Hi all, newbie here to the forum

I got a 2000 Accord 4 door sedan in 2004, and until about 3 weeks ago have never had any problems with it. Back about 2 months ago when I got the oil changed I was told the battery (original) was slowly fading and should be replaced. Of course I never did.

3 weeks ago I started to hear loud noises from the exhaust system, and when I peeked underneath I could see that part of the front muffler right near the engine had a hole in it. In addition, the cover of the catalytic converter was dangling down, and this appeared to have a wire of some sort attached to it. Also at this time, my "D4" light on the automatic transmission kept flashing after I started the engine without going out, and when I put the car into D4 from a full stop I had a very weak response. I had the transmission checked and all fluids in it changed last year (the car has just over 100,000 miles on it) so I don;t think the transmission is the problem.

2 weeks ago I had major problems; the readouts on the dash all died on me and the engine conked out. This was obviously a battery issue. Luckily I had a portable battery charger with me and was able to get the engine started again, and managed to drive out of harm's way onto a less traveled road. The engine then died again, but I was unable to get it going again as the clip on the battery charger broke on me. Luckily I was a mile from my local mechanic, who came down and got me going again with his portable charger.


I needed a new battery and a new alternator, and these were duly installed. About two days later, however, the exact same symptoms occured, and the car died again. In this instance, I was in a different town, and got towed into another garage (luckily one I had used in the past so could also trust). When I called the original mechanic, he told me to have the garage check the fuse box. Before I had a chance to relay this info, the garage where my car was now sitting called and said it appeared as if I got a faulty alternator. I then called machanic #1 and told him this, and he headed over to garage #2. As it turned out, the 20 amp fuse had in fact blown. This was replaced and all seemed to be well. When I started the car, the "D4" transmission light no longer flashed, and I had all my power when shifting into D4 from a hard stop.

Sunddenly, today, when I started the car, the "D4" light started flashing again, and I had the same sluggish acceleration from a hard stop in D4. I noticed that the broken exhaust system seemed to be hanging a little bit lower than previously, and am wondering if this has any bearing on the problems I have been experiencing. I managed to get the car home before I ran into any further trouble.

Any ideas what's going on here?

Thanks

Craig in New Hampshire

 

Sound like your #6 fuse under the driver's side dash fuse box has blown. I s this right? It is suppose to be a 15a fuse. Do you have a v6 or L4 engine? Maybe the mechanic who sold you a battery and alternator just should have replaced your fuse and diagnosed why it blew out. Let us know so we can further help you...

fiveten

 

Well the mechanic has been working on our cars for over 30 years, so he wouldn't BS me. The battery was definitely shot, as it was the original OEM battery (and had just gone thru 8 northern New England winters).

I just checked the #6 fuse and it does appear to have blown again. BTW I do not know what engine I have, how do I find out?

As I said, I also have exhaust system problems (broken tailpipe and the cat converter is gone, I think). In looking under the car, there is a piece of the cat converter cover dangling down and the only thing that's keeping it from falling off is a wire-could this wire be part of my problem? These electrical problems only started after I started having the exhaust system woes.

 

If it is in fact your #6 fuse that is blown then the problem is likely your cat heatshield shorting the secondary o2 sensor power. The #6 fuse powers the alternator, gauge assy, evap components, o2 sensors, ect. So when the fuse blows it looks as if the alternator is faulty but in fact the fuse blew because the heatshield for the catalyst shorted the circuit and caused the fuse to blow. I'm sure your original alternator was good. I harly ever see them fail. I am not disputing the battery though, I am sure it was bad. You can just remove the shield It wont hurt to remove it.

 

Great, thanks, this sounds like the best scenario. I just have a couple more questions.

I can't remove the loose dangling piece of the cat converter, as it has the wire running right thru the hole in the middle. I tried using tin snips that were not strong enough.

I noticed that the wire is attached to the converter. Can I unplug this wire in order to remove the loose cover? If so, how do I do this? Does it twist off, or just pull it out?

As for the other blown fuse issue-would this shorting out of the wire with the cat converter cover also result in my automatic transmission light D4 light blinking? As I said, when the fuse was replaced, the D4 light blinking stopped but apparently after it blew again it started blinking again.

Mahalo for your help (that's thank you in Hawaiian)

 

follow the wire up there will be a plug to disconnect. The fuse also powers transmission solenoids through the pcm. This is your whole problem.

 

OK, that explains all. Once it dries out here in the snowy northeast I'll try it out.

Thanks!

 

OK...I was finally able to crawl under the car and with the tin snips cut off the dangling piece of the cat convertor cover that had been apparently rubbing up against the wires. I was unable to "unplug" this wire connection, as it was some sort of solid plug not unlike a coaxial connector one might find on a cable tv lead in wire. I tried to unscrew it but no luck which is not surprising.

After doing this, and also replacing the blown #6 fuse at the same time, so far all seems to be well. The car starts and drives fine, and I have no blinking "D4" light in the automatic transmission.

However...

In removing the cover to the fuse box and seeing the diagram for the fuse box, the #6 fuse is shown as being a 15 amp fuse. My mechanic told me that it was a 20 amp. The other garage (not my original mechanic) in fact had replaced it with a 25 amp. I put in a 20.

Is using a much higher amp fuse than what is OEM recommended asking for trouble?

 

Yes it is!

Use the recommended fuse on the cover.

 

use the fuse that is called for on the fuse cover. using a higher rated fuse or jumper is asking for alot of trouble AKA FIRE