Rep Power: 0

Hi Everyone

I'm having a problem with my 2004 Honda Civic EX - it seems to be O2 sensors, but Honda can't figure out what's wrong. I'm not going to be doing any mechanical work myself, I'm taking it back to Honda to fix, but I need to know what to tell them. Here's what happened:

11/3 - Wednesday - filled up gas tank with regular gas at lunch time. No problems

11/3 - Thursday - started up car, check engine light (malfunction light) came on. Drove for the 10 minutes, light went off

11/4 - Friday - started up car again, no check engine light

11/7 - Sunday - started up car, malfunction light comes on again, stays on
Car seems to be driving fine

11/9 - took car to Honda, they tell me the two O2 sensors went bad, replaced both. Drove home, everything fine

11/10 - started up car, malfunction light comes back on again. Car seems to be hesitating when gas pedal pressed. Like, it goes, but then it kind of stops for a second, then resumes. Drove right to Honda, they are telling me that 4 different codes are coming up but they can't figure out what the problem is.
Codes are: PA200, P0171, P0134, P1172. They tell me I got bad gas when I filled the tank, put some gas treatment in, light should go off.

It's been a week, the light is still on. My question is: What do I tell Honda when I go back there?? It seems to me that either the sensor they replaced went bad, or there is loose connection of some sort. Am I right? If not, what do I say to them?? They need to fix my car since they obviously didn't the first time. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you!

 
Rep Power: 812

i think its time to find a different dealer or shop. and it almost sounds like they replaced the 02 sensors backwards or with the wrong ones. your first time describes bad sensors which are slowly losing signal response but not affecting how the car drives. just curious, how much did you spend for new sensors? should be around $400+ im guessing with honda wideband sensors. if its much cheaper than that, they used the cheaper narrowband sensors for 01-03 civic which will not work at all in 04-05 civics.

wait they tell you codes are coming up but they cant figure it out? isnt that what the codes are for? i really think you need to find a different shop. lol bad gas, i dont think its possible to get bad gas anymore and if you do, it will not even be noticable.if they couldnt figure out the problem from all those codes, what makes you think they will suddenly get an inspiration when you bring the car back. simple logic tells me that if the car was running fine before you took it in, then the problem is a result of work they did on the car. more than likely incorrect or damaged sensors they put in.

PA200 is not a valid code but the rest are.

P0171-System too Lean (Bank 1)

P0134-O2 Sensor Circuit No Activity Detected (Bank 1 Sensor 1)

P1172-this isnt valid either

but even just from the two codes that come up, you have a serious problem here and should not be driving the car. im shocked they let you drive out after reading those codes and not doing anything. System too lean means the engine air/fuel mix has too much air and not enough gas. this can quickly destroy a motor. the other code says there is no oxygen sensor even hooked up. im betting money they either forgot to plug the sensors back in after installing, or they installed the completely wrong sensor and it could end up costing you a new engine if you dont get the correct sensors put on ASAP!

 
Rep Power: 812

www.hondaautomotiveparts.com has sensors listed as follows for a 2004 EX:

primary AIR/FUEL sensor (in the downpipe):

part number 36531-PLR-003
list price $310, discount price $220

secondary OXYGEN sensor (in the cat converter):

part number 36532-PLR-A11
list price $310, discount price $220

actually i take that back, they shouldve charged you close to $600 for parts and maybe an hour for labor, since they usually sell parts close to the honda list price. the correct sensors should have cost you between $700-800 installed. and these sensors cannot be installed backwards. the A/F sensor must be in the downpipe to function correctly. if they did actually charge you the correct amount and installed the sensors, i am betting they switched the locations and ruined both sensors in the process. in which case, they owe you two free sensors.

 
Rep Power: 0

WOW! Thank you!

They charged me $488 for ONE sensor and labor, not two as I originally thought and posted here.

Yes, the part was $310 exactly, plus labor costs.

I am definitely going to find a different shop after this, I am beyond angry with them. I agree, I thought that's what the codes were for, to diagnose and fix the problem.

I will take it back there tonight and deal with this, I hope I didn't do too much damage.

Thank you again for your help!

 
Rep Power: 812

no problem, be sure to use the honda sensors tho. most other shops will use cheap generic sensor and make your problem worse. all those codes do indicate that the first sensor is to blame (the a/f sensor) which is responsible for how the car runs. the second sensor in the cat converter is just there to tell the computer about emissions and does not affect how the engine runs. i think you should go back to the dealer and have them put in a new sensor again if you paid all that money. it should have a warranty, and you have two codes that are saying the sensor they replaced is completely dead. these sensors are very delicate and if they spilled something on it, or dropped it, they could have easily damaged it. something you can check yourself is if they actually plugged it in.

 
Rep Power: 812

if you open the hood and look straight down in front of the engine, you will see the sensor near the bottom sticking out of the exhaust pipe. follow the wires to the left and make sure they are plugged into something. if its just hanging down, theres the problem.