Hello,

I'm posting for my girlfriend.

She took her car to the dealer to have them check an ABS light that came on.

They ran the diagnostic and the following codes came up:

For the ABS

53-1 = ABS pump motor relay short
51-1 = ABS pump motor failure

Also the following codes came up:

P1438 Motor Drive Module (MDM) Overheating

P1439 Motor Drive Module (MDM) Short Circuit Sensor Problem

P0700 Automatic Transmission Control System

The Dealer suggested she get a new car.

According to them they would have to replace the ABS module along with the transmission.
Also they suggested once they're replacing
these items something else might come up.

She loves the car and doesn't really want to buy
a new car. It has 111K miles on it. She always
has it serviced at the dealer. She recently had
a brake job done there.

I don't know anything about Hondas so I'm
putting this up for some recommendations
from the group.

BTW if she gets a new car it will be a Subaru Forester. She just walked with the brochure.

Thanks...

 

This really depends on how much you guys personally value the car. Both repairs are expensive and excede the value of the car... only way it would be worthwhile to even think about is if you can do the repairs yourself, or know someone that can do it for cheap.

 

These are real codes.
I'm too lazy to give you diagnostics, check your PM in a bit.
No such code in the 98-02 FSM
No such code in the 98-02 FSM
Again, no such code in the 98-02 FSM
But this tells us the real truth.
This 'dealer' is using some generic code reader. And knows **** all about diagnostics.
P0700 is indicative of a problem of the transmission, but it cannot read what the code is, or the code is merely pending and has not set yet and the scanner cannot state 'pending codes' so it just farts out 'P0700'.
I'm going to guess that 1438/1439 are codes that only their scanner can come up to interpret 51-1/53-1 ABS codes.

Did you suggest where they could put their suggestion?
Sounds like total scammers to me.

If you can beg/borrow/steal a code scanner from somewhere else. Most chain parts stores will check your codes for naught. Make sure to get the actual code number and not a description.

 

Thanks ColeCooper90,

Looks like a new car is in her future.

Regards,
Caljav

 

Hey man, don't give up the ship just yet!

Look into this further, as Mad Mike suggested, her car may not be so bad off.

However, if you must sell, what state are you in? Could you part the car out for more money?

 

Hi Slow&Steady,

I asked her if she wanted to have a non-dealer mechanic look at it and she said no.

I think she was just upset as she really likes the car.

Her daughter's boyfriend knows more about cars than either of us and is going to
look at it tomorrow.

Ya, she's not too thrilled about getting a new car.

We live in the central coast of California and if she does get a new car she has decided she will probably donate the Accord.

Thanks again.

 

Central California? At least you probably don't have body rust problems there like we have in West Virginia!

I've already had my left rear "dog leg" (section of fender) cut out and replaced with a dog leg from a rust-free but wrecked Accord and that area paint-blended. Now I find floor pan rust that was hidden by that plastic trim that runs down both sides. On top of that, my brake and fuel lines under the car are so corroded, I have decided to park the car until spring because I'm scared one line or all lines will let go soon. It's a one-thousand dollar job for the dealer to do it, but I think I can do it alone but not in cold temps lying on my back on concrete so I'll wait for spring.

Believe it or not, one of my favorite hobbies is to look for 1998 to 2002 Accord sedan manuals for sale in California. I love my car so much too, plus I do not want a newer model and the current Honda's, with keyless ignition, scare me. I don't want a car that has that at all. It's just too complicated and expensive a system if it goes out.

Your problem is the number one reason I don't want ABS on anything. I haven't needed it and I think it gives drivers a false sense of security.

Bless your GF for wanting to help someone in need....hopefully her car (if she donates it) will do just that.