Service Engine Light

[jsnell]

I was drivein home last night and noticed the service engine light come on. I own a 1999 Honda Accord LX 2.3Vtec. This is not the same ase the Maintenance Required light. Is there aything I can do myself to determin why it has come on? Or do I have to take out a loan to bring it to a Honda Service Department?

Any help would be appreciated!

James

[princess]

If you're talking about the "check engine" light there's a ton of possibilities!! It can come on if you forgot your gas cap, if you have a bad Oxygen sensor, on & on.... some very simple, some more complicated. A dealer would plug in a tester that would tell them which code was triggered & that would tell them where to start looking. If you have the right testing equiptment it's not that difficult, but most people don't have access to the tools.

This light is part of the multi plex system that monitors the engine for a bunch of stuff that includes the emmisions system. So a plugged EGR valve, a missing gas cap, a bad part all will trigger a code.

You can CALL a dealer before you take your car in & ask for the cost of running just a test to find out the code. Then when they tell you what part is involved you can ask the cost of that or you may be able to replace it yourself.

In most states it will not pass any "smog" inspections with the light on. Good luck!

[according2me]

The correct way is to use an OBD2 scanner, but in lieu of that...

I ran across this. Code scanning procedure for 6th Gen (http://www.honduh.com/showthread.php?threadid=107)

Inside of this post is listed another link to the jumpering procedure. I haven't tried jumpering mine yet (no CELs yet) so I can't vouch for it.

I've heard Autozone will scan your code for free. They hope to make a sale, of course.

Once you get your code, use the chart to islolate where to start. Also you can post the code on most Accord forums and someone usually has had a similar problem and may be able to shed some light as to the fix.

[BenjiBoy650]

Wow you frequent Honduh too? lol

[according2me]

Hi Benji,

Yeah, along with a multitude of others. But I'm active on only several. I tend to lurk and gather maintenance/repair info for my high-mileage vehicles.