HI guys i'm having a bit of a nightmare here. some of u have already given me some suggestions for this but im still limp *sigh*

the story so far....

the car ( '94 sir2 civic) has been in limp mode for a week or so now, it started the morning after a cold night and was running fine the day before. it splutters to life and backfires if any throttle is applied, but runs much better afer a few seconds, when the CEL comes on. Honda tell me it is a map sensor code.

I got a map sensor from a scrappy and changed it, took the -ve terminal off the battery for an hour or so then tried again - no luck. so first question...

do u need to reset the CEL fault with a code reader or does disconnecting the battery do that? i've been told a few different things by "reputable" mechanics

I have checked continuity from the ECU to the map sensor and all seems fine. the sensor is also returning the same output voltage as the original one, so i'm pretty sure that they are both fine. the output voltage changes similarly on both sensors when the revs change or the engine is switched off... so again, seems like the sensor is ok.

as i said its been a while and i can't really avoid using my car so i was wondering if driving it (gently as possible) in limp mode is causing any more damage?

also, there is a short harness between the ECU and the wiring loom where all the wires are green (not sure if this is normal, seems a bit pointless) ??

any ideas or suggestions wud be greatly appreciated, thankyou in advance.

 

Does the car bog down when you are driving it and come to a stop?

 

u mean drop well below idle as if its going to stall, then start firing again? (sorry im from the uk and more importantly, dunno wot "bog down" means)

 

The connectors for the Map and the TPS can get mixed up becaue they are they same looking plug. Did you do any work on the car the night before?? Make sure all of your vaccume lines are conected and there are no leaks.

 

I didnt do anything to it the night
before. I dont know a great deal about the engine, how many lines are there to check? also still unsure as to whether i need a fault code reader to reset the fault. I dont wanna waste anymore time assuming its still broken if thats the case, its cold wet and dark over here!!

 

Yes that is what I mean

 

sorry i should have added... yes it does do that. i'm running out of posts, but i'll be about if u have any more ideas

 

My car was doing that and I replaced the cap and rotor and the plug wires and that solved the problem.

 

Dont throw parts at it. You can reset the ECU by disconecting the negative battery terminal for about a minute.

 

thats what i thought u had to do. someone told me u had to reset it with a code reader grrr... well i work at halfords so i'll buy and return what i dont need, got to get to the bottom of this at some point.

i miss my vtec