I'm in CA and I have an OBD2 1997 civic LX with stock motor. I passed the emissions and visual inspection of the smog check but I failed the functional test. The tech told me that there are malfunction codes saved in the ECU, and the smog computer knows this because it communicates to the ODB2 ECU by the diagnostic port on the drivers side.

Anyways, I guess I have been having a problem with the CEL lately. When I start the car from a cold start, The CEL comes on and just blinks non-stop. After I warm it up for a few minutes it still blinks. When I step on the gas to reverse out of my driveway the CEL stays on, no more blinking. Now, after the car's temp is normal, the cell is still on. Its not until I turn off the motor and restart it again that the CEL completely turns off. I will add that the CEL won't come on again while the engine is at operating temp. If i leave it for several hours, this whole process repeats.

Has anyone had this problem? I tried to get the CEL code with the speaker wire trick, but when i do that, the CEL just stays on, it does not blink or anything, so there are no codes? Its driving me nuts because I need to pass smog, and it won't let me pass while there are still codes on the ECU.

 

go to autozone they will test it for you.


Modified by Honda V-Tec at 4:51 PM 2/11/2005

 

reset your ECU and see what happens.

 

Why not just drive it around for a while before you go to get it smogged, then park it and pull the fuse to reset the computer and erase the codes?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TheCowGod &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why not just drive it around for a while before you go to get it smogged, then park it and pull the fuse to reset the computer and erase the codes?</TD></TR></TABLE>
READ!!!!!!!!!!
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rukawa1one &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> The tech told me that there are malfunction codes saved in the ECU, and the smog computer knows this because it communicates to the ODB2 ECU by the diagnostic port on the drivers side. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rukawa1one &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Its not until I turn off the motor and restart it again that the CEL completely turns off. I will add that the CEL won't come on again while the engine is at operating temp. If i leave it for several hours, this whole process repeats. </TD></TR></TABLE>

He said that once the car warms up it dosnt throw the code anymore so I was suggesting that he warm up the car then reset the ECU and go get his car smogged because reseting the ECU will erase the saved codes from it and since it is warm when he starts it again it wont display the code.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TheCowGod &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

He said that once the car warms up it dosnt throw the code anymore so I was suggesting that he warm up the car then reset the ECU and go get his car smogged because reseting the ECU will erase the saved codes from it and since it is warm when he starts it again it wont display the code.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I disconnected the battery and reset the ECU several times and it still does that. And no that didn't work, still failed. I got 1 retest left. My friend who works at the toyota dealer said that he would get me the code scanner to see if any codes can be pulled up.

 

I had a problem somewhat like that, turned out to be a faulty ECU. Try another ecu and see what happens, good luck.

 

are u serious? A new ECU? The state is stupid. All they should care about is that the emissions passed, not that there's a glitch in my car.