Don't be so hasty to replace the O2....bust out a multi-meter and measure the heater element resistance; should be ~15-40ohms. If that is out of spec, then replace the sensor, but shotgunning is never a good idea. As Jim explained, your wiring could have become comprimised.

i found this as i searched on the archived content and read that it could be a bad sensor, bad relay or fuse, or bad wires.

just wanted to know if anyone had experience with solving this problem on a 96 civic LX?

 

Do you have a meter to measure the O2 heater resistance?

 

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

just wanted to know if anyone had experience with solving this problem on a 96 civic LX?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Almost every one I see is from a bad sensor, but I still verify it with an ohm meter before replacing. (every once in a while an oddball wiring problem shows up)

BTW would the code be p0135? Post em up right.

IF it has less than 150,000 miles, warranty should take care of it.

 

i have one of those multimeters form harbor freight but im not sure as to what setting im to use. I suck with electronics but im not afraind to learn something new... ill post a pic of the multimeter tonight..im off to work.

BTW the O2 sensor that is bad is the top one located on the manifold before the catalytic converter. the onther one after the Cat is the secondary right?

Oh yeah the car has 120k miles on it. Time for a new O2?????

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chiovnidca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">IF it has less than 150,000 miles, warranty should take care of it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

On an O2 sensor? I thought that high mileage warranty only applied to catalytic converters.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by julio_bOostamante &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have one of those multimeters form harbor freight but im not sure as to what setting im to use. I suck with electronics but im not afraind to learn something new... ill post a pic of the multimeter tonight..im off to work.

BTW the O2 sensor that is bad is the top one located on the manifold before the catalytic converter. the onther one after the Cat is the secondary right?

Oh yeah the car has 120k miles on it. Time for a new O2?????</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, the primary O2 sensor is the one located before the catalytic converter. I'm glad to see you have a meter - lets school you on its use: First find the ohm scale (look for the Omega symbol). Set the meter to the scale that is just higher than what you anticipate on reading. Since the max this should read is about 40 ohms, just set the meter to the scale just higher than that (usually like 200).

Disconnect the O2 sensor from the main engine wire harness. You'll notice two black wires that go into the O2 sensor connector. Put the black lead to one of those black wires and put the red lead to the other black wire. The resistance reading should be displayed. If it registers something like OL, that means that the resistance is 'overloading' the meter - as in, the resistance is too high for the scale you've choosen. You will not damage the meter if this happens. All this indicates is that the O2 heater element has opened up and that you need to replace the sensor.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chiovnidca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Almost every one I see is from a bad sensor, but I still verify it with an ohm meter before replacing. (every once in a while an oddball wiring problem shows up)</TD></TR></TABLE>

I as well. The times that I've seen the wiring become a problem is when people install an exhuast and forget to disconnect the 2nd O2 thus pulling the wires right out of its connector. I've also seen a short in the wiring (Alt SP Fuse) that feeds the heaters but you'll typically get a code for both heater elements and the ELD (I think its the ELD too).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EE_Chris &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">On an O2 sensor? I thought that high mileage warranty only applied to catalytic converters.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Most 96 and 97 Hondas are covered by the emmision warranty extension for 14 years or 150,000 miles. Most emmision control problems causing the cel to illuminate are covered.

 

On my 97 I got that code and sure enough the heater circuit was bad, so I just went to the junkyard and grabbed one off of an integra for like 20 bucks.... mine was the secondary one... if it was primary I may have sprung for a new one since the secondary is really only there to see if the cat is working or not.