Hello folks, new honda owner here. Its a 1992 Accord LX with an AT and 97k miles, I love it! Recently on a long (280 miles) trip the check engine light came on. I've been reading these forums about checking the code and today I dug round under the passenger footwell to find the blue plug to short. I couldn't see anything that resembled that. Here's what I saw:



Larger picture

Taken facing upwards, rear of footwell towards the top of the picture. I couldn't pull any of the wires or plugs out. do I need to unscrew the metal plate? It seemed that it may be holding some of the wiring in.

Also, my valve cover was a little loose, and was leaking some oil (I just changed the oil and tightened it down). Could this have caused the CEL to come on?

Many thanks, lads and lasses,

Christopher

 

Yes, your fuse might be blown.. change the Fuse.. to a higher number around 40

 

I can't tell where this picture is from, but the plug was under the kick panel on the far passenger side on my 92 Accord. It's the small plastic piece under the dash, and forward from the where the speaker is in the door. You pull the plastic piece off by first pulling the part closest to front of the car out. Then pulling the piece forward to get it out from under the plastic door sill piece. It is a blue two wire plug, with nothing plugged into it. Take a paperclip and make a U out of it. Then push both ends of the paperclip into the plug (to connect the two wires together). Then turn the key to the second position, and watch for the codes. Long blinks are for the 10 spot, and short blinks are for the one spot. So three long blinks, followed by two short blinks, would be code #32.

Oh, almost forgot, the leaky valve cover would not make the CEL come on.


Modified by BLKFLSH at 9:04 PM 1/14/2006

 

Dont do this!
you could do more damage!
40amp fuse

 

ProjectCD5, what the heck are you talking about? What does a fuse have to do with the Check engine light?

 

Thanks all, that picture is from the passenger footwell. I guess I'll just root around in there more thoroughly tomorrow afternoon.

RE: 40 amp fuse, I'm with TypRice and BLKFLSH, if in fact a fuse is blowing its for a reason which neads to be fixed, installing a higher amp fuse is just going to allow that to continue.

I was kind of hoping the CEL problem would be as simple a fix as tightening down the valve cover, but I guess not. Thanks for your help everyone, I'll be back when I find which code(s) are coming through.

 

Did you pull that little panel off to see if the plug was behind it?

 

No, I only knew that it was down there somewhere, I didn't know the panel came off. I did remove the A/C vent cover, but that didn't uncover much.

I think I know what panel you are talking about, and I think I know what you mean about removing it. Its dark right now but I'll give it a try tomorrow afternoon.

Thanks so much

Christopher

 

OK, I found everything OK, and I got one code: 12. I have a list which defines the codes, it reads "exhaust gas recirculation lift valve"

What does that mean? I understand the EGR valve is something to do with emissions. Is it serious? Can I drive safely without risking some type of major failure (car stops working or explodes in a giant fireball)? And...can I fix it myself?

Thanks,

Christopher

 

yeah you can drive ok,,,,,,,,,the only problem you might notice with the egr system is , if valve sticks open you get a runnability problem,, if engine runs even ,you can drive it like this with no problems,,

And do not listen to that meathead about the fuse ..he has no clue what he is taking about

 

It has been idling rather rough lately, I replaced the air filter (which WAS dirty) and sent a bottle of fuel system cleaner through. After getting the code, I went online and looked at some stuff, and it seems a rough idle is a classic symptom of the EGR valve staying open.

The light dosn't always come on, just a couple of times on long trips. It truns off when I restart the car, but has come back on a few minutes later.

I'm assuming its mildly sticking open, which is why I get a rather rought idle. Is it dirty? is there something I can do (short of buying a $150 replacement) to fix it?