So heres how it goes.....

I got this 98 Accord 2.3L VTEC, with 279k mile,s from a friend for a trade. I just wanted an easy 4 banger car to use as a daily driver. It needed a couple of things. Changed rear wheel bearing(had to cut the inner piece off with a grinder lol), tires were shot, interior is a disaster, and MAP sensor is causing surging. I noticed a few times though, when having the car running I'd I clicked the high beams, hazards, and/or blinkers, the temp. gauge would click in same manor as the blinker and with clicking the high beam on, most of the dash would flicker as well.
This issue didn't really cause much of a problem though.

No biggie. I did all that except MAP sensor issue. So for the first time today i decided to take it for a longer ride down the road. 5miles aboot. Once I got where I was going, with no issues and no bad noises at all, I shut it off to go into a store. I walked back out and opened the driver door. This car has a factory alarm but the keyfob either doesn't work or isn't made for this car.

Once inside the car I tried to start it. I put the key to ON and I noticed the clock was reset and not all the normal lights were on the dash. When I tried to turn it over I got nothing ..... no clicks or fuel pump noises. So I tried it again....and again and again........ nothing........

So I tried a few things but got no where. It was weird. I turned the key all the way and noticed the clock went off and once I turned the key back to LOCK , the clock reset. During this time with the key ON, I had nothing workin, headlights, windows, and interior lights. Well the alarm must not have unlocked or something. Tried the locks with the key in the door a few times.... got no where with that. Didn't hear the normal noises of the alarm inside goin on and off..... even the red light but the lock wasn't on.

I thought maybe it was low voltage, as maybe the battery was dead. Tried jumping it. Still same issues. Nothing changed. Only once did it make some noise of an attempt to start.

So gave up on everything. Decided to try and tear into the interior and see what's up. All fuses r good and all wires seem to be fine.

Well with that all being done, I said screw it. Let me put my OBDII reader on it and see what happens. Once I put that on and turned the key to ON, the car was now back to normal..... Uhhhh wth...... I started the car with the code reader plugged in. All back to normal. Car fired right up. No problem. While it was running I unplugged the reader... car bogged out and shut off..... what.... the.... fffffffff............. plugged it in and it was all normal again.

So guys.....(and gals)..... wth just happened lol. I though maybe a crossed wire or bad ground? While driving it home it was all messed up..... the blinker was causing things to turn off... same as door locks and high beams. Anything that used electric seemed to cause a ripple for all other instruments.

Also I used a multimeter and I kept checking things. Battery was a solid 12-12.5volts.

I honestly didn't see any noticeable wiring issues. I spent 6-7 hours on this car today in a hannaford parking lot lol. Any insight would be great. I really gotta get this car running good. It runs so prefect besides this issue and the MAP sensor causing a surge ( which isn't all the time either).


Thanks,

B

 

If the clock keeps resetting recheck, with a volt meter set on resistance/continuity test, the memory fuse. Also check the underhood fuse panel. A fuse may 'look' good, but may actually be blown, you need to test the fuse.
With the scanner plugged into the port if there is a blown memory fuse the scanner may complete a blown circuit.

 

Classic bad gound. The code reader is prviding that.

Since you have no history of the car. Inspect the battery cables (both). On the ground cable check the other end where it connects to the body and then the trans.

You also want to check the main ground (G101) on the deivers end of the TB/plenum - do a search on here for a pic of the location, I know I've posted it at least 10 time here,

 

OK thanks guys. Sorry its been awhile since I've been back to check. I took the car a friend at a shop and they put on the alternator belt for me. And inspected it. I thought all was good.

Picked it up and still same issue. Haven't talked to him. Idk if he just did w/e or if it was working then crapped out. I hope I can find the reason its doing this. I drive too far for it to crap out and not work. :-(

 

Start at the battery, remove it, get it tested. Then clean the inside of the battery connectors, really well. Then make sure the posts are clean. Reconnect the battery with dieelectric grease. Start checking grounds, to the negative battery post. Best to get a good drawing, start checking engine grounds, then chassis grounds, finally check PCM grounds. If any are more than 5ohms, find the issue, and resolve it, or run a new wire directly to the negative post. Ground pounding is labor intensive, and systematic. A good wiring digram and a good VOM are the tools you really need.

Pay close attention to any type of "homemade wiring repairs", or seperated or damaged wiring looms

 

Just to be clear, a map sensor has never, in the history of mankind, ever caused a surge. When a map sensor goes bad the ecu will throw a code for it because it will be outside the range of values a map sensor should be giving off. If it's not throwing a code you can pretty much be sure there is nothing wrong with it.

My initial guess is that the radio/backup/ecu fuse is blown.

 

So I checked it out more tonight. Got the code p1298....... Bastard. I checked grounds and mostly what I could see seems to be intact.

Where is the ELD on this car? I check fuse boxes but don't see it unless it's under the box?

 

And seriously thanks a lot everyone. I have been searching a lot also. I'm just trying to gain all the knowledge I can.

The videos n other things I've found out about the p1298 code aren't for this 98 accord. They r mostly civics for civics. I just wanna make sure it's still similar before I tear into the fuse box.

 

1. In most cases, if the car starts and runs with an OBD-II reader/scanner, it is due to a ground issue with the ECM/PCM. The ground would be G101. It can be due to the ground connection at G101 or the ground wiring leading to the ECM/PCM.

