okay, my downstream O2 sensor on my 02' si is dead....according to the OBDII scan....well, this is the wierd part....this is like the 3rd time.....in a few days.....which at $250 a pop, is getting expensive and aggrivating.....we thought it might be the computer sending false data for whatever reason because of a bad reflash....and thought, maybe its got itself in a loop, and keeps the car running rich....which by the way we noticed this too (you can easily smell the gas). now, my car was boggin the other day, which i believe was because of the rich fuel to air ratio....i also now just recently after turning the car on after it sat for a week suddenly get "pending codes for misfires in all 4 cylinders" not sure what thats about but believe this whole loop deal could have something to do with it........all this brings me to this.....i believe my cat is bad and is blowing out my O2, since its located right on the damn thing...yes the cat is hot, but hotter than normal....and i smell a rotten egg smell..i know this also to be semi-normal...but i mean its real bad.....someone said the wiring or ground could be bad causing all my problems....but i think its the cat.......HOW DO I CHECK THE CAT IF IS BAD, because im not getting any codes saying the cat is bad....the only codes or for the downstream O2 sensor and the pending codes for the misfires that "magically" appeared even though no one has driven it since the day we took the ECU out....im getting a PLX wideband so i can hook it up to my brand new k-pro upgrade, but dont want the sensor to "die" if the cats just gonna over heat it again....any clues!? if you need more specifics i can tell you....i kinda went ADD/OCD on this post and randomized some stuff, but to someone who knows anything this should atleast make some sense!

 

What trouble code does it have stored?

 

p1298
p0140 (i think, cant remember, had it written down somewhere)
p1160

if memory serves me correct, those were the codes....all dealing with the downstream o2.

 

Check em again. Only one of those codes is valid, and it doesn't have anything to do with an o2. Year and model would help too.

 

02' civic SI.....p1298....p1164.....p0141......and another p1164.....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nos4a2si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">02' civic SI.....p1298....p1164.....p0141......and another p1164.....</TD></TR></TABLE>
p1298 Electric Load Detector (ELD) Circuit High Voltage
Most likely a bad ELD, there's a TSB on it.

P1164 Air/Fuel Ratio (AF) Sensor (Sensor 1) Circuit Range/Performance
Any aftermarket fuel mods?

P0141 Secondary Heated Oxygen Sensor (Secondary HO2S) (Sensor 2) Heater Circuit Malfunction
Is your o2 sensor getting physically damaged? If not i'd look for a wiring problem.

 

by chance could you explain an tsb, where is it, what is it? i know a bunch about the mechanical workings of a car, but have dwelled only minumlly in the electrical aspect. as for aftermarket fuel mods....lets see.....my fuel pump is stock.... it was a venom fuel pump, but it was defective and sent back.....6 months later, still waiting for a word from their company, anywho, im running a turbo setup that utilizes 550cc injectors. i have a fuel rail, but its not installed. im trying to not put anything more on the car until i figure whats wrong with it now. besides the fuel maps from the k-pro thats about all. i dont have a fuel pressure regulator because i was told i wouldnt really need one with the k-pro. the O2 sensor are not Honda, but are supposed to be OEM spec from walken. they wanted 250 for honda ones....rediculous but they are 4 wire. i dont see how the secondary could get damaged except if i have a bad cat....how do i check for a bad cat? possibly a bad ground, as for the wiring, i checked as far as the O2 to the connection which leads into the chassis, and into the firewall. havent checked in the engine bay. someone is supposed to have done that yesterday, i have to call to see if they found any bad wiring.

 

by the way....i do have a air/fuel guage, which is a one wire setup, that isnt even hooked up.....because the guys dont know how......idk why, they just havent really tried perhaps....i will be getting the plx wideband soon, which actually replaces the O2 sensor itself.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nos4a2si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">by chance could you explain an tsb,</TD></TR></TABLE>
Service bulletin

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nos4a2si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> i dont see how the secondary could get damaged except if i have a bad cat....e if they found any bad whow do i check for a bad cat? </TD></TR></TABLE>
The only way can see it is if the cat is broken inside and the pieces are physically damaging the sensor. If so, you should be able to tell by looking at it.

 

perhaps that really bad rotten egg smell? but then again, that could just be because of the O2 sensor sending bad data, which is causing that to happen do to an ultra rich fuel to air ratio. what im thinking is just take the cat off all together, and see whats happens from there. my car is already illegal as hell, and it wouldnt hurt.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nos4a2si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">perhaps that really bad rotten egg smell? </TD></TR></TABLE>
The rotton egg smell comes from the sulfur content of the fuel. I dont think it really hurts anything. (but i could be wrong)

 

To test cat, you can take it off and look inside, or you can drive car around for a while, then with engine running, measure temperature before and after cat. If temp is the same, cat isn't working. Rotten egg smell happens when you have a brand new cat, and also when there is too much engine load causing the cat to overheat.

If you get that rotten egg smell often, it means that either you have too much electrical draw causing load on your engine, your cat is plugged up, or you're an idiot and like to drive in the wrong gear keeping the rpm's high, thus overloading the engine and causing the cat to heat up. Overheating the cat is a good thing if you're goal is to gut the cat while it's still on the car, but the downside is that it will make your O2 sensors go bad.

I'm not saying this is your problem, just saying one of these could possibly be your problem. Oh, and unless your car is an HX, you can get the 94 Accord primary O2 sensor for $69.99 and place it where your secondary goes.

Sorry for the four paragraph essay.

 

I thought cats smelled like rotten eggs anyways.With my stock cat on my 97 it smelled like that when it was idleing

 

no prob man, essays are good. shows you know your **** when things can be explained fully with cohesive and non meandering sentences. as for the rotten egg smell, yeah, i know most cars always have it, just somtimes it seems like alot...maybe i have a good sense of smell and notice it more often because i hate it so much lol. as for the electrical load, we are replacing the ELD to see if that fixes anything. i wonder what could be causeing the load though...i dont have a system or anything. all performance, dont have any left over money for goodies like that. i still think just for the hell of it im going to take the cat off all together, i should see some extra horse being pumped out!

 

To check cat hold car at like 2500 rpm, but remove cat heatshields first, then get an infared temp gauge. Check inlet and out let temps of cat. The outlet will be higher if cat is good. IF inlet temps are higher, then cat be plugged, burnt, melted.

Absubtle
PA