i'm driving a 95 accord coupe 5 spd. wondering if you guys could possibly diagnose some problems for me. sorry if this has been discussed but i couldnt find this specific problem.

for the past few weeks i've been getting the CEL. if i just start up and drive i'm fine. if i let the car sit and idle for a few minutes though, the CEL will come on, and stay on the rest of the trip. if im cruising for a while with no problems, and suddenly get stopped in traffic for a while, the CEL will come on, and stay on. seems to be an idling problem but im not hearing anything weird.

also, in a one time case, the car seemed to be randomly pulling back every so often while i was driving steady. kinda like if you dont give enough gas to get moving. that has never happened again though. thanks in advance.

 

You may have an issue with one of the O2 Sensor(s). Refer:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...NIFOLD+%281%29 and:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...T+PIPE+%282%29

It incorporates a heater element which may not be up to the job keeping the O2 sensor warm. While idling in cool / cold weather it may well set the code. It can affect idle quality and definitely fuel Milage.
To confirm this have the code retrieved, note the code and get back to this thread string; OK?

P

 

i dont have the manifold heatshield on anymore. could that be the problem? i took off the heatshield during the summer because i was going to put on headers. i never got the headers and didnt bother to put the heatshield back on. the CEL didnt come on until it started getting cold out too. i'll try putting that back on first. thanks a lot for the reply.

 

i finally looked up the check engine code realizing that all i needed was a paper clip. The light flashed 9 times fast, stopped for a bit, then another 9 times. I'm assuming thats a code 9. according to my haynes manual, i should check the "cylinder position sensor (CYP) and circuit." i'm trying to find more info on this. what do you guys think?

 

I've checked four (4) different sourses for OBD1 trouble codes and all four come back with this:

9*
Accord 85-98** Civic 86-98 CRX 85-91 Del Sol 93-97 Prelude 85-98
Cylinder Position (CYP) Sensor
Defective cicuit or unplugged/defective sensor
*N/A to any throttle body injection Honda's
**N/A to V-6 engines

On the '95 OBD1 Accord, I believe it's distributor related.
the '95 doesn't utilize the oil pump mounted tdc sensor

 

after research of my own i also found that it was distributor related. thanks for the confirmation. you're a pretty helpful guy around here . is it true that this sensor isn't exactly separable and i have to replace the whole distibutor or something? sorry i'm not so educated on the electrical side of things just yet and not sure what to do.

 

The only things servicable in the '95 distributor is:



#2 Distributor Cap & Seal
#3 Distributor Rotor
#6 Dust Shield
#7 Distributor base "O Ring
#8 Ignitor
#11 Internal Coil

I believe the sensor is serviced with the distributor housing

P

 

does this code make sense with the symptoms that i listed in my first post? its quite puzzling. from what i've read with idle issues, it seems like i should clean my throttle body and IACV. i'm going to try that first and see what happens. distributors are pretty expensive . thanks for your help so far.

 

I actually had a similar issue with my 99 accord exv6 when if i let my car idle for a while, the CEL would turn on. My OBD2 code though told me that I had a bad IACV... that would have set me back 250 bucks.. The catch though, was that I was also having some electrical problems that I diagnosed and ended up being a bad alternator. I replaced that and voila, no more flickering dash lights, flickering headlights, and best of all, no more CEL. I am very glad that I decided to replace the alternator first before shelling out the money for the IACV. I think that due to the weird voltage coming from the alternator, the IACV in my car wasn't functioning properly and thus threw the false positive CEL. Are you having any electrical problems with your car? You might want to try checking that out first.

 

not that i know of. the lights all work, no flickering. wipers, rear defroster, and power locks all work. The windows are slow as hell but i think thats a problem with most accords, due to the motors.

 

If you have access to a multimeter, it's not difficult to check your Alternator.
Set it to 12-20v DC
Red probe to the positive terminal
Black prove to the negative terminal

A healthy Alternator will supply between 13.8 to 14.2 volts to the battery (with the engine running).
If you're seeing 12.5 volts with the engine running, either the Alternator or the ELS has issues

P

 

the alternator was replaced a little before i bought the car as far as i know (within the past year or two). you guys aren't going to believe this but i cleaned out my throttle body last weekend, and i havent seen a CEL since. I havent even done the IACV or FITV yet. i disconnected the battery, so i'm wondering if the codes just got cleared or something. maybe they'll come back? i'm not sure whether i should be happy or mad considering another distributor is on the way to my house ($185 )

i apologize for the pain i'm causing you guys haha.

 

when you disconnect your battery, you basically clear the ECU of any OBD codes that it has. If after a couple days, the CEL does not come up again, then you can awesome that your cleaning of the throttle body has fixed the problem.

no pain no gain right? isn't that what the internet was created for? (to help those with questions and to share experience)