skidozer

Hi I just got a 07 civic sedan ex all stock with 62,000miles to drive to work.
Car was owned by older gent who only drove it around town.

My first day the check engine light pops on on my 40 mile drive to work.
I cleared the code with torque and it comes back on 80 miles later.

The output sensor reads nice steady line about .4 volts like I read on here.

I called dealer and they wont tell me if emissions is covered till 80k like I read in my book.

If covered I would take it to dealer if not I prefer to fix it myself.

Any advice?

Gunner

Check for exhaust leaks, damaged exhaust pipes, damaged O2 sensor wiring/connectors, plugged catalytic converter etc.. if you are getting a steady reading then your loosing efficiency somewhere else along the line... If your sensor is good then your Converter could be bad...

ezone

Federal Emissions Warranty coverage is 8 years/80,000 miles on the CAT and the PCM.

Go to a dealer ASAP. Make sure the P0420 code is still present when you get there.
Nobody should promise you anything over the phone.
They must see the car in person, and diagnose the code before anything can be done, determined, or promised.

If there are no exhaust leaks between the engine and the cat, the cat is normally deemed to be bad. Warranty...(unless your car has been blacklisted or something).


If they try to sell you something else, they had better be ready to prove it is a problem and a direct cause of a cat code.....and that's gonna be a tough sell for me if the car runs "right".
Call the customer assistance hotline if that happens?

OTOH:
Were there any misfire codes? Has there ever been misfire problems? Load of bad fuel? Something may legitimately be happening to kill a cat.

So be aware and be careful.
Some dealers are better than others.

Example:
We had a customer (a former employee) in a few weeks ago.....
She took her 07? Civic Coupe to a dealer in Nevada for an idle vibration (collapsed engine mount).
Not only did the dealer there NOT find the obviously bad engine mount, they SOLD her a catalytic converter that should have been completely covered under 8/80 warranty (and it was not a problem, no code). The cat did not fix the vibration complaint either.
I heard she got reimbursed by Honda for the cat that should have been covered by warranty, after our manager talked to the reps.

skidozer

Thanks for the good info guys, going to try the dealer on saturday.

No exhaust leaks,car runs great. Im pleasently suppriesed with the car I like the way it drives nice little motor. My first non v8 in 20 years.

ezone

You better make sure there's REAL techs there on Saturday first.

Our place only has oil changers on Saturday.
No real work is to be done but oil changes and tire rotations.

Just sayin.

skidozer

Took it in today they do full service on Saturday. I forgot I have a family member that works there.
They gave me no problems needs a cat and both sensors to be covered under warranty. They do have to order it should take 3 days.

ezone

Both Oxygen sensors too?

Ummmm.....I certainly hope they are covering the sensors under warranty if they want to replace them.
This would be possible if a sensor is physically damaged due to the cat failure, or if the threads are damaged, and maybe a couple other legitimate causes.

Most of the time, the sensors are reused.

skidozer

Nope I don't have to pay for the sensors.
They don't look like they would be bad to remove but it is Buffalo and cars see a salt bath its a rough enviroment uphere in the land of taxes

skidozer

New converter,2 o2 sensors all shields and hardware installed today at the local Honda dealer today.
All covered under warranty.

I was surprised what pleasent experience it was, gave me a new civic loaner car, hand washed my car.

I had the A13 service code on alsoso I had them take care of that while it was there.
I could have done that part myself but its 20deg and have a foot of snow so it was worth it not to have snow and salt dripping on me.

ezone

It's not much fun for people like me either, but at least I can STAND UP under the car.

They don't drip much until they get into the warm shop....then it's like trying to dodge a running faucet.

Those piles of snow that build up behind the wheels are called "fenderbergs".
Give 'em all high ratings when you get your survey!