96accordOhYa

I bought a 96 Accord EX 4 door stick a week ago. The yellow DRL light was on and found out later on that night that the intrument panel illumination lights don't work. All the engine lights work though. Today I got in the car after having it parked in the shop for 5 hours at work warming up and drove out of the shop. Once I hit 3,000 RPM's the check engine light came on and it wouldn't rev above 3 grand. It just studdered like it was governed. It does this through every gear so I had to granny it home. Once there I researched a little and pulled the back up fuse for a minute to reset. The check engine light turned off until I revved it back up to 3 grand. Any suggestions?

MAD_MIKE

Beg, borrow, steal, OBD II scanner. Find out what the code is. Fix issue. Profit.

kidcool1977

Take it to autozone.

GhostAccord

Retrieve the code(s) stored on the ECU. With a scan tool or you could jump the SCS connector under the glove box and read the CEL flashes. The old paperclip method for retrieving codes works on the 96 OBD2 Accords. It won't give you the OBD2 X**** codes but it will at least give you the base 2 digit self diagnostics OBD code to get you started.

Solid CEL w/3000RPM limit is known as backup mode (aka limp mode or limp home mode) Usually triggered when one of the major PGM-FI systems are at fault.

harber79

Checked your oil recently, or has it been changed in a while? Sounds like a VTEC solenoid problem which uses an oil pressure switch, start there. If the oil change doesn't fix the problem, remove the VTEC solenoid and clean (FYI you'll need to replace the gasket). Once removed you'll notice a screen which can, and does, get clogged with gunk if the oil changes are too infrequent.

96accordOhYa

Ok so I went to Autozone and the code was P1361 which after researching means there's either an ingition misfire, a faulty ground somewhere or my TDC sensor is bad. Where the heck is the TDC sensor at? I'm thinking its a faulty ground somewhere because before the check engine light came on last night the instrument cluster lights came on for about 3 seconds, flickered, and then went back out and haven't worked again since. I changed the oil about 50 miles ago and then checked it this morning and its fine. It's not a VTEC engine. Any idea's where to start?

GhostAccord

P1361 is for a TDC sensor intermittent interruption.

Check the wiring/connection for the TDC sensor. It is located down by the crank pulley to the rear of the engine. There are 4 wires in the connector. The 2 TDC wires are green & Red. The other two wires are for the CKP sensor. They are the White & Blue wires. This connector could be dirty or loose and causing an intermittent signal.

Do you have an Accord manual and/or access to a multimeter? There is a procedure that you can do to test the TDC sensor and it's wiring circuit.

96accordOhYa

I just bought the car a week ago and it didn't come with a manual. I do have a multimeter though.

96accordOhYa

I'll check the connection right now and see if its good.

96accordOhYa

I checked the connector midway up the engine and cleaned up the bottom where it goes into the block. Disconnected the back up fuse, replaced the spark plugs and checked most visable wiring for shorts or breaks. Started it up with no CEL and drove it about two miles to a red light. As soon as I took off the CEL popped on and it still won't rev above 3 grand.

GhostAccord

Give this a shot

96accordOhYa

So I finally just took it down to the dealer and they said the distibuter was bad and needed to be replaced.

GhostAccord

Did they say specifically what was wrong with it? Possibly the CYP sensor? Other than that you can replace pretty much all the rest of the distributor components.

96accordOhYa

They said that they checked the wires and they were good. Then they said the tested the TDC sensor and got a lot of resistance and wrote on the write up that the TDC sensor was bad inside of the distributor and to replace distibutor. They quoted me $530 to swap it out. I went to a junkyard and paid $75 for a used one and did it myself in 10 minutes. I still have the same code and it still won't rev past 3,000 rpms. They told me that I had to clear the code. So I went to O'reilly auto parts and cleared the code. It came back on the minute I started the car. I'm gonna go down and ream them a new a**hole for charging me $80 for the wrong diagnosis unless I'm completely missing something here....

GhostAccord

I find that kind of funny that they said that about the TDC in the distributor. Considering that the TDC sensor isn't inside the distributor on the 1996 OBD2 Accords. It's located mounted on the oil pump housing behind the crank pulley and timing belt cover along with the CKP sensor.

The CKP sensor is the only one located in the distributor of the 96+ Accords.

You should mention that to them and see what they say.

96accordOhYa

I'm gonna bring it back in on saturday, I'll put them on the spot and get a good answer out of them. I'm so mad though bc if I hadn't been mechanically inclined and just said yeah go ahead and do it they would have gotten $530 out of me for a 20 minute job and a part that I've seen as low as $40 on ebay.

jdmcertified909

NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER take your car to a dealer there scams lol. they charge you for another thing they say is wrong with it and they fix the real problem low key. they try to "find" something that would be expensive so they can charge you for it. then they make profit fixing the real problem low key. dealers are scammers!!! NEVER take your cars to them!!

harber79

Are you sure you don't have a vtec? You said you have a '96 manual trans. ex accord. I thought the only two engines available for the ex were the 4cyl vtec or the V6 and the only trans. option for the V6 was automatic. Is this not a stock engine?