snowblind113

Hey everyone,

I recently purchased a 1996 Honda Civic DX with 192,000 miles, I got it at an excellent price and my 2door rx7 just wasn't cutting it with the mpg and increasing gas prices. Since owning the car I have cleaned the IACV, replaced the battery, changed the oil, replaced the gas cap, and cleared most of the trouble codes. for the past 2 weeks however I have had one CEL giving me constant problems.

Symtoms:

-CEL light was coming on intermitently until 2 days ago now is constantly on
-A/C does not work when this CEL is on
-Stuck in Limp Mode, can hear the ECU make an audible "click" noise when the CEL comes on.
-Will not rev past ~2500rpms (no tach)
-High idle ~1200
- Will not go faster than 55mph because of rev limiter
-sluggish acceleration
-Brought to Autozone and Pepboys and they were getting a "connection error" from the diagnostic unit

Former User

Try jumping the service connector to see whether you can retrieve the OBD1 code.

Also check whether 7.5A hood fuse 43 is blown.

snowblind113

I tried jumping with a paper clip and nothing happened, im going to try a piece of speaker wire since it might fit in there a bit better.

Checked hood fuse 43 and its fine, I replaced it though. the leads had a little tarnish on the ends.

What are the chances the ECU is no good? Last night when it was cooler out I tried taking the car around the block and the CEL went off for about 2 or 3 minutes before coming back on.

Former User

It's possible. Have you unplugged the ECU connectors and inspected them for corrosion or damage? Has your car been flooded with water?

snowblind113

I'm the third owner as of 3 weeks ago. History on the car suggests it hasn't experienced any water damage and an inspection under the carpets leads me to believe it. I will pull the ECU tomorrow, i disconnected the plugs and sprayed some CRC on them but I can't see the pins without pulling it out. I'll update tomorrow and with some pictures if anything looks suspicious.

snowblind113

Last night i started the car and had no problems, no check engine light..nothing. I live in NJ and yesterday afternoon it was about 85 degrees and very humid. At night it was around 65. Could the weather be causing the CEL? I am just very perplexed as to why I cannot get a proper reading from it. Here is a video of it in limp mode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_n6Y3aVE1Y (also has no exhaust from the catylic converter and back so it might be a bit louder than you expect).