check engine light

[johnjack]

weird thing happened to my 98 Accord LX. While driving I noticed a
considerable decline in acceleration and the car seemed sluggish, moments
later my check engine light started flashing. Lucking I was a couple of
miles away from work.

I visually checked the engine.. didn't see anything bad or damaged, then I
check the oil and it seemed very low to me. I added 2 quarts and since then
it has been running fine. However the check engine light is still on.. I
called Honda and they said I needed to bring it in and that the check engine
light had nothing to do with oil.. Any suggestions??

 

[John D.]

Perhaps the dealer meant that the oil light is supposed to come on if
there was a serious low oil pressure thing happening, not the Check
Engine Light (CEL). You didn't have that happen though.

You need to get the Trouble Code (TC) off your car's computer and see
exactly what is turning the CEL on. Remember, what turns it on is
usually related to emissions but there ARE other things that can be
wrong that do NOT turn the CEL on. Further, there may be OTHER codes
(stored) on there you can retrieve...the ones that didn't light the
CEL, which my be clues, too.

Still, IF you check your oil regularly, a sudden two quarts low is
very unusual, to say the least. Then again, I remember a few times in
the last 30 years when I checked the oil in my '73 Datsun and NOTHING
showed on the dipstick at all...put some oil in and all was well.
Still is.

If you take it in to the dealer, they may charge you $75 or so just to
read the code and tell you what it is. Consequently, you might FIRST
take it to AutoZone since they often will read it for free...then you
can decide where to go from there, to the dealer or fix the problem
yourself.

Good luck,

John D.