C.E.L. & "safe mode" WTF? weird ? help.!!

[siren]

ok guys heres the best i can tell you what is wrong..

i get in my car tonight and when i crank it up the CEL stays on.. the car is LOW on gas, .. so i take off to the gas station thinking that low fuel pressure may have kicked the CEL .. so i fill it up put some gas in .. and i reset, or so i think, my code by disconnecting the battery.. but nothing gives the light is still on..

heres what the car is doing..

when i try to go over 4k it cuts out .. kinda like fuel cut on a turbo ..

did the low fuel pressure engage the CEL and the code is stored? putting it in a safe or "limp" mode??

is there anyway to clear this without taking the car to the dealership??

oh yeah. the car is bone stock.. and i havent checked the code yet .. its dark out :(

please help!

thanks
kris

[Sb00]

remove the battery cable as well as the fuse for the ECU in the engine bay.

let sit for about 10-15 min

insert fuse

reconnect battery cable

test the car

not sure if this is 100% correct but this is what i do everytime i add a part to my car, to reset the ecu.

hope this helps some

[siver-SI]

Low oil.

[David K.]

Originally posted by siver-SI
Low oil.

Yup.

[siren]

i checked the oil.. it wasnt low? ill check again though


if i add oil.. can i reset the CEL?

thanks

[siren]

also.. i just changed my oil recently? what would cause my car to use up that much oil

[ImPo Skyline]

i had the same problem about at about 200 miles. its a vtec falure due to low oil. (atleast thats what the dealership told me)
i'd take it in. its under warrenty right?
if not, change the oil, disconnect the negitive terminal to the battery and wait about 30 minutes. then it should be alright.

[Jpax]

How much oil did you put back into the car? 4.25 qts if i remmeber right is what it takes.

[siren]

Originally posted by PaXiE
How much oil did you put back into the car? 4.25 qts if i remmeber right is what it takes.

yeap thats what i put.. ill check again in the mornign and try it out..

thanks

[SilverEpInDc]

I had the same thing on my old ex and I took it to a dealer and he reset it

[02HatchSI]

well did it work?

[siren]

im about to go find out..

ill let ya know

[siren]

ok heres the latest..

i went out and checked the oil.. it was "low" but not much .. i went and filled it up. took about 1.5 qts.. so i dont think the oil leve is what triggered .. that doesnt seem low enough to put the engine in a safe mode..

so then i disconnected the battery and even the ecu fuse.. hoping it would reset..

well to no avail.. its still in like a "limp" mode.. or whatever..

so i take it to the local Honda dealership.. and they are book till NEXT WEDNESDAY! FAWKIN A! i cant wait that long..

i live in metro ATL so there is other dealerships, but should i but farting around the city going to other dealerships?

any other way to reset the OBDII ??

[siren]

ok just got off the phone with another dealership that can do it monday..

but he said that the CEL in the EP was only triggered my emmisions failures.. that oil levels would not trip the CEL ?? even in the manual it says that it only means that there is an emmisions problem??

ok so WTF? why would it trip this for no reason?

[Finger]

What's is a CEL?? :o

[siren]

Check Engine Light

[ImPo Skyline]

Originally posted by Finger
What's is a CEL?? :o
Check Engine Light. i asked myself the same question, but luckley i figured it out. I was the same way with SRI (short ram intake) i thought it was a dodge part for the SRT4.

[Finger]

Great! Now I feel stupid... thanks guys ;)



Originally posted by siren
Check Engine Light

[andy]

siren,

Which light on the dash is on? Is it the "maintainence required"
light, or the light that is orangish and looks like a...I dunno,
weird shape.

The weird shaped light is the emissions light. Mine is currently
on ("she's not exactly 'street-legal'", frank the tank). The maintainence required
light doesn't have to do with emissions and that is what I would
think comes on with low oil. How many miles do you have on your car?
It still sounds like something with your vtec solenoid is goofy (IIRC,
having low oil causes that solenoid/actuator to not fully activate,
or something along those lines).

Oh, btw, how long did you leave the battery disconnected for? It
should be at least 5-10 mins...

[siren]

its not the maintainence light..

its the "malfunction indicator light" "CEL"

its a pic of a engine..

i didnt leave the battery disconnected for that long :( .. in my mr2.. it didnt have to be disconnnected long.. so thats what im used to..

ill try leaving it off for longer.

[siren]

ok .. well i dont know what the hell is up..

so now the .. "limp mode" is off..and the car runs normal.. but the light is still on?? :mad:

[siver-SI]

I would say before you go to bed disconnect the battery both the postitive and Negative and reconnect in the morning.

[andy]

Originally posted by siren
ok .. well i dont know what the hell is up..

so now the .. "limp mode" is off..and the car runs normal.. but the light is still on?? :mad:

glad to hear it's still running normal.
with my CEL, the light will clear with a disconnect, but will just
reappear later (b/c the code is still there, sort of like in a
"pending" state). my guess is that you're gonna need to have the
code cleared. plus, if i were you, i'd want to know what the code
was.

