solenoid and all that jazz, I am a humble user not a mechanic and i havent a clue what i'd be looking at!! I am getting slightly concerned now i have to say :-(
 
ok no probs. im a bit confused about this.

ive just spent out a replacement exhaust as it fell off (!!) and the light hasnt come on since i cleared it using my scanner. im gonna check the oil when i get home and maybe top that up and hopefully the light will go out and never come back.....finger's x'd !!
 
Hopefully that's fixed the eml!!! Great news. With regard to oil i'd be tempted to get some 10-50 Fully Synth with over 100K.
 
OH.... MY..... GOD .....!!!!!!

I got home last night after watching the light come on yet again after the exhaust change - left it an hour - unplugged the dip-stick only to discover it needed more than just a top-up - there was nothing there!!!! In shock i got my prized Silkolene 5w-30 (expensive stuff for my old CTR) and it guzzled up 4 of those precious litres !!! Unbeleivable!!

So, I deliberately didnt erase or clear the code from ECU, rather leaving it to do it itself in the hope that the ECU would recognise it had oil now! Went out and tested it for a few good miles last nite but the light was still on when i got back. I started it this morning...about a mile later....HEY PRESTO - the light went out !!! It has stayed out the rest of my 4 mile journey to work too!

The added bonus is that the car is so much more responsive, and the Vtec seems to kick-in far better than any other time since i bought it in March.....i am just miffed coz the previous owner said he'd topped up recently and it did look nice and clean at the time.....what top it up from zero!!??!!

Only time will tell, but i am touching wood and my fingers are crossed, that thats the last of this episode!

Geoff.
 
yipes!fingers crossed!
 
Flaming hell!!!!! Lucky you caught it though. It's only 5 litres to fill from empty!!!!

Check the oil level at least once a week.
 
I would definatly check that your sump plug is tight also or that you dont have any leaks anywhere. If the previous owner was true to his word about topping it up then somthing is wrong somewhere! You are lucky that you caught it in time!
 
BigDave said:
I would definatly check that your sump plug is tight also or that you dont have any leaks anywhere. If the previous owner was true to his word about topping it up then somthing is wrong somewhere! You are lucky that you caught it in time!
Click to expand...

Yay I feel lucky!!! Unbelievable!! i always check that ive left nothing on the floor whenever i leave where ive parked and on my driveway....nothing! but i will check sump-plug. Another 10 miles today and no light! Yippee!

cheers to all that helped and encouraged!

geoff.
 
Fingers crossed for you Geoff,

hopefully no permanent damage done.

Looks like the code did relate to Vtec system then, ie lack of oil.
4 litres is a lot of oil though, especially if there is no trace of oil on the floor.

I take it that you have only recently got the car, is there any record of when the oil was last changed ?

Could be just a mistake (big one) on refilling, maybe once your satisfied that it is at the correct level maybe check once a day at first until your confident that there isn't a serious oil loss.
 
woooffh m8 thats unreal!

i want your oil pump coz it must of been working over time to be running on 1L of oil ;) the oil light should of came on by then! have a wee check at that :)

i be the v-tech was feeling redundent till the other day!

i wouldnt of thought any permament damge would of been done, hondas are bullet proof!

keep us updated Geoff hope its all sorted tho
 
errrr no there not lol. I'm on my second rebuild on my atr.

It ceased on 135 000 miles due to be thrashed everywhere and having no respect for the car. Then again i only paid 800 quid for it in 2007

had it rebuilt by some numpty that said he knew what he was doing so it packed up at around 137000 miles due to cheap shells and not being measured up correctly to the crank

so rebuilt again but by andy at vtec direct and now its on 150000 but in need of tlc in other places now lol.
 
Well we are almost 2 weeks later and no sign of the engine check light :) :) :)

well the new owner hasnt contacted me anyway!!

must of been the lack of oil that it didnt like. :rolleyes:

cheers for all your help to date chaps, but for now ive entered another realm that of a Vx owner - wish me luck.

wish you all the best, till the next time......bonjour!
 
You'll need it :lol:

Been there done that and got the t-shirt!
 
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