Ask the Car People.SM


Check Engine light

1688 messages,  Last post on May 10, 2013 at 12:21 PM

You are in the Maintenance & Repair Forum.

What is this discussion about? Fuel System, Electrical, Engine

Messages Page 165 of 169

#1638 of 1688 engine won't start by dnungesser

Sep 05, 2009 (6:36 pm)

The battery on my 1998 Grand Prix died and after replacing it the car will not run.
I can put a jumper to the fuel pump and it starts and runs fine. I have electricity going through the fuel relay. Is there someithing I need to reset? Is there some sensors between the fuel relay and the fuel pump?

#1639 of 1688 Re: engine won't start [dnungesser] by kiawah

Sep 05, 2009 (7:32 pm)

Replying to: dnungesser (Sep 05, 2009 6:36 pm)
Stepping way out of my league here, because I don't have any electrical schematics for your vehicle. You're either going to find someone who works on those vehicles and has seen that problem before and knows off the top of their head exactly what to do.....or you'll have to invest in a set of electrical schematics to diagnose it directly.
 
There's a couple thoughts come to mind though. I have seen in a number of vehicles where the fuel pump is controlled (turned on or off) by the engine computer. Since you replaced your battery, I'm wondering if somehow you lost the brains to the computer and you need the dealership to reload/reprogram it. The thing that leaves me a little suspicious that his couldn't be the case however, is your statement that the vehicle will run if you provide power to the fuel pump. I guess if it runs poorly this still might be the problem, but if it runs fine then it probably is not the problem.
 
The second thing that comes to mind is that many vehicles have a relay which turns the fuel pump off if the car has been in an accident or rolls over, to prevent a fuel leak from a broken gas line with the electric fuel pump just pumping away. I know all of my vehicles have this feature in one way or the other (some by circuitry in the engine computer, others with a standalone function board), but they are newer than a 98 so I don't know when mfg's started putting this in vehicles. Owners manuals usually will have a writeup which explains how to reset this, if the relay is triggered. Perhaps if your vehicle has this function as well, that somehow the battery reset triggered this to occur.
 
The last thing that comes to mind is to check ALL of the other fuses with an ohmmeter, to make sure there isn't some other fuse that blew while the battery was being jumped or replaced.
 
Sorry I can't help you with any specific Grand Prix info.

#1640 of 1688 Chek Engine light and smell by iyke

Sep 21, 2009 (1:03 pm)

My 2005 Honda accord has done 56k miles, for some time the check engine light has been constantly and the Maintenance required signal flashes and goes off each time I start the car. Also, I persive a smell like gas any time I accelerates fast on the highway. please what are my likely problems and how do I solve it?

#1641 of 1688 Re: Chek Engine light and smell [iyke] by kiawah

Sep 21, 2009 (1:13 pm)

Replying to: iyke (Sep 21, 2009 1:03 pm)
Incredible,
 
Hope you don't smoke. Did you ever think that a gasoline smell could be gasoline fumes, or unburned gasoline?
 
Try taking your car to the dealership, or a competent garage who work on Honda's. They will check the engine computer and read the error codes. That will give them an idea of what to fix. You may have ruined your catalytic converter because you didn't get it fixed when the error light first came on.

#1642 of 1688 check engine light by iyke

Sep 21, 2009 (1:13 pm)

I forgot to say that I did servicing two weeks ago still these problems persists. I need help as there is no Honda dealer near me now.

#1643 of 1688 Re: check engine light [iyke] by kiawah

Sep 21, 2009 (1:14 pm)

Replying to: iyke (Sep 21, 2009 1:13 pm)
What error codes were in the computer when the mechanic pulled the codes?
 
Don't know where you live that there isn't a Honda dealership, but worst case there are certainly mechanic / auto vehicle repair shops that work on Honda's.

#1644 of 1688 On our recent trip to CA by euphonium

Sep 21, 2009 (1:57 pm)

The CEL would go on for several miles and then go off. When it was last ON, I parked the car for the night. Next morning, no CEL. We drove around the Bay area just fine except for having to buy a new tire in Dublin. Heading North out of CA, the CEL would go on for a few miles and then stay off for the rest of the trip.
 
It has been said, when the CEL goes on, it reflects a problem with the emission system so now I don't give it any importance.

#1645 of 1688 Re: Check engine light by slogan5

Sep 30, 2009 (4:39 pm)

I just had a tune up and fuel injection cleaning done at Precision Auto. Now the engine light comes on and it had never come on before I had the tune up. The mechanic checked the codes which read (misfire ??), but he said that it was a false reading, that it was because of the fuel injection cleaning that was done. He said that the light would go out on its own. It has been a month now, how long should this take and is this normal?

#1646 of 1688 Re: Check engine light [slogan5] by tony12345

Sep 30, 2009 (5:38 pm)

Replying to: slogan5 (Sep 30, 2009 4:39 pm)
slogan5, 09/30/2009
 
First of all, you have to say the year, make, model, engine size, and mileage so that people can get an idea of the type of car we are dealing with. Second, fuel injection cleaning is a waste of money. The best thing to clean your fuel injectors is to go down to your local auto parts store [Pep Boys, Auto Zone, Napa, etc..] and buy yourself a bottle of a STP Fuel Injector cleaner. Do this once or twice a year.
 
Third, why did you do a tune-up? And what parts were changed? I am willing to bet that the mechanic that sold you the "fuel injection cleaning" ruined your O2 sensor [also known as an oxygen sensor]. I can also tell you that you "may" have needed a tune-up [the key word is may] and you did "not need" the fuel injection cleaning service. I will try to help you if you want. You can e-mail me with as much info as you can.
 
Don't take your car back to the shop or mechanic that did your fuel injection cleaning. Take your car down to Pep Boys or AutoZone and they wil connect a special scanner to your car for free. They will tell you the code number and which part is bad. The special scanner is also known as a "code reader". Also if you want you can buy one of these code readers for about $70-90. You can buy the cheapest one, you do not need the most expense one. The code readers can be used on both imports and domestic cars from 1995-2005.

#1647 of 1688 Re: Check engine light [slogan5] by euphonium

Oct 01, 2009 (11:23 am)

Replying to: slogan5 (Sep 30, 2009 4:39 pm)
Not guaranteed, but it has worked for me.
 
Disconnect the Negative battery cable from the battery and reconnect it the next morning. This has been known, on some cars, to reset the computer.

Messages Page 165 of 169

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement