Engine Management Light Came On...!!??!?!

danza

danza

danza

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As posted by me on CTRO:

Hi all,

I managed to send my car into a bit of a hissy this evening.

I have a bad habit of only turning the key in the ignition for just long enough for the engine to 'catch', and the problem is sometimes it doesn't. I've done it a few times recently, and what usually happens is it runs lumpy for two or three seconds and cuts out, to start again straight away on the next turn of the key.

This evening was a bit different though. I did the same thing where the engine didn't 'catch' properly and it started to run lumpy. Only this time it carried on running lumpy (it was below 800rpm). It stayed like this for about 10 seconds, after which I floored/pumped the accelerator pedal for a few seconds. Nothing happened - no rise in rpm, nothing. Just an idle chugging. At this point I thought 'oops' and turned off the ignition.

After a few more seconds, I turned the key and held it there properly. The engine started and it ticked over as normal, but this time the engine light came on and it stayed on. I carefully drove off and as the car warmed I gave it a bit more throttle. All was fine. I hit the A23 and gave it some VTEC yo' action with no issue whatsoever. 15 miles later I arrived back home with the engine light still on, but none the wiser to what the problem is and the car still fine and dandy.

I'm certain it's what I did by nont letting it turn over properly on ignition, and everything else is fine. Oil was changed on Saturday about 150 miles ago, and everything else is as was.

I'm just confused and think maybe I've fooled the car into thinking it's got a problem. Has anyone else experienced this or something similar, and if so, what was the problem/cure? :vconf:
Click to expand...

I did use National Tyres for my oil change, but I'll eat my hat if that's the problem. I just think it's down to 'user error'!

Any thoughts?:confused:
 
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Have you actually checked the oil level? Even a slight overfill can play hell with the CTR engine.
 
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Did you not think to switch it off the engine when the light first came on? Just incase it was an error due to the failed start.

I'd get it checked by a garage to make sure its nothing serious.

Oh and while your at it get out of the bad habit of not holding the ignition key long enough for it to start.
 
The oil is spot on max. I checked it on Saturday and on Sunday.

I pulled over a couple of hundred yards down the road after this issue ocurred and it was fine. No issue with the oil level at all (I did think it might possibly be to do with that, but it seems not).

My bad habit came from my old Astra which would make an awful screeching sound if you held the key for even a tiny while too long after the engine caught.

If I can't find a reasonable explanation, I'll get my neighbour to wire the car upto his AA laptop and go from there.
 
Like you said, i think you've fooled the car into thinking it's got a problem which has obviously triggered the engine management light. Now on some cars (IIRC), when a sensor is tripped it takes another 5-10 times of the sensor not reporting this supposed "problem" for the engine management light to turn off.
 
West Sussex, but I don't fancy the ~500 mile round trip. :D

If it doesn't disappear tomorrow/Saturday I'll get my next door neighbour to check it out. Many thanks for the offer though. :)
 
I dont know about those, but on mercs resetting the car clears all stuff like this and forces a full self diag on the next ignition.

You reset it either by pulling the management fuse or disconnecting the battery for a while.

Worth a go?
 
I did go out to the car and start looking at the fuses a little while ago, but for the fear that one of my neighbours might ring the police/mistake me for a crook and bludgeon me from behind I went back in.

I'll give it a go in daylight.
 
I had the same problem last year. Went to start car in morning, chugged and didn't like it them the engine management light came on. AA came round, plugged it in and it reported something about the cam senor. He cleared the fault and tested to see if it happened again (yes I know! the idiot!) and it hasn't done it again for months.

I was told by Honda that the sensors can get coked up and only to take it in if it comes back on.

To reset the ECU, pull fuse no6 inside the engine bay fusebox for a few moments and see if there's any difference. Cause this resets any learnt fueling info it might be a little pig to start for the first time after doing this.
 
Cheers for the comments guys.

I did pull the no. 6 fuse in the cabin, as I wasn't sure whether it was that one or the fuse under the bonnet at the time(I didn't want to fiddle about under the bonnet anyway because it was midnight, and the neighbours would wonder what was going on).

However, the light went out by itself yesterday afternoon, so as far as I'm concerned there's nothing to worry about.
 
Not sure how the Honda ECU reacts to these sorts of things, but chances are the fault might clear itself after the car has been driven a few times. Failing that, you'll need Honda to clear the fault manually for you.
 
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