Honda Car Forum

Check Engine light came on in May. Dealer couldn't figure out why,
reset code, and I was on my way, after paying $89 diagnostic fee.

A couple of weeks later, it came on again. They suggested "maybe you
didn't tighten the gas cap enough". Hah! I've been doing a minimum of
5 clicks since I got the thing! Got a new gas cap, they reset the
light, and went on my way.

Guess what illuminated my dashboard again yesterday? Dealer _still_ had
no clue "all tests passed". They reset the light, and at least they
didn't charge me the diagnostics fee again.

But, based on my experience, I'm expecting this thing to come on again
in the near future. I could do what the Car Talk guys say ("put a piece
of electrical tape over the display so you can't see it"), but that
makes me uneasy.

Based on the fact that it is a recurring same code, and I've done the
first steps of getting it diagnosed and getting the gas cap changed,
what ought I look for next? (Besides a new mechanic, perhaps?)

Thanks in advance.
--
aMAZon
zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

On Aug 2, 6:18*am, aMAZon <zeszutkoNOS...@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> Check Engine light came on in May. *Dealer couldn't figure out why,
> reset code, and I was on my way, after paying $89 diagnostic fee.
>
You have plenty of recourse since you had the Dealer work on it. If
the Dealer claims to be stumped ask to speak with the District Service
Manager so you can explain the issue to him/her. You need to force
your Dealer to elevate your issue within Honda's service organization
until they find the service tech who actually knows how to run
diagnostics. You may have to be rather persistent.

On Aug 2, 6:18*am, aMAZon <zeszutkoNOS...@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> Check Engine light came on in May. *Dealer couldn't figure out why,
> reset code, and I was on my way, after paying $89 diagnostic fee.
>
> A couple of weeks later, it came on again. *They suggested "maybe you
> didn't tighten the gas cap enough". *Hah! *I've been doing a minimum of
> 5 clicks since I got the thing! *Got a new gas cap, they reset the
> light, and went on my way.
>
> Guess what illuminated my dashboard again yesterday? *Dealer _still_ had
> no clue "all tests passed". They reset the light, and at least they
> didn't charge me the diagnostics fee again.
>
> But, based on my experience, I'm expecting this thing to come on again
> in the near future. *I could do what the Car Talk guys say ("put a piece
> of electrical tape over the display so you can't see it"), but that
> makes me uneasy.
>
> Based on the fact that it is a recurring same code, and I've done the
> first steps of getting it diagnosed and getting the gas cap changed,
> what ought I look for next? *(Besides a new mechanic, perhaps?)
>
> Thanks in advance.
> --
> aMAZon
> zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
> "It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

Take a look at this discussion of the issue -
http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...=&pagenumber=1

Dan D
'07 Ody EX
Central NJ USA

DJD58 wrote:
> On Aug 2, 6:18 am, aMAZon <zeszutkoNOS...@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
>> Check Engine light came on in May. Dealer couldn't figure out why,
>> reset code, and I was on my way, after paying $89 diagnostic fee.
>>
>> A couple of weeks later, it came on again. They suggested "maybe you
>> didn't tighten the gas cap enough". Hah! I've been doing a minimum of
>> 5 clicks since I got the thing! Got a new gas cap, they reset the
>> light, and went on my way.
>>
>> Guess what illuminated my dashboard again yesterday? Dealer _still_ had
>> no clue "all tests passed". They reset the light, and at least they
>> didn't charge me the diagnostics fee again.
>>
>> But, based on my experience, I'm expecting this thing to come on again
>> in the near future. I could do what the Car Talk guys say ("put a piece
>> of electrical tape over the display so you can't see it"), but that
>> makes me uneasy.
>>
>> Based on the fact that it is a recurring same code, and I've done the
>> first steps of getting it diagnosed and getting the gas cap changed,
>> what ought I look for next? (Besides a new mechanic, perhaps?)
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>> --
>> aMAZon
>> zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
>> "It's never too late to have a happy childhood."
>
> Take a look at this discussion of the issue -
> http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...=&pagenumber=1
>
> Dan D
> '07 Ody EX
> Central NJ USA

Thanks. Do you think the dealership would appreciate it if I printed
that all out and waved it under their noses the next time I go in? :-)

