benzin1

This may seem a little stupid of me, but yesterday after I work I decided to give my engine a wash... Car is a 2005 civic si 2 door coupe. I used grim remover and then a pressure washer, but I made sure to keep the hose as far away so it wouldn't be spraying with excessive pressure around house, connectors and sensors. Once done I proceeded to drying with a pneumatic air vac under high pressure also. After I cleaned my the exterior and dried parts of the car with the same air vac, as well as some of the interior. I have done the exterior and interior of the car before with the air vac and never had any issues, but yesterday was the first time i washed the engine. Needless to say, my airbag light is now on, but it's not always on, as it will go off at random times and come back on, but there isn't a specific pattern of when it goes on and off. The abs and parking brake light on the other hand seem to only go on once I start moving, and then anytime I go below 30kph-20kph the lights will go off and stay off until I start moving. I also had my radio turn off 10-20 seconds later after I started my car, and then it wouldn't turn back on, or it would turn back on and then shut off again. The last time I drove my car the radio didn't go off at all though. So far i've checked almost all the sensors in the engine bay and there wasn't any water in any of the connectors, so where do I start looking from here?

PS: Yes it probably wasn't the greatest idea to power wash and air dry a 12 year old civic, but please try to refrain from telling me you shouldn't have... and you are... etc

benzin1

Just an update, went for a quick drive and my DRL light is now also coming on intermittently when my lights are off...

benzin1

Anyone?

ezone

Got real fault codes from ABS and airbag systems?


Pull the big connector off the ABS modulator and check for water entry? Blow dry?

benzin1

Pulled the connector and no water. Radio seems to work all the time now and abs light has been turning off more then staying on it would appear

benzin1

So something interesting happened today. I. Decided to drive a little bit with the abs fuses unplugged. After replugging them, the abs light was still on, but when signalling, the abs light would flash on and off. The abs would flash off when the signal would flash on and vice versa, and at one point the abs light just went out and didn't come back on. After I left school tonight, the abs light reappeared, but the same story with the signalling was happening. Also, when I put my wipers on the highest setting, the lights would turn off and stay off, same thing if I put my high beam on, the abs light would turn off...

Also, my radio doesn't turn off anymore after I start driving, the last 100km the radio has stayed on

ezone

Got fault codes yet?

Since you have a random assortment of issues happening, either find a common denominator amongst all of them, or pick one issue and track it down to the problem source....then proceed to the next problem, etc. Hopefully if you find the root cause of one, you will have found water entered and is causing problems with all....I expect in a connector with several wires.

In fact, there are a pair of junction connectors on top of the valve cover you can check with something like 24 wires in each.

benzin1

I only have a generic Bluetooth obd reader using my phone, so that won't give me any abs or airbag codes. Luckily though, I do work at a honda dealership so once I go into work tomorrow I should be able to get a clear answer hopefully. Thanks for the suggestion about checking the junction connector on top of the valve cover, I'll be sure to post an update as soon as I find some more answers tomorrow

NDNV

Lucky you do work at a Honda dealership - that should help you figure this out.
Pop open the hood for awhile in the sun and wind to help dry the engine bay out?

benzin1

well, dtc came back as abs low voltage. I air dried the abs connector some more at work, i then blow dried the connector and pins with low heat and the only result I got was the abs and parking brake light flashing, only to become solid after 20 seconds of driving and stay solid (on). Tech says if drying doesn't work I need a new module, but if I replace the module, would that also make the radio stay on and the srs light turn off? Clearly the abs and radio have to be on the same circuit if the radio turns back on and abs light goes off when I turn the ac on, but i don't know about the srs light

benzin1

I found a thread here from a user stating he had a similar issue and mentioned it was an alternator/over voltage issues. I monitored my voltage with my Bluetooth obd and it's around 16.8 when driving, and when coming to stop its around the normal value of 14. When I turn on the ac, wipers, hazards, high beams, etc I get to the abs light to turn off and the airbag light aswell sometimes, which makes complete sense since more load will drop the voltage. So I guess I need a new alternator?

benzin1

I found a thread here from a user stating he had a similar issue and mentioned it was an alternator/over voltage issues. I monitored my voltage with my Bluetooth obd and it's around 16.8 when driving, and when coming to stop its around the normal value of 14. When I turn on the ac, wipers, hazards, high beams, etc I get the abs light to turn off and the airbag light aswell sometimes, which makes complete sense since more load will drop the voltage. So I guess I need a new alternator?

ezone

THAT is too freekin high, if it's accurate. IDK if that will turn on the ABS light but it sure will turn on the SRS warning light--- without leaving any SRS codes.

9 times out of 10 it's a bad alternator.

It will also boil the battery--do you smell rotten eggs? Is the battery steaming hot after driving?
High voltage can blow out light bulbs too, so check all of them.

benzin1

No odd smell or any lights blown out, yet... Also, no steaming from the battery that I've noticed, but tomorrow I'm going to get an alternator and change it and will update after.

NDNV

FWIW, when my alternator was failing, I recall the ABS (along with the battery light of course) to be one of the first lights to come on in the dash as a warning.

benzin1

No battery light for me, but indeed it was the alternator. Replaced it today and everything is back to normal. I probably should have covered the alternator when washing the engine bay, although this is the first time for me after washing an engine where the alternator was affected afterwards... probably since it's the original one with 210,000 km on it

NDNV

Just make sure the bulb for the battery light still works in the dash then.

benzin1

It works, it turns on when the key is in the ignition position prior to starting the engine

NDNV