My car failed smog test (functional) bcoz the check engine light wont turn on when i put the ignition key in "on" position. Bought this car 5 months ago. The guy who did my smog test said that the check engine light might have been tampered by the previous owner. I check all the wiring for any cut and i also swap and replaced check engine light bulb. And still didn't work. Brought to the shop but they were charging me $250 to fix it.. Please help! Thanks..

 

Get a multimeter and start probing around. Just make sure it is set on the right setting. There is a diagram on here somewhere. Good luck.

 

Did they tell you what was wrong ? Dont give $250 to a mechanic just to diagnose something.

 

Sometimes folks drive around with the CEL on, and never have it fixed. These lamps are not meant to be constantly on and can eventually burn out.

Pull your cluster out, there is a writeup in the FAQ at the top of the forum.
Remove the plexiglass cover and black plastic cover that goes around the gauges and has the colored inserts for the warning lamps.

DO NOT UNBOLT THE FUEL GAUGE!!!!
One of the terminals uses a teeny tiny thin stranded gauge wire, when turning the screws on the fuel gauge this wire WILL break. And the fuel gauge will be stuck on FULL until the wire is fixed again.

Just remove the plexi-glass cover and the black surround. You should now be able to see the various lamps for your gauges/warning lights. Note that some will have the same color base, grey, black, brown, green. This indicates their wattage. Only use the same color base lamps. If your CEL lamp is indeed burnt out you can borrow a lamp temporarily to fix the problem. To get it passed smog.

Granted the CEL should work, but with an OBDII system there is a more accurate way of checking the system through the 16 port OBDII connector under the dash. Seems kind of silly he failed you for that when simply hooking up the proper scanner would squawk any issues the PCM might have.

If you do want to just purchase a new bulb go to your local Honda parts depot and have them look up 'COMBINATION METER' for your car, it will have the below image and parts list correlating to the numbered parts. Cost of lamps are $1-5.

 

I replaced the check engine light bulb and still didn't not work.. Is there any fuse for the cel bulb? Thanks for your response by the way..

 

No, But they told me that something about electrical issue.. don't really have that much money to fix it so i refuse the service. Thanks

 

Remove the cluster as a whole and check the electical connections on the back are clean and tight. Remove negative battery cable, remove passenger side carpet, remove foot plate, and inspecte PCM connections. Make sure they are clean and tight.

Inspect all your fuses. Check the 7.5A fuse under hood, that is the PCM memory fuse.

 

I already checked the cluster but i dont see any loose or cut wire behind the cluster. Replace all the fuses with brand new ones. I did inspect the pcm for some loose connector too. Is there any wire or cable that connects to CEL in the steering column? Thanks

 

something to consider is grabbing another cluster from the junkyard and swapping the whole thing. I had to do that with mine, it randomly stopped working all together so I swapped it and it works great now. Just an idea

 

#7 fuse in the diagram is no.8 fuse 10amp fuse says turn signals but you can see the mil from ecu to bulb to fuse to ignition switch. why is the mil light joined with the turn signal fuse?