I just purchased a 97 HX. D16Y5

It's got a few little glitches.

The previous owner had removed the CEL light, which I've replaced, but I'm also questioning the mileage now. Is there a way to verify the cluster with the car? IE, Serial number somewhere on the cluster, or is there a VIN imprinted on it? I'm curious if the car has the actual mileage as was sold to me.

Another issue is the fact the previous owner also switched out the stock exhaust and put in a header. It looks like whoever did it extended the wires, to put the o2's under the car, one in front and one in back of the Cat. My question is this, has anyone successfully got this to work? I'm slightly concerned the additional splices in the wiring may be causing a misread. I still need to check the resistances on the wires, and still researching how to do testing of the primary o2(5wire). I get CEL 48, but haven't pulled the actual code yet using a code reader.

My long term goal would be to just put it back to stock, and take out the header and put it back to normal, the way Honda intended.

The other code is a code 80. Which from what I can tell is the EGR system. From what I've been reading that's pretty common, so I'll clean that out.

I've reset the ECU a couple of times, pulling the back-up fuse. I can drive it for quite a while, but the CEL comes on again, after a few startups.

The temp gauge doesn't work on the gauge cluster either. I tried the method of disconnecting the sensor wire, and grounding it out, turning the key on and seeing if the gauge shot up to hot. It didn't move, it's stuck just above low. To me this indicates, that the gauge is screwed up in the cluster. Is it possible to replace just that portion of the cluster? Also, does the temp gauge wire go directly to the gauge cluster, or does it go to ECU, then to gauge?

I've also got the SRS light on, which I haven't even begun to look into.

Thanks for any help.

 

My guess is the car was at one time stolen? SRS is your air bag. It's not plugged in or maybe it's missing? You cluster can be repaired, but it can be tedious replacing gauges. If the gauge is dead try a junk yard for a new one. The only way to see if the mileage was tampered with is by looking at DMV records and comparing to what it's actually reading.

CEL 48 is Lean Air Fuel sensor defective circuit or unplugged / defective sensor - Which translates into an O2 sensor. I could not find out which one from searching, but a proper OBD2 reader will tell you. If the previous owner re-wired the O2 sensors that's where I'd start. Check out what they f'ed up.

If the new exhaust is smog compliant you should just leave it in.

 

Good luck sorting this out - I love my HX, fun to drive and mid 40 MPGs back in forth to work on city streets.

 

Even if they didn't mess up the relocation of the 02 sensors, manual transmission HXs do have a problem with 02 sensor CELs, but that's actually a problem with the ECU, not the sensors. Observe:



The only place to get the correct, updated ECU is Honda and it is very expensive.

 

Not if you find one on ebay. What you posted it states 98-00 but I know honda released a recall on 96-97 and possibly some 98 model civic's. With my 97 hx Honda has cleaned the egr ports, changed the primary o2 sensor, and ecu, then I also received a free tune up and oil change too from them.

The correct part number for the updated ecu needed for the 97 is 37820-P2N-A22 or the L62 if cvt, my 97 has the A22 now since the dealer replaced it for me. I think the old number is A21 but I never checked beforehand to see what it came with. If they live in CA then they will need the L22 one, and they also haven't listed what tranny they have either the 5 speed or the cvt unit.

Honda did have a batch of A31/L31's for 99-00 that had problems and has updated with them with the new number of 32. My 99 is actually a cali spec car and came with the L31 but I've replaced it with an A32 with one I found on ebay. It shoudn't be too hard to find one on ebay for the older hx's being 96-98 and it took me a long time to find this exact one for my 99 as the L31 for those are the most common from what I've seen.

 

Check whether the original engine has been swapped. An HX should have a D16Y5 engine.

 

Thanks for the responses.

I've already been pulled over once, and the cop was nice enough to check the VIN for me. Turned out it's not stolen. :D That was nice of him.

The ECU Part # is 37820-P2N-L22. Judging by your post Kista20, the L22 is the updated CA ECU? From what I've found, there's really not much of a difference between federal and CA models.

The car is a 5spd, it has the D16Y5, I made sure of that at least before I bought it.

Does someone have a link to some diagnostics for testing the o2 sensor? Or maybe even just a place that has a service manual online?

 

The Codes sticky describes how to pull the SRS codes. Has the car been in an accident?

If the temp gauge needle doesn't drop to cold when off, then the temp gauge itself is almost surely bad. You can replace the gauge itself.

Do you see an EGR valve and chamber? Post pictures.

The O2 sensor wires must be soldered and shrink wrapped.

 

Are you in CA or not? If not I would consider swapping out for a federal spec A22. The only difference that I can tell between the two models is different fuel mappings and the federal would get more mileage, they use the same o2 sensors, and egr system however the cvt is another story, obviously programmed to use the cvt but also the egr valve is vacuum operated aka mechanical and not electrical that the manual transmission ones received.

How many miles on your car? At around 115k miles my egr ports were clogged and I got the free tune up then sometime after that the primary o2 sensor went bad and then at 138k the ecu was replaced.

 

Alright, a few updates. I'm not currently living in CA. However, it's a CA model car. I'll keep an eye out for a Federal ECU, if indeed they do get better mileage.

The car has approximately 250,000 miles. I pulled the intake manifold and EGR based stuff. My question is, the port on the head, which feeds into the intake manifold is pretty clogged as well. Does anyone know where it pulls exhaust gasses from exactly? I'm thinking it might just pull it directly from the exhuast port? Maybe from just cylinder #4? Or does it have a whole system?

http://www.redpepperracing.com/techn...geViewsIndex=1

This gives more of a logical diagram of the EGR system, I was hoping for something a little more concrete.

Also, for the SRS connector for troubleshooting, is that the same one used to troubleshoot ECU codes(service check connector 2p)? I can't locate another two pin wire which I'm pointed to in "The Ultimate Codes Thread" Sticky, other than the one I used to get the ECU blink codes.

Anyways, appreciate the help so far, it's been great!

 

On B family motors there is a port through the head that channels exhaust gas from the exhaust manifold to the intake manifold. As long as you have access to one side of the port you should be able to use a tube brush with some solvent to clean the carbon and soot out of the port.

I've never played with this on a D motor, but it may be a similar design.