circuitt

Just about every other morning, when I start my 2001 honda civic ex,
I get the check engine light, I had it read and got the p1259. The oil is fine,
just got a tune up, oil cange, etc about a month ago.

I am a little handy working with cars, but I get frustrated quick in tight
work spaces, Is this something I could perhaps diagnose and fix on my own?

The check engine light randomly goes on and off, usually on the way home from work it turns off. or on my lunch break.. then when i get up in the morning
same thing...

If this is something I cannot do on my own, so any of you guys know of any
trusted Honda mechanics in the southern californa/OC area? that's reasonable
on cost?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

It comes up as a VTEC system malfunction. I wish I could find something a little more specific

Wouldn't hurt to clean out the VTEC solenoid
https://www.civicforums.com/forums/7...e-up-mods.html
#3 on his list of tune-up mods

circuitt

Yeah maybe I'll give it a shot, scary if i can't get it back together lol

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

no dont worry, its only two pieces and a gasket. its prolly just clogged screen. if the engine light comes back after cleaning tho, its prolly a damaged oil pressure sensor and you will need a whole new solenoid assembly for $150+ thats what i had to do eventually to fix it for good. also ive heard that on older engines, 5w20 oil is too thin and sometimes will cause vtec solenoid issues. try switching to 5w30 first before replacing the solenoid. but definately open it up for cleaning. and check the oil level, if its low then vtec will not work properly either.

circuitt

I am trying to do it right now, but.. how do i get the damn stock air box
off, so i can get to the bolts to remove the solenoid. the top three, then under
it to get the last two bolts. (edit) looks like i don't need to remove the head screws, just the three that hold it into the engine head, is this correct?
so maybe i don;t have to remove the air box anyways?

Yeah oil is fine, I just got an oil change about two weeks ago.

yup and ez-lube did put castrol gtx 5w20 oil., engine has like 125,000

If ima do another oil change any suggestions? synthetic perhaps?

Couple of other questions while i am at it, there is this weird thing that happens, when i am decelerating kinda fast, usually going down hill,
I get this odd jerk a little bit.. automatic tranny. i've had no issues with the tranny thus far, been doing this thing for a little over two years now, trans fluid has been changed yearly, last was two weeks ago at ex lube.

Can i do any damage to the car with this code? as long as i keep it easy not going past 4,000 rpm limp mode

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah prolly is easier to remove the airbox. there is a ring clamp under the airbox holding it to the throttle body that you need to unscrew. its an issue you need to fix, it affects how the car drives and how the trans shifts. but the jerking going downhill is normal, its the grade logic control working. basically when you are going downhill and you press the brakes, the trans will downshift to help you slow down. its a stupid feature, but thats what it does. try 5w30 next time, esp over 100k miles. synthetic is not necessary and may cause other problems. and you should always be using the honda brand trans fluid. any other brand will affect shift quality.

circuitt

Thanks for the help! yeah, I thought i saw a ring clamp under there, ill give it another shot later this week. Yeah I just get paranoid about my trans
after reading all the horror stories about the 7th auto trans issues, got
me thinking about trading it in. rather not, want to drive it till the wheels fall off.

I think I am going to do everything in your post " forgotten tune-up mods"
primary oxygen sensor seems like a good one. my car idles a little low.
when I pump the breaks it goes back up to normal status..

thechaz

I got this code earlier this week and it stayed on for 1 and a half days. I went to lunch the following day and the light was off. It stayed off for another day after that and then it was on again in the morning when I left for work. I never comes on or off in the middle of driving. It's always either off or on when I start the car. I decided to follow the instructions in this thread and the solenoid filter screen was totally clear no dirt. I took offthe valve cover on the solenoid and tested the valve and it moved just fine and sprung back after I let go of it. I reassembled everything and test drove the car, the vtec seems to work fine, there was never any problem with it that I could notice, the light has not come back on since about a day before I took the solenoid apart.

I'm sure the light will come back on and my inspection is due at the end of the month. Also,I checked the oil level and it's fine. I am due for an oil change and have been using synthetic blend. Anyone have any suggestions what I should do? Should I try to check the oil pressure or just replace the solenoid? Should I clear the code, drive it for a few days to see if it comes on then get an oil change and inspection? I am due for an oil change. This is an 02 civic ex with 80k miles.

lazlong

Try clearing the code. Drive it around for a couple days to set the drive cycle(s) then check for a code again. If no code, get it inspected right away. If the code comes back:




Sorry about fuzzy pics, phone cam.

thechaz

Thanks, I'll clear the code today and see if it comes back. I appreciate the pictures.

thechaz

One week and no CEL. I'm still waiting for the secondary air system monitoring to complete. I've driven about 150 miles since I cleared the code, could something else be wrong or should I just wait for it to complete? I don't see any other failures.

lazlong

Engine temp has to be at least 140F:



It depends on what state your as to whether all the readiness codes have to be set to pass emissions. I would ask an inspector or call the people who license the inspectors and ask them.

thechaz

Thanks for mentioning that. I looked at the TxDPS site and it looks like I'm ready for inspection.

Effective October 15, 2008:

lazlong

Well, hell! If you had told me that you were here in TX I could have told ya that.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

jeez in NV you need all the readiness codes set, they even tell you so not to waste your time and $$.

thechaz

The p1259 code is back again. I'm also seeing p1298. It looks like these could be caused by a faulty solder joint on the ELD. Other people with these codes say it could be fixed by replacing the primary o2 sensor. 02 civic ex 2d mt

There is a service bulletin here for this 05-006
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...qQ&safe=images

It looks like I could go 3 directions and replace the vtec solenoid but it seems to be working fine, replace the ELD p/n 38250-s5a-a03 or replace the primary o2 sensor. Any ideas where to start or other ideas? Should I just follow the troubleshooting as directed above instead?

lazlong

Did you check and/or replace the VTEC pressure switch? Start there and with replacing the ELD. It's only $25-30. Have the part number ready because they'll try to sell you the whole fuse/relay box at over $200.

Luckily you have the narrow band O2 sensor and it's only $80-ish. Only use OEM or Denso (OEM manufacturer).

thechaz

I haven't checked the vtec pressure switch. I will do that. When I look up the part number 38250-s5a-a03 in the service bulletin it shows as the whole fuse/relay box. I'm guessing the ELD part number is 38255-S5A-003?

thechaz

Replaced the ELD and all is good. Thanks for the help.