I was driving home tonight and was getting on the Interstate. I downshifted from 3rd to 2nd at about 35mph and began to give it some more gas. At about the crossover point, the car hesitated a bit, almost like a misfire, but not quite, and the engine did not engage VTEC. The CEL came on and began to blink so I shifted into 3rd and began to start to look for a place to pull off the road. Within 10 seconds or less, the CEL turned stopped blinking and turned off. The car was normal the rest of the way home.

I unloaded my car and decided to drive it again to see if I could recreate the problem. Same downshift from 3rd to 2nd, same pressure on gas if not a bit more, crossover came, and VTEC engaged. No problems this time.

Any ideas to what may have happened?

Car is an 05 with only about 17000 miles.

Thanks to all!

 

I doubt anyone can reliably tell you what happened based on your description (though I wouldn't rule out MAP sensor issues), but I have the following to input...

Operation of the CEL... On=you have a problem, get to the service at your first possible convenience. BLINKING=I'm dying, terribly and painfully. Stop the car, get out and call a tow truck.

Given that the blinking CEL is VERY bad, even if it may be internittent, you should go to service immediately, do not pass go, do not collect $200. When you arrive, they'll tell you what the diagnostic error was (your ECU keeps a log), and obviously how serious it was. You can then decide what to do next.

If I had a flashing CEL for even 1 second, I'd be at the dealer the same day.

 

Go to an Autoparts store and have them check to see if there are any codes. The CEL doesnt need to be on for there to be a pending code. I would do this ASAP.

 

are you sure it was the cel cause the maintence reminder light blinks.

 

it would only blink when the car was first started not as he was getting on the interstate. Sound like either you need to try the infamous map whack or pull the code that will most likely say there was a misfire.

 

BS - I had the maintenance reminder blink on me in the middle of driving and it scared the crap out of me. The question is does it also blink when the car is now turned on?

 

Next time you start your car and all your lights turn on for the self check, make sure your CEL lights up. Your bulb could have blown while it was blinking. I doubt this happened but it's always good to check.

 

ughh yeah check it out asap i had this happen and it turned into a serious issue like $6500.00

pull the code if its just misfire etc your ok if anything else start from where the code says.

i even had a shop look 0ver mine and they said it was all good then well a few days later Kaboom cam towers had cracked and the head went to hell.

 

While everyone here is correct, I must add one thing....

One time, I accidentally ran my car out of gas. This was due to my Greddy kit, and due to the oversized sock on the fuel pump, the gas gauge read 1/4 tank when in reality, I was on fumes. My car was puttering running out of juice, the CEL flashed a few times before my car finally stalled. After putting gas in, all was well.

 

I've had a blinking cel that never came back. Car runs great now and I WOT all the time.

I dont know about the whole monopoly reference but you should get it looked at