ZRStang93

I know there's tons of posts about this, but mines a little different.

I have a 2002 Civic EX with the D17A2. Background - car originally had a substantial oil leak and CEL for faulty cat/o2 sensor and car was at 175,000 miles, therefore I pulled the motor for an overhaul. Replace front/rear main seals, timing belt/water pump/tensioner, intake/exhaust gaskets, new oil pan gasket, all seals and gasket on valve cover, new clutch/throwout bearing/pressure plate, new o2 sensors, new a/c system with exception of hoses, and several other parts that aren't components of the engine. Upon starting the car for the first time after the rebuild, the keyway for the camshaft pulley fell out and spun free of the camshaft which wore both the ID of the pulley and the OD of the camshaft and bent some valves. I replaced the head and pulley and everything started fine after that. The car still has a slight oil leak and did have the CEL's for cat/sensor until I removed the cat, and used spark plug non fowlers to fool the o2 sensor which now fixed that CEL issue, but I doubt any of this is causing my trouble with the TDC error. The problems arose shortly after I had my new a/c system charged (sidenote - the person who charged the system for me did not pull a vacuum but rather used the cars throttle to pull in the refrigerant, at which point I noticed he was revving the throttle very high.) A few days after my car shut down at hwy speeds and went into "limp mode". Once I rolled to a stop the car died and I couldn't get it started the first few tries, and once it did start it was still in limp mode and barely could get it to a parking lot. After it sat for a minute it started fine and was able to drive home. This happened to me 2 more times at which point I decided to removed the cat thinking it might be the issue. After that I pulled the negative battery cable, the CEL was gone and had more power and ran smoother, but I did notice a lot of valve noise. I continued driving it without any issues for a while, but it began happening again and this time was I was able to see the CEL come on so I took it to autozone. I originally got the P0341 and p1298 Code and one more that I can't remember. All three of which pointed to the TDC sensor. After researching I found a lot of people with the same story - high speed, A/C, limp mode. I changed the sensor(airtex not Honda brand), adjusted the valves and reset the CEL. Car ran great until the next day when it went into limp mode again but this time it didn't die, I shut of the car started again and everything seemed fine other than the light came on again. The next morning, did it again, but I am now able to turn of the key, turn it back on, and let off the clutch and it restarts. This has been occurring several times the last few days and I've been running the car without audio or A/C so I doubt that's the issue. Today it was about 15 times intermittently on my 40 mile drive. At some points the light does go off. Once I checked the codes again I'm left with P0341 and p1298. Possibly a short? The AllData trouble shooting says to reset the ECU and restart the car, then see if the light comes on.. If not, system is fine at the time and there is only intermittent failure (this is my case). Otherwise is states to start checking the wires, which I did anyway and all looked good until I checked the wire at the ECU which goes to the TDC sensor. It's supposed to read 5v, I read .34. Can't say I was getting a proper reading, and I was able to check the next step which is checking for cotinuity in the wire because my meter does not have this function. Any idea what the problem could be?

Sorry for the novel, but this is slightly different than other stories I've read and just trying to make it as accurate as possible.

ezone

That's checking with the OHM scale. Your meter doesn't have resistance/ohms scale?


Cam sensor, use OEM. Double check the cam timing hasn't jumped a tooth.

ELD code is common, there's a bulletin on it. Just get a new one from a dealer and replace it.





Figure out if the head might be from an 01. Got the VIN of the car that head came off of? Check cam end play?

ZRStang93

Yes it does measure resistance, wasn't sure that was the same thing. How would I go about doing it, just specific wire to ground?

I guess I'll cough up the cash for the $100 dollar sensor since I think the off brand has been making worse. Had similar story with oil pressure check sensor.

And the last time I had the timing cover off the timing was still good I'll check it again when I get around to putting the new sensor in.

I ordered it through autozone, surefire brand or something like that. I ordered it for an 02 but how would I be sure it's correct? Are they different?

I didn't have the gauge to check end play but nothing as far as timing and valves were really out of whack so in hoping it's alright. It's either good and I can roll with it, or it's bad and I'm done with the car for goods. But after your advice about oem sensor and experiences I've had in the past I think I'll start there.

Thanks for the help!

ezone

As per the service manual, whatever it says.

Continuity is exactly what it says, making sure the wire is complete and unbroken from one end to the other.

And, um, learn more about using your meter.

01-05 1.7L engines are pretty much the same.....but not.

There was a problem with certain 01 engines, there's a bulletin about codes P0340/P0341 and noise. 'If the camshaft has excessive end play......bla bla bla....replace the head with updated part'.
The FSM tells about removing the timing belt, rocker arms and shafts before taking measurements.
(In 11 years with this dealer, I have yet to see any with the issue.)


If an OE cam sensor doesn't fix it, then maybe do those checks.

Check that the female pins in the connector haven't been damaged and spread out. The female terminals have to grip tightly on their male mates for good contact.
YW