EPM-FI fault. Engine died whilst driving and Now won’t start.

[RBGambler]

Hi All,
I have a 59 plate Accord DTEC tourer ES GT for over a year now with 125k on the clock.

The fault is whilst driving this morning I lost power and could only do 20MPH, I thought I would try and drive it to the car garage but after 5 minutes the power was lost and the engine died with the dash showing an engine management at first. Luckily I pulled in a Layby and started the car which it did start and after 5 minutes of running the Error code on the dash was PGM-FI. The car now won’t start, the engine turns off but not starting.
I had the fuel filter replaced last week because I lost power then and the garage said it was a fuel pressure fault and the filter was in a mess. The car has driven lovely since. But my MPG has always been at 29??

I take it that the PGM-FI is something to do with a fuel injection fault?
I am praying it’s not he fuel pump as they are so expensive!!
Has anyone had this before? Sorry if Ihave waffled.
Thanks
Eddy.

 

[csak1981]

I'm pretty sure the owners manual tells you what to do when PGM-FI comes up on the dash.

If you ain't got an owners manual I'll have a look once I'm in from work and let you know what it says

 

[RBGambler]

Thanks for the reply.
I should’ve checked at the time. Currently I can’t get to my owners manual.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Did the garage that replaced the filter flush out the fuel tank and lines at the same time ?

How much fuel was in there when it broke down first time and did you run low at any point ?

 

[RBGambler]

The Garage did say that they flushed out the lines and put cleaners and additives int he tank.
The tank was running low and I was actually on my way to fill it up.

 

[csak1981]

I strongly believe air has entered the system going by what's written in the owners manual. Either the fuel filter top cap has came loose if they maybe didn't tighten enough or running the tank low and maybe going round a corner has gulped some air in the system.

If you give me a few minutes I'll try send some photos of what's in the owners manual explaining the PGM-FI system warning and how to bleed system to try and make the PGM-FI message go out.

It says serious damage can occur if you continue to drive with it lit. It says if you have to drive it then avoid full throttle acceleration and driving at high speed.

I'll sure Fahad can attest that non genuine fuel filters are problematic in the I-DTEC engine. Was a genuine one fitted? As this could be the problem also

 

[F6HAD]

It does sound like a fuelling issue, and the fact that the filter has been changed recently could point to either a fuel leak or air ingress. What’s the diagnostic error? Has anyone plugged in yet? The pgmfi light can illuminate for various reasons including faulty glow plugs.. in your case I would lean towards a fuelling issue based on the information you’ve provided.

 

[csak1981]

Here is the info from the owners manual
1st photo description of what the PGM-FI is all about the 2nd photo is the bleeding sequence. May i suggest making sure there is at least 5 litres of diesel in your tank beforehand as you said you were running low.
You could try this and hope that's what's causing it but i would try get somebody to read any error codes stored like Fahad suggests in order to prevent any damage trying to get the car started in its current state

 

[RBGambler]

Fault update!
Car all fixed now. My garage plugged in a Diagnostics reader and shows a blockage somewhere. My local garage was a bit shocked as Accord DTEC’s generally don’t have issues like this normally, so after a lot of head scratching they managed to get hold of the ex-Honda dealership mechanic that use to work there. He said there is a gauze mesh after the fuel pump that can get blocked. So the garage replaced the retainer kit & gauze and error message cleared. Feels good to drive now.
The garage said they missed it on the filter change and may have made it worse when cleaning the lines- If that makes sense? I suppose it doesn’t help when I run the tank low all the time. So only charged me for the fuel,30mins of labour and gauze and kit.

Thanks Guys for your useful tips and help this forum is Brilliant.

Now the car is better, I was thinking of having some sort of tuning or Remapping done to give a few more horses and better MPG. Apparently the DTEC engines are good the remap. Does anyone know of anyone who is reliable and good to do this? I’m in the Berkshire area.
Thanks again
Eddy.

 

[F6HAD]

Never heard of this gauze before, but then I’ve never known anyone trying to clean the lines in these before either. Glad it’s fixed

 

[RBGambler]

Thank you.
He did say that none of the mechanics knew it was there and relied on a ex honda mechanic. Or maybe he just fed me rubbish lol