2. To answer the question regarding the ELD, it is part of the under-hood fuse/relay box. If you take the cover of the fuse box, it will be brown color, with a 3P connector with the following wires: Blk/Yel, Grn/Red, and Blk. However, it may not actually be a problem with the ELD; but, with a fuse issue (driver's under-dash Fuse No. 6) or wiring (see next info.).

3. Some of the issues you describe would lead me to look closely at the following:

- Ground G101
- the wiring and terminals at Connector C204 (a 22-P Green connector located behind passenger side fuse box cover). There are a lot of different circuit wires that run through that C204 connector; for, example, hazards, dash and console lights, PGM-FI System, charging system (ELD wire to PCM), A/C compressor controls, EVAP system, tachometer, Back-up lights, gauges, engine mount control system, Indicators, A/T gear position indicator, and security system.

 

Awesome I will take a look! Thanks! :-)

 

So im bringing this thread back because I still haven't gotten this car running :-( lol. I haven't had much time lately and this was the only time I could really get back into it.

So I started working on it today......again..... I couldn't find anything noticeably wrong still. I looked at a bunch of grounds all over and everything seemed to be intact and nothing was broken. Now I plugged in my code reader and started the car. Everything seemed ok and even with the code reader unplugged it was running. Which it wasn't doing a few weeks ago when I tried to start it up. So I was messing wit the radio and I got it working. Once I turned the headlights on, with the radio on, the radio's sound cut out.
I turned the headlights off and the sound returned. ?? hmmmm....... I did it a few times and with the headlights off everything with the radio worked fine. If the headlights were on there was no sound at all from the radio. Just as I kept doing this stuff the car started to shut off like what was happening before. I plugged the code reader in and everything worked fine, but the radio with the headlights.
When I got the car the people who owned it before me had a sub box installed and the wiring was tucked all under the carpet and wherever else. So this got me thinking that maybe something was screwed up in the trunk where they had all the wiring just laying in a pile. I got to looking around and I found this:

IMG_20141114_132922_277.jpg Photo by Bdaturboteg | Photobucket

IMG_20141114_133003_298.jpg Photo by Bdaturboteg | Photobucket

IMG_20141114_133023_495.jpg Photo by Bdaturboteg | Photobucket

This ground wire was just laying in the trunk amongst the pile of wires from the old sub box. So wth.......Im guessing this might have something to do with my issue. Its aboot 2ft long, one side has a crimp open end, and the other is just a bare end. Its obviously from under the car or in the engine bay because its got wear and tear from weather.

Can anyone identify this ground wire?? I have no idea where its from. I haven't lifted the car to check underneath. Is there any ground wires to check under the car?

 

I was able to skim through a manual at Autozone today. I looked at the wire diagrams and none of the grounds were actually labeled..... sigh..........so I couldn't really make out what ground this one I found could be. Looks like someone took this apart and didn't cut it buuuuuuut inside the sleeve of the big ground is a small 10-12gauge blue wire that looks like it has been cut.......I hate electrical crap lol

So if not tomorrow then the next day I will get a chance to check things out again. I am not sure where this ground wire is from..... its really annoying considering the car runs so damn good once it is running.

 

Well I got some updated news


I was able to figure out a couple things and troubleshoot a lot. The code that keeps popping up is p1298 ELD Circuit High Voltage. First thing was to reset the ELD by pulling fuse NO. 13 (Clock Back-Up 7.5amp) on the passenger side fuse box and leaving it out for 10sec. After this I was able to start the car without the OBII code reader!!!!!! So that was a start lol And it also stayed running. First time its done this since I got the car. The Maintenance Required light has stayed on though, indicating the issue is still abound somewhere.

Now onto checking the ELD and ECM/PCM:

Since I had the car running most of the car was running normal but when using the headlights, 4ways, and other things alike, the voltage through the car took a dip. It was easy to notice because the motor would react as such. The voltage didn't drop completely, as in all lights remained lit up like normal after the initial drop. So using my multi-meter I tested the ELD for voltage and continuity between the ELD and ground + the ELD and ECM/PCM.

The ELD checked clear for everything. I got voltage and continuity to ground. The last part was to check for the voltage drop at the ECM/PCM. With the car running I was able to find that when using the headlights there was a ~2 volt drop between the 32p connector (A30, RED/GREEN) and the 25p connector(B20, BROWN/BLACK) of the ECM/PCM. Being there was a voltage drop, the service manual states to check the voltage drop again but with another ECM/PCM, which I cant do due to the fact I don't have another one.... lol

So im guessing that the ECM/PCM has an issue somewhere. I'm not sure if its gonna be internal or a wire missing/loose. I didn't get to finish today so I will have to another day.


I ended my troubleshooting by trying a few different things to see what else might cause the voltage drop. After doing everything I did, the only thing that caused the voltage to really take a dip was the headlights/high beams. The windows, sunroof, blower unit, and other stuff didn't do anything that I noticed. Weird part was using the radio. So if the radio was turned on after the car was running, there wouldn't be any sound. I turned up the volume and got nothing. So with the radio on and volume up, I turned on some other things and when I turned on the headlights then back off the sound was there!!!!!

For some reason the radio doesn't make any sound unless I turn the headlights on then off. With the headlights/marker lights on, the radio doesn't work, but once I turn the headlights off the sound returns. So everything else going on and off doesn't do anything to the radio....its only the headlights. I am close to figuring this out I swear lol .

If anyone else has any other input please let me know!!!!!

Big thanks to MAD_MIKE for the message and the added help.