erickson.talain

Hello everyone,

I'm Erick from PH. I have a crank, no start condition with my ES 2003 VTI M/T.
That happened after I accidentally shorted battery posts using a defective multimeter. The defect of multimeter was shorted + and - probe terminals.
To give you background of what happened, I tried to measure the voltage of the battery using that multimeter. When I probed the terminals, the battery posts sparked and the multimeter smoked. I guess there's something burned inside it.
After that, I decided to start my car. But, I saw in my dash (at ignition II position) fuel pressure was ON, check engine light (CIL) was ON, battery charging light was OFF (should be ON). Then, when I tried to crank it, it did not turned over. When I tried to crank several time, crank power seems fading until I can't crank anymore.
I tried to do some troubleshooting using civic service manual as my guide. See as listed below.
1. I tried to do multiplex troubleshooting by shorting MPCS pins and I had a DTC 2 and 5. That means multiplex and ECM/PCM cannot communicate with each other.
2. I tried to read trouble codes using bluetooth OBD2 (BT) scanner but it can't communicate with the ECM/PCM
3. I tried to do manual trouble code reading by shorting pins 4 and 9 of DLC port but CIL was not flashing. That means, it just stayed ON all the time.
4. Ignition coil has spark
5. Fuel pump works
6. Fuel injector showed voltage signals (I just used multimeter to read)
7. I tried to reset ECM/PCM by removing battery terminals and removing No. 6 fuse (under the hood) but failed. I can't use OBD2 scanner trouble code reset because my adapter can't communicate with the ECM/PCM.

In case I decided to change the ECM/PCM of my car, is there a cheaper alternative. I mean, is there a programmable box which can replace the original ECM/PCM? Genuine ECM/PCM that is compatible with my car cost around $2,000 here. For me, it's just not worth it to buy that.

Please let me know if you encountered that same cases and what solution you came up to fix it.
Thank you in advance.

Colin42

Check if any fuses are blown. Hopefully you didn't fry anything expensive like the computer

erickson.talain

Hey thanks for the reply. I checked all the fuses under hood and under dash but all are OK.

Slumpertcivic

erickson.talain

Hi thanks for the reply.
I guess you're right I set the multimeter to current monitoring (Red probe was connected to 10A terminal, Black probe was connected to COM).
Can you please further explain that? Like why the fuses did not blow? Why the car components affected first before going to the battery and fuses?
So how would I know which components were affected?
Thank you in advance.

GusBuz

When you say you checked the fuses, did you just pull them out and look at them or did you actually test them to see if they are burnt out?

Slumpertcivic

erickson.talain

1. I pulled them out and do visual check
2. I used test light to see if it will light when probing both pins (test light lead/clip at negative battery terminal)
3. I used continuity check to every two pins of all fuses (using multimeter)

Thanks

erickson.talain

I did not tested the probes/multimeter on other wire.
Yeah, you're right. I realized that configuration should be used for current measurement. My bad.

ezone

The multimeter has a fuse inside it, it's probably blown now.
If your meter says it should be able to read up to 10 amps then the fuse inside it was probably 10 amps.
Those fuses are usually easily replaced just take apart the meter to find it. It might be near the battery.



Philippines.
What country was the car originally from?

Multiplex system codes: I've not witnessed an MICU failure that caused the engine to quit running. But the issue you have seems to do with the engine computer communications. The multiplex system does have some control over that charge system warning light though.


You say code reader won't communicate, but does it even power up when you plug it into the OBD connector? If it won't power up then the fuse that powers the DLC could be blown.

Does the car have immobilizer? Does that green key symbol still flash the same as it used to? Or does it now flash while you're trying to start the engine?

Check ALL of the fuses in both fuse boxes.

erickson.talain

Hi, Please see my responses below.
Car was made or assembled here at PH. Additional info, it has 1.6L SOHC VTEC engine. I believe only PH and Pakistan have that type of assembly.

The OBD2 scanner did power up. I can even connect my smartphone to that adapter. However, when my app tried to connect to the ECU, it always failed. I even tried different apps but had the same result.

No, my car has no immobilizer.

I also checked all fuses, all are OK. I just found (only recently) one blown fuse (No. 19) which the previous owner intentionally spliced thin wire just to make the two pins shorted.
Thanks.