Team,
For the first time, my accord has left me stranded...93, with 177K. Where to begin:

A couple of months ago, I got the "fuel system" CEL. I swapped the O2 sensor and the code cleared and ran fine. A couple of days after that, I had one episode when starting the car it would initially start then stall. The complete start/run/die cycle only lasted a second...hard to describe but it was like the car was gonna start fine then died. Anyway, that happened for only three cycles before it started and ran fine for several weeks.

Fast forward to Monday: I got a strange smell in the cabin and saw a little smoke coming from behind the dashboard. Smelled like something electrical fried. The dash instruments (speedo/tach/clock) went to zero then came back on a couple of times during this incident but the engine kept running fine. Checked it out by looking under the dash panel for a scorched wire but couldn't find anything.

Yesterday (4 Jun 14): Car went through the start/die cycle like 5 times before finally lighting. During my commute, the dash went dead 4-5 times and the D4 started blinking constantly. The first few times, the engine ran fine, the last time, it seemed like the engine died (while driving) as well but came back on when the dash did. Car worked fine for several more miles. I parked the car for a medical appointment, returned and now all I get is the start/run/die cycle.

Also, for the last several weeks, there's been a faint sound from behind the dash, down by my left foot. Almost sounds like popcorn popping or a wire arcing. Checked it several times and didn't find anything. I chalked it up to the miles counter get creaky and "clicking" but I don't think that's right.

What do you guys think? This is my beater car that I love but I recently sunk $225 in ac repairs and my wife thinks I'm throwing money away. Dealership/expensive mechanics are not an option. Thanks for all!

 

you need an electrician you did to much damage. too bad something you didn't want to hear

 

The fuse/relay box and main relay are in that area so, it may be one of those. Or it could be a short. Seek somebody with good electrical experience.

 

Thanks for the tips. More background I just uncovered....it's flashing 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, and 14 on the TCU. No engine codes but the dash lights don't come on anymore when you place the key switch in the accessory position. They only come on when the car so actually cranking. Pretty sure I have good fuel pressure and I know I have spark.

 

Those are all sensor codes. And all those sensors are connected at 2 places: the ECU and the ground, which should be the one near the thermostat housing

 

I would pull the dash off the inside of the car or at least as much as you can and check the wires to the fire wall and make sure that nothing is exposed. The cracking noise you heard would be the wires Arcing on the metal causing a short which would be causing the short. Like I said I would find the culprit wire, follow it to both connections at each end and check the whole wire. then I would cut out the bad part of the wire and solder and shrink tube a new piece to replace it and everything should run fine as long as you didn't fry any sensors or any other major components.

 

with something like this the last thing yoy want is your car catching on fire, it would be best to let an electrical expert handle it imho

 

As long as he disconnects the battery there will be no power to the wires and he will not have any issues getting into the wires. Just pull the battery and investigate the wires until you find the wire that's causing the short.

 

the issue isnt when hes working on it the issue is when he turns the ignition back on

 

Like I said only mess with the one wire. Chances are he won't have any issues and will save the money that it would cost doing it himself. I've done it before and had no issues. Just don't short cut anything and do it all correctly.