2000 Honda Accord

My check engine light has ben on for a couple of months now. I took the car
to get it inspected and they told me it is an automatic failure because of
the CEL. I took the car to a mechanic and he said that the air intakes are
clogged with Carbon. He said that he is going to clean them out and replace
the valve associated with it. Cost $800. I asked him if he would go ahead
and inspect it after the fix. He said I had to drive the car for 100 miles
or so for the fix to register and pass inspection. Does that sound right? I
know nothing about cars.

 

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Nobody has a ten-foot pole they want to touch this one with ??

(first sentence and last sentence make sense to me)


'Curly'

 

In many (most?) test areas, that's true. The ECU won't complain immediately
about a lot of errors but will wait to see if the problem is persistent.
Because of that, the ECU will also report if errors have been wiped clean
recently and the emissions test can't be completed until those indications
are clear.

Mike

 

No, he means the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) passages are clogged
with carbon.

What was the exact error code? P0401? P1491?

If you have a V6, there is a known issue with the EGR. It is covered by
TSB 99-085. Doesn't save you any money, but will fix your problem.

The 100 mile thing sounds right, the $800 thing does not. Does he plan
to spend six hours on this?

 

Yes. They charged me $480 for labor plus $160 to diagnose it. They said it
was a big job. It took them 2 hours just to diagnose the problem and 2 days
to complete the fix.. It has been fixed for a total of $950. The CEL is now
off. He said that it seems that this same job has been done before on my car.
His thought was the previous mechanic did not take off the manifold and clean
the other intake. He also said that carbon buildup was common on the V6 EX
model Honda.