Check Engine Light: Flashing vs. On Solid

I have a 98 Accord that has been running poorly. The check engine light
finally started coming on intermittently starting this week. I've
scheduled an appt with the dealer for later this week, but today the check
engine started to show blinking rather than just being on solid as had been
normal to this point.

Does this imply anything more than when it is just on solid (like you
really, really shouldn't be driving me right now....)?

Thanks.

dc

 

Take it to the dealer and have them check it out.

 

Take it to the dealer and have them check it out.

 

if it's blinking you have a catalyst damaging mis-fire. depending on
how long you drive it that way you might be looking at a 800.00
catalytic converter on top of what caused it in the first place.
Chip

 

if it's blinking you have a catalyst damaging mis-fire. depending on
how long you drive it that way you might be looking at a 800.00
catalytic converter on top of what caused it in the first place.
Chip

 

There's an 8 year 80,000 mile warranty on the catalytic convertor. I'm sure
there are others who participate in his newsgroup who can add substance to
the warranty. Keeping that in mind here's my check engine light story.

My 1999 Accord EX check engine light came on 3 different times but never
flashed. The 1st time the check engine light came on I drove to my personal
Honda mechanic. They ran the code and said I needed to take the car to the
Honda dealer as the code is pointing towards a problem with the catalytic
convertor i.e. warranty work on the CAT. My Honda mechanic reset the check
engine light but they said they left the code so the Honda dealer could dump
the code themselves. The 2nd time the check engine light came on was the
day before my Honda dealer appointment. Sometime during the day the check
engine light turned itself off. The next day the Honda dealer did their
thing with the check engine light. Now seeing how this check engine light
has had a mind of it's own it only stands to reason that the Honda dealer
came up empty i.e. no code. Now I had the paperwork from my personal Honda
mechanic from 2 days prior with the check engine light code pointing towards
the catalytic convertor problem but the Honda dealer ignored it and sent me
packing.

Well months went by as did a couple thousand miles. All of a sudden the
check engine light comes back on....and I was in the middle of nowhere;
Grants, New Mexico. I called the Honda dealer in Scottsdale AZ. They said
it would be OK for me to continue my road trip to Southern California. I
took my car to Cush Honda in Escondido California. They dumped the code
from the check engine light which said replace the catalytic convertor.
Which they did under warranty (FREE). My mileage was around 72,000 miles.
While this was all a complete pain in the ass and went on for quite sometime
the upside is having a new catalytic convertor and I think they also
replaced the O2 sensor(s) as well. I also saw a very nice increase in gas
mileage as well.

Good Luck with yours,

Rick

 

There's an 8 year 80,000 mile warranty on the catalytic convertor. I'm sure
there are others who participate in his newsgroup who can add substance to
the warranty. Keeping that in mind here's my check engine light story.

My 1999 Accord EX check engine light came on 3 different times but never
flashed. The 1st time the check engine light came on I drove to my personal
Honda mechanic. They ran the code and said I needed to take the car to the
Honda dealer as the code is pointing towards a problem with the catalytic
convertor i.e. warranty work on the CAT. My Honda mechanic reset the check
engine light but they said they left the code so the Honda dealer could dump
the code themselves. The 2nd time the check engine light came on was the
day before my Honda dealer appointment. Sometime during the day the check
engine light turned itself off. The next day the Honda dealer did their
thing with the check engine light. Now seeing how this check engine light
has had a mind of it's own it only stands to reason that the Honda dealer
came up empty i.e. no code. Now I had the paperwork from my personal Honda
mechanic from 2 days prior with the check engine light code pointing towards
the catalytic convertor problem but the Honda dealer ignored it and sent me
packing.

Well months went by as did a couple thousand miles. All of a sudden the
check engine light comes back on....and I was in the middle of nowhere;
Grants, New Mexico. I called the Honda dealer in Scottsdale AZ. They said
it would be OK for me to continue my road trip to Southern California. I
took my car to Cush Honda in Escondido California. They dumped the code
from the check engine light which said replace the catalytic convertor.
Which they did under warranty (FREE). My mileage was around 72,000 miles.
While this was all a complete pain in the ass and went on for quite sometime
the upside is having a new catalytic convertor and I think they also
replaced the O2 sensor(s) as well. I also saw a very nice increase in gas
mileage as well.

Good Luck with yours,

Rick

 

(Chip Stein) wrote in

Indeed, my dealer just called and said the diag code was a misfiring of the
#1 cylinder. No word yet on needing to replace the cat, but they still
have the car and are looking at it......

 

(Chip Stein) wrote in

Indeed, my dealer just called and said the diag code was a misfiring of the
#1 cylinder. No word yet on needing to replace the cat, but they still
have the car and are looking at it......

 

Thanks for an interesting story with a happy ending.

 

Thanks for an interesting story with a happy ending.