Rep Power: 0

Hey guys,

I came from owning BMW's and knowing everything about them to becoming more practical in life and buying a 04 Civic EX for a daily.

So far I have regretted every second of ownership.

Car is a 1.7 litre Vtec motor

I have a check engine code that I have thoroughly studied up on and I even work for my local Honda dealer. I had my techs check everything. The car had a ton of maintenance done before I bought it. I'll pretty much run through the steps I took to get rid of it.

1. Changed the oil with a new OEM filter and cleared the code - code came back
2. Checked the oil engine switch and VTEC solenoid on the back of the block - no clogs in the filter and the switch was fine (even put in a new one to see if it would read different) - cleared error codes and it came back
3. Checked the wiring harnesses for any shorts, my techs couldnt find any.
4. Replaced the ECU and cleared the code (made sure new ECU purchased was compatible) - Went away for 60 miles and then came back
5. Added oil and cleared code again - came back on less than ten miles later.

I'm at my absolute witts end with this thing and have literally 0 idea what to do and the techs at my dealership don't know where to go from here either. Any suggestions would be helpful considering at this point all I want to do is sell it because I can't even pass inspection at this point

Thanks in advance and please excuse my ignorance as I know little to nothing about theses cars.

Edit: Oil pressure seems to be fine as well.
Edit: Car is also canadian.

 
Rep Power: 122

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/3...icking-yo.html

Look at this thread. Maybe some of the maintenance was a new head gasket and this bolt was left uncovered??

 
Rep Power: 517

What is your position at this dealership?

Do you own the techs? LOL
Wow. This should be easy.

I see management problems. ALL problems are management problems.

Sold in Canada as a Canadian market car then imported into the USA?

Or just built in Canada for the US market?
Exactly how many PSI's is "fine"? My pressure gauges all have numbers, not words like 'good' or 'fine' or 'enough'.

 
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Just a figure of speech to get my point across. I work for our Parts Department.

Built in Canada for US market. And I didn't get an exact PSI from either the techs here or my local mechanic but everyone has said the oil pressure is fine.

 
Rep Power: 517

I might rig up a test light and a meter so I can watch the control on the vtec solenoid, and watch the response from the pressure switch...while driving or just in the shop so I can see if there is too much time lag, or if the pressure switch might have intermittently bad contacts or whatever. Watch the system in action to see what part might be going wrong.

Got freeze frame data from when the code sets?

 
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I did watch the master tech test the old switch for continuity and the new one as well and they both read the same (revving around 2k rpm I believe).

I know in the service bulletin it does say it shouldn't have any continuity regardless though. It was reading a very small amount but its worth mentioning. I haven't had them do a test on the actual solenoid yet just because when they pulled it off the screen and everything was clear. Assembly looked brand new. (Ive only had the car for around two or three months now)

 
Rep Power: 517

Has anyone in your shop pulled the valve cover off and inspected yet?
The second reply in this thread gave you a link to another relevant thread with a great picture:

 
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I had my mechanic pull it off to inspect underneath. The only thing he could notice was the valve cover gasket wasn't done properly when the PO did the head gasket. He fixed that but said everything else looked fine.

 
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Did you ever get this fixed? What was the issue?

 
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Nope! Lol sold it. Don't miss that car at all if I'm being honest

 
Rep Power: 183

Try a late model, one-owner 8th gen - you might like it! I sure do.