Check engine lights and gas caps...

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monkey

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Just a heads up.

My mom has a 2000 Accord LX sedan 2.3L auto that she just loves. The car has been well flawless since she bought it. Well about 6 weeks ago, she called me saying that her check engine light came on and won't go off. She stated that my youngest brother has gasing up her car and that he didn't tighten up the gas cap correctly. She tightened the gas cap but the problem didn't go away. I told her to wait it out before taking it into have the car looked at. About 3 weeks after her car, I made a trip to Houston to visit family. I gave her car a good once over to see if anything was obviously out of wack.

I went through her owners manual about refilling and found out that her Accord has a vapor recovery system that would trigger the check engine light if the cap wasn't tightened with 3 clicks. According to the manual the problem would go away after 3 trips if the cap placed on again correctly. But it had been 3 weeks and much more then 3 trips. So I was at a crossroad. She wanted me to take it into the dealer to have looked at. But I was a bit skeptical. Instead I took a $10 gamble and purchased her a new gas cap from Honda. 2 weeks later the light still wouldn't come off. She was really getting worried now so I told her to go ahead and take it in to have inspected ($80). Well on the drive to the dealer, the check engine light finally came off.

Since the light didn't come of until an event (not closing the gas cap correctly), I knew it was something related to that. However I didn't think it would take soooo long for the system to recover from it.
 
monkey said:
I went through her owners manual about refilling and found out that her Accord has a vapor recovery system that would trigger the check engine light if the cap wasn't tightened with 3 clicks.
Click to expand...

ALL cars have that, ever since OBD II.
 
Since the light didn't come of until an event (not closing the gas cap correctly), I knew it was something related to that. However I didn't think it would take soooo long for the system to recover from it.
Click to expand...

That damn check engine light has become a cash cow for dealers. All the dealer will do is read the code, turn the light off, and tell you to bring it back if the light comes on again. That's standard procedure and the correct thing to do, but $80 to do it? Outrageous!

All you need to do is reset the light yourself. Make sure you have the radio code handy, then disconnect the battery, or pull the ECU fuse. If the light comes on again, that's the time to go see the mechanic.
 
Take it to AutoZone, they will read the code and reset it for free
 
Take it to AutoZone, they will read the code and reset it for free

Wouldn't recommend it. I went once and it took the moron more than an hour to do it. He couldn't find the plug to plug in the code reader. I had to find it for him.

....................
I do not killfile nor use do-not-call lists.
 
I am sure not all of them are the same. Or you prefer to pay $80 for somebody who can find it faster??
 
I am sure not all of them are the same. Or you prefer to pay $80 for
somebody who can find it faster??
Click to expand...

Just buy the code reader, bought mine for $10, and do it yourself.

....................
I do not killfile nor use do-not-call lists.
 
where did you buy it??

DrPimpDaddi said:
Just buy the code reader, bought mine for $10, and do it yourself.

...................
I do not killfile nor use do-not-call lists.
Click to expand...
 
monkey said:
Just a heads up.

My mom has a 2000 Accord LX sedan 2.3L auto that she just loves. The car has been well flawless since she bought it. Well about 6 weeks ago, she called me saying that her check engine light came on and won't go off. She stated that my youngest brother has gasing up her car....... <SNIP>
Click to expand...
Monkey,

If he overfilled the tank by 'topping up', he may have caused a couple more problems (which apparently took a while to resolve) because the evap cannister gets filled with LIQUID gas, and can take a while to purge itself. Depending on outside temperature and how far her trips were, it could take a while for the gas tank to stop 'burping up' into the cannister. Gas is very expandable and it comes out of the ground COLD, so you're not supposed to top up Hondas, according to the manual.

'Curly'

To REPLY: If there are a couple of underscores in my return address,

Regarding stage performances: When everyone else has finished playing, you should not play any notes you have left over. -
 
where did you buy it??

it was some auction site, unfortunately now defunct.

....................
I do not killfile nor use do-not-call lists.
 
I don't think you can find one so cheap, they are around $100
 
Are these code readers generic across all Hondas?
I have a '96 Integra, my brother has a 2002 RSX
and my mom as a 2000 Accord. It would be a great
thing to get then.

I remember years back when I was driving an old
beater. My dad had a chilton manual that said if
we pulled the connector from under the dashboard
ans shorted out certain points, the check engine
light will flash a code. Just wondering if Hondas
do that too. This was in a '81 Chevy Chevette.
 
monkey said:
Just a heads up.

My mom has a 2000 Accord LX sedan 2.3L auto that she just loves. The car has been well flawless since she bought it. Well about 6 weeks ago, she called me saying that her check engine light came on and won't go off. She stated that my youngest brother has gasing up her car and that he didn't tighten up the gas cap correctly. She tightened the gas cap but the problem didn't go away. I told her to wait it out before taking it into have the car looked at. About 3 weeks after her car, I made a trip to Houston to visit family. I gave her car a good once over to see if anything was obviously out of wack.
Click to expand...

I had almost the exact same problem right after I bought my car. I replaced the regular gas cap with a locking gas cap. The place where I bought the locking gas cap had incorrect lookup/cross-ref documentation, so they sold me the wrong cap. After 2 fill-ups, my CEL came on and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it. I ended up phoning Honda dealership and they told me that you can reset it by turning the car on and off 3 times. I tried that and it still didn't turn it off, so after driving around a few more weeks, I finally decided to take it into Honda - off went the locking gas cap and back on came the stock gas cap. The day before the appointment, I had to go do some shopping and go figure, the CEL turned off!

After that, I took a closer looked at the gas cap and noticed that although almost identical in sizing, the locking cap was a little bit shorter. Then through some sleuthing, I had somehow did some more cross-referencing and found out that they had sold me the wrong locking gas cap. Got the correct locking gas cap now and the CEL hasn't come on now for 2 years.

Just an FYI on the CEL... I've got a 2001 prelude and you can actually get the CEL code from it without the reader (although the reader will probably tell you a lot more). All we do with our cars is open up a panel on the center console (floor area) and there will be a connector that you can jump with a piece of wire or paper clip and then turn the car onto the accessory mode. The CEL light will flash out the code that is the problem and then all you do is look up the code.
 
Are these code readers generic across all Hondas?
I have a '96 Integra, my brother has a 2002 RSX
and my mom as a 2000 Accord. It would be a great
thing to get then.
Click to expand...

The affordable ones are OBDII generic across all makes of vehicle - dunno if any have brand specific switches/settings. I don't think they'll deliver the "freeze data" which could be useful in some situations; for that you might need a Honda specific reader and AFAIK that contains data that Honda is very secretive about... meaning big $$.
I remember years back when I was driving an old
beater. My dad had a chilton manual that said if
we pulled the connector from under the dashboard
ans shorted out certain points, the check engine
light will flash a code. Just wondering if Hondas
do that too. This was in a '81 Chevy Chevette.
Click to expand...

That works for some models, e.g. your Integra - the connector is tucked behind/above the passenger side kick-panel. Any model which started after ~1998 seems to not have the jumper method and requires a OBDII code reader.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??
 
Most Hondas will flash out a code if you don't have the tool. Don't know about the newest ones, but at least up to '96 they do.
 
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