[Rey]

For people who disconnect your battery terminals, do you have to use your "secret code" to be able to use your radio again?

[Prophet]

Yes, you have to use the "code" to be able to use the sterio. I just posted about that in the Electronics forum. I was told the code is on the left hand side of glove compartment.

[siren]

ok .. update on the problem

well.. i finally got the code go away .. i think after i disconnected the battery the emissions "readiness" codes had to be reset..

so now the car is running fine.. but i still dont know what caused..

thanks for the help boys

[glw]

Originally posted by siren
ok .. update on the problem

well.. i finally got the code go away .. i think after i disconnected the battery the emissions "readiness" codes had to be reset..

so now the car is running fine.. but i still dont know what caused..

thanks for the help boys

it was the oil... same thing (including the cel) happened to me. it can happen when it's only 1 qt low. it was the oil.

[02CivicSI-VTEC]

i am having the same problem right now but i just recently changed my oil and 2 days after damn CEL light ( LImp MOde) came on due to an engine bay wash. i think water got into the engine somehow but i dont see how it can because there is not opening.(motor is stock )

[4angrybadgers]

Did you go someplace and get the error code(s) read yet? There's no point in posting that you have a CEL if you don't have the DTC, because any speculation about the cause is just that - speculation.

BTW, bumping a 4-year-old thread is generally frowned upon...

[pkpkpk]

Hey, same problem here as well.

Just fill up the oil and it should be fine. I was on an on-ramp going pretty fast when it happened.
My oil was JUST at the low marker.

Filled the car up, reset the ECU (with code reader) and the light hasn't come on yet (it's been a week).

Phew.

[4angrybadgers]

Hey, same problem here as well.

Just fill up the oil and it should be fine. I was on an on-ramp going pretty fast when it happened.
My oil was JUST at the low marker.

Filled the car up, reset the ECU (with code reader) and the light hasn't come on yet (it's been a week).

Phew.

Topping off the oil will fix the problem ONLY if it was caused by low oil in the first place. This is why auto manufacturers use the OBD-II standard, so you can plug in the handy-dandy little code reader and find out why the ECU thinks there's a problem. Adding oil worked for you, but do not blindly assume it's the cause of a CEL. Check the oil level of course, but pull the codes to make sure it wasn't something else that went wrong.

Always, ALWAYS pull the DTCs before you assume you know what the cause is.

[pkpkpk]

Yups did that.

P1298 Air/Fuel Metering AND

P1259 VTEC error

To me, it made sense that the VTEC error was the culprit since I was rounding an onramp pretty hard and I was low on oil.

Cleaned the throttle body in the process as well. Could be the O2 sensor to address the P1298, but if that was the case, the light should pop back on.
Plugs are good.

Checked hoses etc. Good as well. Well didn't check for vacuum, what else?

[4angrybadgers]

The generic descriptions given by OBD-II code readers are not always correct, always check Honda's DTC list for the correct explanation. I think the list is posted on the forum.

P1298 is "Electrical Load Detector (ELD) Circuit High Voltage". The ELD resides in the fuse box and monitors the load on the electrical system. You can search the Engine forum for more info (several others have had to replace this) - Honda techs usually tell you to replace the entire fuse box, but there is a part number for just the ELD (around $25-30 I think) posted in the Engine forum.

P1259 is a "VTEC System Malfunction". Most of the time it is caused by very low oil. The fix is to top off the oil (which you already did); if it comes back, the VTEC sensor screen may need to be cleaned or replaced. Check your oil more frequently in the future.

[pkpkpk]

Hey man, thanks for you help.

You're right, DTC's are alot more explanatory.

[4angrybadgers]

Hey man, thanks for you help.

You're right, DTC's are alot more explanatory.

No problem. That's why I yell at people to check DTCs instead of just assuming they know the cause - it isn't always an obvious fix. :mbiggrin:

[fatathaland]

Nice, it's good to know our cars have such a preventative measure for low oil.

Anyone ever noticed that you can't rev above 4000rpm when in neutral? Another safety measure. Honda rocks.

[ALep3]

Nice, it's good to know our cars have such a preventative measure for low oil.

Anyone ever noticed that you can't rev above 4000rpm when in neutral? Another safety measure. Honda rocks.

I think that rev limmiter in neutral is only on 04-05's

[4angrybadgers]

Nice, it's good to know our cars have such a preventative measure for low oil.

Anyone ever noticed that you can't rev above 4000rpm when in neutral? Another safety measure. Honda rocks.

The oil has to get pretty low before it throws a DTC. Don't rely on that for your engine's safety.

Also, the 4k rev limit is only for limp mode, and that happens in or out of gear. The 04-05 EPs have a 5.5k standing rev limiter in neutral.


I think that rev limmiter in neutral is only on 04-05's

Correct.