Dolemike

So I put my busted up cat. on my car Monday and the shop I took it to was closed for Memorial Day. I initially passed everything on the test but the visual inspection of the catalytic converter due to the test pipe being there instead. The guy told me to get the cat. put back on and pay the rest of the $6 to complete the inspection then everything should be fine. So on to the next part, one of the bolts to the cat fell off this morning and the CEL came back on. I rushed to Honda and bought a new bolt and spring and installed it. CEL is STILL on!!! The ECU has been reset and everything and it will not go off. I doubt my o2 sensor has been damaged by the bad cat. already so I suppose the cat. is that bad of condition. Ok so the thing is this... if I already passed everything else but the visual, shouldnt the only thing the guy should be looking for is a cat on the car and then send me on my way??? I was thinking of taping a picture down in the area where the CEL is and hoping for the best. I have to go to court in the morning right afterwards and I dont think theyre going to give me another continuance again.

MULDER

Wow Mike.. sorry for the bad luck.

Where is S2kmaniac??? I would try to borrow his stock exhaust since he has an aftermarket, put it on, go pass inspection and bring it back.. that seems to be the easiest, quickest way to do it... IF you can get ahold of him. or anyone else for that matter that has a stock system lying around in thier garage.

batguano

I dont know if this will help but disconnect your ground on the battery and leave it for 20 minutes. Hook it back up and run the engine. It may reset the ecu. I hope it works.

DEIGER

Go to a local AutoZone. They will read the code and reset the CEL for free. At least it will let you know the code the car is throwing so you are not shooting in the dark.

Good luck!

Deiger

Intense

If it is the O2 sensor, you could try a mechanical O2 fix by putting a couple flame arrestors in-line between the cat and sensor.

I've used this in the past to eliminate O2 related CELs

CIVICTOS2000

I got a Cat I can let you borrow it if you think that will help you... My car right now doesn't have a cat and the o2 sensor is not connected, the light sometimes will come on but if I take the "back up" fuse or disconect the battery it will come off.. let me know... I'm in the Charlotte area...

Dolemike

Ok, so I got very lucky. My court date was yesterday but I got it continued till the 14th of June. Both options sound good... so I Civictos2000 I might would be interested in borrowing your cat for a day or so if thats cool I may opt for that. Ok so Intense, I have a few extra pieces for the o2 sim laying around... I thought about doing that last night. So if I throw one of those on there it should throw off the CEL? I may try that first and opt to borrow the cat should it not work. Thanks for everyones help.

CIVICTOS2000

I've use the spark plug anti-fouler ( I think thats how you call them..) as a mechanical 02 sim for about 15k miles with no problem...I used two to make sure..like the two that come in the same package, the long one and the short one together...


D.

Dolemike

You used 2 of them on stock cat? Wouldnt it be dragging the ground?

CIVICTOS2000

no, they are about 3-1/2" total plus the Sensor and the are not pointing the ground they are pointing the drivers side...well at least on the test pipe I got...