Please Help: "Check Engine" light lit up!!

Hi!

Just wanted some tip on my Honda Civic. I got a Civic Hatchback 98 DX, this
morning the "Check Engine" light came on and afterwards their was a bad
smell of 'eggs' that came from the vents.... Does anyone have any ideas on
the problem(s)??

any help is appreciated!


Thanks,

Jason

 

=====================


Any chance you filled the tank fuller than the manual recommends, or sat
the car in the sun after doing so? If the evap cannister gets pumped
full of raw gas, bad / funny things can happen, apparently.

'Curly'

 

Hi! I had a reply from someone also telling me it could be the catalytic
converter (sp?) or even the battery? But with the 'rotten egg' smell....
hmmmmm?

Jason

 

Jason wrote:
| Hi! I had a reply from someone also telling me it could be the
| catalytic converter (sp?) or even the battery? But with the 'rotten
| egg' smell.... hmmmmm?

"Rotten egg" smell is hydrogen sulfide (H2S), very typical. It would point
at the catalytic converter as well as/or a bad batch of gas. (see
http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=96697 for some extra
information).

Battery? Well, it does contain sulphurous acid, but that's not really
hydrogen sulfide.

The first step would be to read and interpret the code. The Check Engine
light came on for a reason, and finding out that reason would be a good
indication on guessing what might be wrong.


|
| Jason
|
|
| || Jason wrote:
||| Hi!
|||
||| Just wanted some tip on my Honda Civic. I got a Civic Hatchback 98
||| DX, this
||| morning the "Check Engine" light came on and afterwards their was
||| a bad smell of 'eggs' that came from the vents.... Does anyone
||| have any ideas on
||| the problem(s)??
|||
||| any help is appreciated!
|||
|||
||| Thanks,
|||
||| Jason
||
||
|| =====================
||
||
|| Any chance you filled the tank fuller than the manual recommends,
|| or sat the car in the sun after doing so? If the evap cannister
|| gets pumped full of raw gas, bad / funny things can happen,
|| apparently.
||
|| 'Curly'

 

Yup I think it's definetely that. But in the same time, at the dealership, I
went to do the 100k tune-up... I was wondering how much that converter would
cost... it was so expensive that in the pc of the dealership, it was listed
in yens!! Something like 1800$US. My god!

Jason

 

If it isn't giving you drivability problems, put in some good gas, and
drive it a couple of weeks. Light might go out on its own. bob

 

the catalyst is platinum and (i imagine) there is a substantial mark up.

perhaps a junked civic will be a donor. the less miles the better, cause
they do have a limited life span. how much of a life i do not know, but it
doesnt seem to be the case that they go bad as frequently as they used to.

 

If you have an Auto Zone parts store near you, they will read your code for
free. Maybe other places will do it too. If Auto Zone can't tell you what
the code means, Google OBD and check the results.

Bearman

 

Got the code: P0135 (Primary Heated O2 Sensor - Heater Circuit Fault Sensor
1)

How much would the installation and piece will cost?

Jason

 

So it could help if I used some high octane fuel? I know I could 'manually'
reset the "Check Engine" light with the fuse box....


Jason

 

He said "good fuel". The octane level of the fuel has nothing to do
with how good it is.

 

List price for the OEM oxygen sensor in the US (pr.
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com) is US$ 204.87, they sell it for US$
153.65. Down here in California, Kragen (= Schuck's = Checkers) auto
supplies has a Bosch universal oxygen sensor with the Honda OEM
connector for US$ 78.99. The Kragen web site lists this (Bosch part
number 13007) as being the correct one for the '98 Civic but check for
yourself, Canadian models may be different. There is also a generic type
that comes without a connector. You have to splice in the connector from
your old sensor. The splices look kludgy and you save nothing vs. the
Bosch w/ Honda connector.

It should be no more than one hour of labor to replace. It is also
fairly easy to do yourself. You need a special oxygen sensor socket to
install the new sensor, down here many auto parts stores will lend you
the socket (if you pay a deposit). You can use the same socket to remove
the old one but the old sensor can be hard to get out and the sockets
are not that good (loose fitting in my experience). You can get better
access if you remove the exhaust manifold cover (3 bolts or so). Then
brutally cut the wires off the old sensor and use a regular box wrench
to get the old sensor out.

 

The rotten egg smell could be unrelated to the Check Engine light. In some
cases, the smell is related to fungus that grows inside the air
conditioner. One solution is to spray Lysol or some other product like
Lysol--that smells better--that is sold in AutoZone and similar stores.
Spray it into the vents in front of the windshield. Don't spray it in the
vents inside the car--it won't do any good. If the smell is related to a
bad tank of gas, it won't go away until you burn the gas. After the tank
is almost empty, buy gas from one of the local gas stations that sells a
major brand such as Chevron or Union 76. I've read that Cheveron and some
of the other companies sell there worst gas to private stations that don't
sell major brands. I only buy gas from stations that sell major brands--my
favorite is Union 76. I realize that some local private stations do sell
great gas.

 

Anyone know were one can pick up the automotive electrical connectors.
They must be cheap as heck from some supplier. Then one wouldnt have
to be splicing wires.