Victory for now vs. Check engine light!
 

Hi,

I thought I would just share with people a small victory ... I think at
least for now. A few months ago my check engine light came on. Took it,
Honda Civic 1999, LX 4 -Dr-Automatic, to White Plains Honda to have
them check it out. Before then panicking and putting in a load of oil
just in case ... had no clue..... $US 105 later, they charged me $US 95
+ tax, it was a loose gas cap. They reset the codes, light is out

Fast forward 2 months, light comes on again. Hmm.... should I pay
another $105 and be told it may be a gas cap..... I read the Honda
Users manual and they say drive it around for another 3 days / cycles
and see if it goes out. Drive around for a three days, no adverse
affects but light still on. I order a Actron CP9175 from Amazon for $US
144.95. This is one of those ODBII reader / scanners.

A week later and the Check engine light is till on. Actron arrives
Saturday. Plug in the Actron an see two codes P1336 and a P1337. These
are honda proprietory codes. P1336 means intermittant misfire or Cental
Speed Fluctuation (the "CSF") sensor failure, i.e. RPM fluctuation
sensor on the blink. P1337 means no signal from CSF sensor. So looked
like had an intermittiant falt then it went all together.

Anyways clear the codes by hitting erase. Cool lights out. Start car
and for a brief 2 seconds light stays off. Then comes on again..... uh
ohhh not good.

So go onto the net, and also look into the Honda Factory manual. For my
Honda it turns out that the CSF sensor is on the left hand side of the
engine bay car near all the belts. Go and take a look. Nothing wrong
there. And besides it is realy really cramped. Everything is cramed in
there. Look again... hey there is a plastic cable run rubbling against
one of the belts. Eeekk the belt has sawn though the outer coveing.
This was the cable to the CFK sensor. Reach down to see and notice a
plastic clip. Push the wire back into the clip. Clear codes restart
engine.

Bingo no light!

Maybe it will hold, maybe it will not. I guess the wire has been worn
half way through by the belt. When I stuffed the wire back into the
clip, what remains still was sufficient to send signal. Maybe the belt
wizzing by was shorting out the signal .... Who knows how long it will
last, the cable housing was ripped up.

So for now anyway novice idiot mechanic 1, Honda Gremlins 0.

Warmest regards, Mike.