--
aMAZon
zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

aMAZon wrote:
> DJD58 wrote:
>> On Aug 2, 6:18 am, aMAZon <zeszutkoNOS...@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
>>> Check Engine light came on in May. Dealer couldn't figure out why,
>>> reset code, and I was on my way, after paying $89 diagnostic fee.
>>>
>>> A couple of weeks later, it came on again. They suggested "maybe you
>>> didn't tighten the gas cap enough". Hah! I've been doing a minimum of
>>> 5 clicks since I got the thing! Got a new gas cap, they reset the
>>> light, and went on my way.
>>>
>>> Guess what illuminated my dashboard again yesterday? Dealer _still_ had
>>> no clue "all tests passed". They reset the light, and at least they
>>> didn't charge me the diagnostics fee again.
>>>
>>> But, based on my experience, I'm expecting this thing to come on again
>>> in the near future. I could do what the Car Talk guys say ("put a piece
>>> of electrical tape over the display so you can't see it"), but that
>>> makes me uneasy.
>>>
>>> Based on the fact that it is a recurring same code, and I've done the
>>> first steps of getting it diagnosed and getting the gas cap changed,
>>> what ought I look for next? (Besides a new mechanic, perhaps?)
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>> --
>>> aMAZon
>>> zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
>>> "It's never too late to have a happy childhood."
>>
>> Take a look at this discussion of the issue -
>> http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...=&pagenumber=1
>>
>>
>> Dan D
>> '07 Ody EX
>> Central NJ USA
>
> Thanks. Do you think the dealership would appreciate it if I printed
> that all out and waved it under their noses the next time I go in? :-)
>

I'll get to see what printing out the discussion will do. Yes, the
check engine light came on -- again. 8 days after I had it in to the
dealership, where "duh?" was the answer I got to what was causing it.
Grumble.

Hondas are supposed to be reliable! My Civic (which I had for something
like 14 years) never pulled this nonsense.
--
aMAZon
zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

aMAZon wrote:
> aMAZon wrote:
>> DJD58 wrote:
>>> On Aug 2, 6:18 am, aMAZon <zeszutkoNOS...@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
>>>> Check Engine light came on in May. Dealer couldn't figure out why,
>>>> reset code, and I was on my way, after paying $89 diagnostic fee.
>>>>
>>>> A couple of weeks later, it came on again. They suggested "maybe you
>>>> didn't tighten the gas cap enough". Hah! I've been doing a minimum of
>>>> 5 clicks since I got the thing! Got a new gas cap, they reset the
>>>> light, and went on my way.
>>>>
>>>> Guess what illuminated my dashboard again yesterday? Dealer _still_
>>>> had
>>>> no clue "all tests passed". They reset the light, and at least they
>>>> didn't charge me the diagnostics fee again.
>>>>
>>>> But, based on my experience, I'm expecting this thing to come on again
>>>> in the near future. I could do what the Car Talk guys say ("put a
>>>> piece
>>>> of electrical tape over the display so you can't see it"), but that
>>>> makes me uneasy.
>>>>
>>>> Based on the fact that it is a recurring same code, and I've done the
>>>> first steps of getting it diagnosed and getting the gas cap changed,
>>>> what ought I look for next? (Besides a new mechanic, perhaps?)
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>> --
>>>> aMAZon
>>>> zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
>>>> "It's never too late to have a happy childhood."
>>>
>>> Take a look at this discussion of the issue -
>>> http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showth...=&pagenumber=1
>>>
>>>
>>> Dan D
>>> '07 Ody EX
>>> Central NJ USA
>>
>> Thanks. Do you think the dealership would appreciate it if I printed
>> that all out and waved it under their noses the next time I go in? :-)
>>
>
> I'll get to see what printing out the discussion will do. Yes, the
> check engine light came on -- again. 8 days after I had it in to the
> dealership, where "duh?" was the answer I got to what was causing it.
> Grumble.
>
> Hondas are supposed to be reliable! My Civic (which I had for something
> like 14 years) never pulled this nonsense.

For the _fourth_ time, car got taken to dealer. This time, I had to
leave it overnight so they could start with a cold engine.

Same code came up, same "smoke tests" were done, mechanic is baffled as
to why code is coming up, and no one knows what to do. "ATP" (all
tests passed) Husband is worried about passing inspection in a couple
of months.

I _wish_ we could find a definitive answer for this!

--
aMAZon
zeszutko at nycap.rr.com
"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."