Today my '94 Civic LX 5spd, 210,000 miles, threw a CEL 30 sex. after 1st startup and the engine instantly bogged down to about 1/2 power. 5 sex. later, CEL went away and engine power came back to full but this only lasted maybe 10 sec. before going back to 1/2 power with a CEL. It made my 20 mile commute with effort and used about 1/8th tank of gas. When I shut the car off and got out, an unburned fuel smell was coming from the tailpipe.

I jumped the diagnostic harness and all I got was a flashing SRS light and a solid CEL. So,
Key on, no jumper = no SRS/solid CEL
Key on, jumper = flashing SRS/solid CEL

Every EG code site I've read says that if CEL is solid with or without the jumper, then the ECU is bad. Is this accurate and mine is just on the fritz? I checked the solders for any cracks and everything looked perfect.

Any help is much appreciated, thanks.

 

Hah, sex.=sec. Autocorrect fail!

 

CEL code 0 does not necessarily mean the ECU is bad.

Does the engine currently start and run?

 

Also if it throws the code while driving pull over, keep the car running, then pull the code.

 

Yes, car still runs and all, just really slow and sputters. I guess code 0 could also mean bad ground(s), right? The CEL doesn't ever go off when the car is running now, and I have tried to check the code with it running, but all it gives me is that flashing SRS light. This is crazy.

 

A bad ground that threw code 0 would prevent the engine from starting and running.

When you have code 0 and the engine starts and runs, you would first check for a short in the service connector and CEL wires.

If there's no shorts in those wires, then you would try swapping in a known good ECU.

 

That was going to be my next best guess, thanks!

 

Okay, back from the junkyard with a $100 used ECU. Mine was a P06-A02, bought a P06-A01 as replacement since that's all they had. Started up with NO problem, no smoke, no pig-rich mixture, no CEL, no rev limit, A/C works again, the CEL code pull function works again and the SRS light does not blink when testing for codes.

A word of advice to everyone on here:
If you have a limp mode, a CEL that won't go away, and when you are trying to pull the codes all you get is a solid CEL and a flashing SRS light.............REPLACE YOUR ECU.