how do i check the codes? i cant find the two wire plug. what does a blinking cel mean? ive never seen them blink while the car is running some times it blinks some times its stays on solid.

 

Solid CEL = something wrong

Blinking CEL = something is very wrong and your damaging something. Turn the vehicle off immediately and look at codes.

 

ok how the hell do i check the codes? im used to obd1 where theres the little two wire plug and you just jump it with a paper clip. i cant find that plug. its a 98 crv btw.

 

same way you do with obd1

 

I think a blinking CEL is something about the ignition or something like it, it's an OH **** warning

 

ya i cant find that two wire plug. anyone know where its hiding?

 

Blinking cel is usually a misfire in one of your cylinders.

 

so is it fixable? how do i check the codes to see what one it is?

 

Find someone with an OBDII diagnostic tool. Or buy one. You can find bottom of the line ones for about $50.

 

ok so crv's dont have the plug where you can do it yourself? a guy at work has one but ill have to wait till tomorow to borrow it.

 

you have the plug. it's housed in a pin protecting connector. the connector is green color. it's in the passenger footwell, to the left. near the lower console pocket. NOT to the right by the blower motor.

a blinking CEL just means that the code setting criteria for that code is being met at that time. it has nothing to do with severity.

 

there isn't a specific code when a misfire is indicated,just which cylinder is misfiring, you might have other codes to help figure out what it is. if it's a single misfire it might be a plug,bad wire, or a coil pack, if it's all of the cylinders, it could be anything from the fuel filter clogged to the timing belt having jumped a tooth

 

well i did some googling and seen this is a common problem so i went ahead and did a compression check #2 is only getting 50 and all others are getting close around 150. so do you guys think its the head/valves? or something else?

 

ok thanks i was looking to the right like on civics ill go look again.

 

i think found the plug but its blue and its got one brown and one black wire. is that the right one?

 

ok im getting codes 71 random missfire in #1, 72 random missfire in #2 and 74 random missfire in #4. im guessing this is all related to low compression in the #2 cylinder? where should i start in trying to fix this? also getting abs code 61 ignition voltage if thats related?

 

it may have been blue. i can't remember. but yes, if it sits in the dummy connector, that will be it.
sounds like you should do a leak down. likely an exhaust valve has hung open.
or you can go ahead and check the valve clearance at that cylinder. if there's no clearance, that's probably gonna be the problem

 

Wrong. A blinking CEL is a severe problem. Most of the time it's a mis-fire, which is damaging the cat.

 

ok ill probably open it up and see but im pretty sure the previous owner allready tried to adjust the valves because you can clearly tell its got a new valve cover gasket. so im assuming the worst and its probably got a burnt valve. so if that is the case im probably just gona swap out the whole motor. there are no heads at the locat junkyards ive only seen them on ebay where they are around 400 bucks and i can get a whole imported motor for 650 so i might just do that.

 

why would you swap the whole motor? get a used head,or get yours fixed

 

i cant find a head for under 400 and a whole motors only 600 with about 100k less miles then what i got now seems worth it to me. btw i can do all the work my self so i wont have to pay a shop to do the swap. not to mention i can get a high compresion b20 with more power then the stocker now. how much do you thing it would cost a machine shop to redo the whole head?

 

blinking cel is a misfire.

one or more of your spark plugs and/or plug wires is bad. Or you have a bad cap or rotor or distributor. Or you have a blown headgasket or destroyed block.

Start with the minor stuff.

Take your car to autozone or wherever to check the code. See what cylinder the misfire is on. If your spark plugs are gapped properly after checking them and they look good, then it might just be your spark plug wire going to that cylinder, but I'd replace them all at the same time.

And since something with your ignition is bad I'd check the cap and rotor while you're there. Look for corroded/flaky tabs in the cap and worn tab on the rotor. I'd replace both at same time if the cap/rotor is in bad shape.

 

i'm sorry, but you've been misinformed. the cel flashes once the ecm sees similarities within approximately 10% of all the factors of it's original code setting criteria. those factors are, for the most part, through load calculation, vehicle speed, and engine temp, which is stored in it's freeze frame data.

the cel only becomes illuminated (not blinking) if a catalyst damaging malfunction is apparent through 2 drive cycles. it's an obd2 mandate which all manufacturers follow.
furthermore, the ecm really has no way of identifying the severity. it only identifies that, in this case, a misfire has taken place, through crank speed, and o2 readings among other inputs.

now you know

 

just start by checking the lash. if there's no clearance in the exhaust valve of the affected cylinder, you pretty much know what your problem is. although, with those numbers, it's pretty clear. but check anyways. or you could get a leakdown done. up to you. either way, identify the problem first indefinitely, and then shop around before moving forward with anything. tbh, to change a couple valves, resurface, and pressure test, shouldn't be much more than 100$ if you look around. do the t belt and waterpump, and you've got a solid motor again for probably around 300$.
if you go out and buy a used motor, it has none of that done, so you'd want to do the t belt and pump at least anyways. up to you, but i don't see replacing the engine as an efficient option

 

ya im definatly gona talk to the machine shop to see how much it will cost to fix problem is i live in a small town and theres only one machine shop capable of doing this so i think it might be spendy and time consuming. i would really prefer to just find a used head cheap and slap it on there.