After I installed my shiny new berk test pipe on my '04 last night and drove around with it for maybe 20 miles or so, I had no CEL light. Awesome. I had a CEL for a few days 2 weeks ago due to switching a vacuum line while installing my Injen intake, so I'm happy I can do one little job without it coming on. Start it up this morning to take it to a place I can wash it myself and head out, then a few miles later the ol' CEL comes on. Time for a change of plan. I go lookup where the local parts/service places are to get the code pulled, and I had the following experience.

Call local private Honda repair shop - I tell him my light is on and ask them if they can pull the code for me pretty please. He tells me this will take 30-40 minutes. I try to make sure we are talking about the same thing; I just want him to use his magic obdII gizmo and give me the code so I can come look it up here, not to actually fix it for me. He insists this will take 30-40 minutes due to the "diagnostic work" that code-pulling entails. We end our conversation.

Call local dealership with the prayer they'd be open sunday. nope.

Then I drive to Pep Boys and ask them the pull the code, then he says "yes, i can do it, but it'll cost you 19 dollars." Seeya.

Off to the local Napa parts store. Ask them the same question. Apparently they don't even offer that service. I can rent spring compressors from them, but they can't/won't pull my code. Weird.

Call ahead to make sure Autozone can do it, and it reads P0420, which I gather is a common one for test pipe users. As I leave the Autozone parking lot, the light goes off by itself. My rationale is that it could be the computer adjusting to the pipe, but why would it go away on its own?

I get home, check the tightness of my 02 sensor (it got a little loose immediately after install and I cranked it down again before parking for the night) and its still dandy, but I wonder if I'm supposed to use anti-seize on this biatch (anyone?)

I reset the ecu just for heck of it to let it "relearn" if it hadn't already, and now everything is good, but I just don't get a few things.
One, what is the deal with the 30-40 minutes of "diagnostic work?" Is this them physically checking the car for the root of the problem?
Two, why does pep boys charge $19 when their competitors will do it for free? That's pretty lame, in my opinion.
Three, why did my CEL go away by itself?

Oh, and should I use anti-seize on my 02 sensor?


Sorry that I'm not sorry about the long post. I'm bored. Time for a drive.

 

i use anti-seize on the o2 sensor...

i have a personal cheap o2 code puller, it takes less than a minute to pull the code. you plug it in, turn on the car, and bang it shows the code(s). pulling codes is the damn biggest scam out there. my ob2 whatever it is called was only $68.

 

Yikes, the CEL is back on again. Anyone have a guess about what could be causing this on/off behavior?

 

I don't have a test pipe, and don't know a ton about o2 sensors and emissions, but here is a guess.

Perhaps when the engine is cold it isn't burning as cleanly, pushing the emissions just past the threshold that the ECU will allow before triggering a CEL. When the car warms up, it burns more cleanly and thus does not trigger the CEL. The ECU may have some delay in when it gets a "dirty" reading and when it triggers the CEL, so that is why it is going on and off.

Also, you can often "trick" an o2 sensor by installing a spacer into the bung, then the sensor into the spacer. this pulls the sensor out of the exhaust flow enough to where it reads more "clean" air. I had this on my previous car after I removed the cat built into the header. Spark plug anti-foulers that have been drilled out work well for this.

 

I am aware of the non-fouler trick as well, but don't know if the sensor wires have enough slack to allow it to be put in a non-fouler that will then stick out even further than it does now with the "CEL fix" on the Berk TP (roughly 1.5 inches i would guess). I am hoping this is a case where, once I cycle the engine enough times, the ECU will figure out whats going on and it will go away for good. Is there any hope for this?

 

I can tell you if it were my business I wouldn't be pulling codes for free. It costs someone $$$ to buy the code reader(I noticed you have not bought one yourself) and time to come out and read it. Then you drive off without buying anything. Is it your opinion all places should offer something for nothing? What do you do for a living? Do you give services away for free?

I get calls like that at my vet clinic all the time. Somebody has a sick pet but "has no money". They get mad when I tell them we are a business and do not give services for free. Suddenly its my fault their pet has to suffer. Who was it that got a pet and has no money to take care of it again???

 

Yes, but it's perfect business sense to offer the same services at nearly the same prices. If Autozone does it for free... why not Pepboys? For instance, if I actually needed to buy a part Autozone would of got my business because they offered a service for free that lead to a sale.

 

diagnosing problems for free enables you to quickly find customers.

that is, if you're already at autozone to check your CEL light, and the light says you need part xyz, autozone can say 'oh we have that!' and they've just made a sale.

this is a good business practice. probably doesn't translate to veterinary care though.

 

 

Big tuna and FL know what I'm getting at. If I walked in to your veterinary clinic with my sick dog I would not expect you to check him out for free, but that is because A) there is no plug in my dog that I know of that you can use to determine his problem quickly and accurately, B) you went through years of training to gain the skills you have that enable you to tell what the problem is, but for the sales associate at pep boys it is 90 seconds with a scanner doing something anyone can do, and C) this is not a sound business practice, in that it drives away customers who might spend money there once they know what they need, instead of eliminating that possibility up front by charging $19 for a few minutes of work that consists of coming outside, letting me plug in the OBDII since no one can find it, and pressing a button or two.

I would never expect this from a vet, but from an auto parts/service place, yes. You could even argue that the two are not so different, but I bet a lot of people are ready to let their car die before their cat. You can fix the car, you can't bring back Fluffy.

I understand that "giving away services" might not be completely logical, but when I feel like I'm being nickel & dimed I will "drive off without buying anything" and do my best not to return. If enough people have a similar experience, they're out of business. This is not even getting something for nothing, in the sense that I will be more inclined in the future to give my business to the Autozone that helped me out, not the Pep Boys that didn't.