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I bought a 2003 Civic LX with code P0341. The previous owner said that they had changed the TDC sensor twice (once by him, once by a mechanic) and the code and problem came back. He also said that the mechanic told them that if it wasn't the sensor it could be a transmission fault. I drove the car in limp mode home (about 8mi/13km) and reset the CEL codes. P0341 hasn't come back since, but it is still in limp mode. At this point, I've driven it about 25mi / 40km.
Things I've done so far:
- Oil change. It was at least 1 qt overfull
- Trans Fluid Change. Again, it was overfull, somewhere between a pint and a quart. I used Trans fluid from Honda
- Checked and cleaned sensor wiring. Didn't notice anything out of whack or any damaged wiring. No signs of corrosion.
- Checked timing. Everything looked good and the belt looked new. The tension on the belt seemed good.
- Changed spark plugs. The old ones were only in hand-tight. I know not to over-torque them, but I didn't need a ratchet at all. They came out by had with an extension. The plugs had some white-looking soot on them.
- Changed the TDC sensor. The one in the car wasn't OEM. Got one from Honda and installed it. I've seen a lot of posts about non-OEM sensors causing problems.
I took it for another test drive and it's still in the same situation. I had a #1 and #2 misfire show up on the scan tool in the pending codes, but I reset and they didn't come back. The engine has sounded good throughout the entire process. It still doesn't accelerate well, and it will only go over about 40mph/65kph if going downhill.
I've hit about the limit of my troubleshooting with this thing. I'm willing to take it to the dealer or a mechanic but thought I'd see what you all thought about it first.
As far as I know, transmission failures won't create a limp mode condition. 2003 was also a relatively safe year for these transmissions so you should be safe there.
White electrodes indicate a lean condition. How's the air filter? Any codes pertaining to O2 sensor?
I would double and triple check that the timing is in fact correct.
Thanks for the suggestions. I drove the car around for about 40 miles and never got the P0341 code back, but still had the 'limp mode'. I took it into a mechanic and the catalytic converter was plugged up (see below).
After getting the cat changed, it worked as advertised. Thanks again for all of your help! There was an aftermarket TDC sensor in the car, so I'm glad that I changed it out for an OEM one. It seems like it only would have been a matter of time before the aftermarket part failed.
