[Geblah187]

Well, while just normally driving around this evening after going through a carwash and getting some gas, my lights (and by lights, i mean *all* my lights including interior, headlights, instrument, etc) started flickering and I got a check engine light. I rush home to my OBDII scanner, and I get 3 codes:

P1298 Electric Load Detector (ELD) Circuit High Voltage

P0135 Primary Heated Oxygen Sensor (Primary HO2S) (Sensor 1) Heater Circuit Malfunction

P0141 Secondary Heated Oxygen Sensor (Secondary HO2S) (Sensor 2) Heater Circuit Malfunction

The car seems to run alright, but all the gauges were reading incorrectly, and moving back and forth between wrong and *really* wrong. :huh

I went through the diagnostic and troubleshooting sections in my factory repair manual, and everything seems to point to the ECU ... which would make sense ... but before I drop a healthy chunk o' change on a new one, anyone else had this happen to them? :bh

1997 Honda Civic DX

 

[at2]

This is similar to the problem I am having now, mine started when I was driving my 2000 CIVIC in rain, I am getting P0135, P0141, P1298, P1753 and P1768. in addition to light flickering, I started having transmission problem (auto TX does not shift), so far I have replaced Alternator, Speed sensor, engine/transmission computer, and still have the same problem. I was told that it might be Electrical Load Detector module (inside fuse box in engine compartment), so I am going to change this part. let me know if yopu find out what is wrong with your, but do not change the computer (I have a used one if you want to buiy it).

 

[phill11204]

i've been having the same exact problem that u guys are having, i had 4 eletricians walk on me, and 2 mechanics. it's getting really annoying, i too changed the alternator, and changed the fusebox with the ELD as well, i also changed the ECU. still nothing. i am running out of ideas, i have the transmission thing going on as well, but i found that to be the Alternator/speed sensor fuse blowing out constantly, the speedometer does'nt work on mine and jumps all over the place even in idle. the transmission actually depends on the speed sensor to shift from what i'm told. which explains the lag, but i found my alternator to be putting out 15v's instead of 12-13. is that similar to what ur experiencing there? i also have an extra ECU now. i have 96 civic coupe ex.

 

[at2]

OK, my problem was a blown up alternator fuse, I had checked this fuese before with ohmmeter and it showed OK, the transmission shop checked it and they said it was OK, however, since all my problem seemed to be tracing back to this fuse, I replaced it anyway and that fixed my problem. I may still have a problem with wires shorting that caused this fuse to blow, and you may have the same problem, you need to get wiring diagram and trace all your wires that comes from this fuse and check for open/short (there are a few wires, one goes to ELD, one to alternator, one to charge light), I suspect my cars driving into rain that started all of these had something to do with it, like expose wire that was shorted because it got wet.

 

[phill11204]

believe me, i tried that, as i said before, my speedometer was going nuts cuz of the fuse being blow, which is what causes ur tranmission to lag. but everything keeps blowing, no matter what i changed. nothing seems to work. 2 months in the shop and people keep walking out on it because they can't get it. it is getting really frustrating :bh

Symtoms:
-Lagging or Abrasive Auto shifting
-Pattern of Dimming of all eletrical components
-RPM slightly following that same pattern
-Alternator/Speedometer Fuse keeps Blowing
-Speedometer goes nuts, jumps around even in Idle (caused by the fuse)
-Engine Codes - 1298,0141,0135
-At some point, my battery failed to charge, the car drained itself after 2 days of sitting. and would not charge itself after.
-Replacing the Alternator, ECU, Hood fusebox (ELD), and other small thigns fail to do anything.

EDIT: the fuse does'nt seem to blow until I start driving it for a little bit.

 

[phill11204]

apparently this happens to quite a few 6th gen civic owners. i don't know what to do anymore, i am thinking about gathering up some people, and filing a complaint to Honda about this. what do u guys think?

 

[at2]

I am not sure if filing a complaint is a good idea since we don't even know where the problem is. It seems that there is a short in wires that feeds off of Alternator/SP fuse. There are 3 blk/wht wires in the back of fuse box (inside the car fuse box) that are connected to this fuse. You want to find out which one is shorting to ground that causes your fuse to blow. There is not an easy way to do this unless you are willing to cut these wires one at a time and drive the car for a few days to see which one is shorting. the 3 wires are 1- alternator, 2- ELD, 3- instrument panel charge light. let me know how it goes, my car is still working after 3 days that I changed the fuse.

 

[phill11204]

I am not sure if filing a complaint is a good idea since we don't even know where the problem is. It seems that there is a short in wires that feeds off of Alternator/SP fuse. There are 3 blk/wht wires in the back of fuse box (inside the car fuse box) that are connected to this fuse. You want to find out which one is shorting to ground that causes your fuse to blow. There is not an easy way to do this unless you are willing to cut these wires one at a time and drive the car for a few days to see which one is shorting. the 3 wires are 1- alternator, 2- ELD, 3- instrument panel charge light. let me know how it goes, my car is still working after 3 days that I changed the fuse.

Lucky you dude. if the car is warm, the fuse blows the second it touches, if it's cold, when it warms up the fuse goes. no one is even willing to touch the car anymore, i'm ready to give up on it. truthfully.

 

[jdi]

Any additional findings?

I was suprised to find your postings via google search. I am having the same problem on my 96 civic. Main symptom is all lights pulsate and guages are bouncing all overthe place as well. On mine im only getting 12.4 Volts output so I thought it was alternator/voltage reg. but that did not do the trick. Was thinking about ELD and ECU next, but now I'm not so sure. Did either of you ever pinpoint the problem? Thanks much.

 

[phill11204]

Nope, unfortunately, nothing yet, i am really thinking about finding all the ppl around that have this problem and see if we can get honda about it. because this seems to be a widespread problem. and i hav'nt found anyone that has ever fixed it yet. i've replaced everything but all the harnesses. still no good

 

[fedders]

Same problem with 97 Civic LX

My wife had the same problem with her car and I drove it today confirming all the symptoms the posters in this thread have mentioned. Idle seems to be especially low as well, and may be another symptom.

She had this same problem 6-9 months ago after she believes she went through a puddle. Took it to the shop and all they did was take out fuses and let the fuse compartment "air out". When they put the fuses back in, the problem was gone.

Again, it was raining when this problem showed up again. Could water be getting up into the engine compartment and shorting something out? Did anyone else have this happen soon after water could have gotten under the hood?

Carl Fedders

 

[jdi]

Wiring harness probably the culprit

See this Honda TSB!

<http://www.hondalac.com/service/Bulletins/x99-029e.pdf>

Known wiring harness problem causes problems with signals for the speedometer, dash lights and ECU/ELD. Causes fuse #15 to blow intermittently. Moisture and vibration will aggrevate the problem.

 

[doon]

Hello all,

Today I started my car after a night of rain and started experiencing the same problems. Speedometer is jumpin all over the place, the engine light is on, and when I'm in neutral i can see it flickering, faintly.

I'm gonna go buy a new fuse and will see what happens. This was a very helpful post, thanks a bunch!

Thanks

 

[benzey]

Did any of you solve this problem yet? My car was sitting in shop for a month now, they still don't know what's causing it. I miss my ride. PLZ help.

 

[spooledbseries]

this happend in my 95 ex IN THE RAIN i changed my altenator and it was all good

 

[benzey]

I change VSS+HARNESS+ECU+ELD RELAY BOX+ALTERNATER+CLUSTER BOX,check all grounds. When ever I put to D4, fuse #15 blown.

 

[milanoredek]

I know this thread is kinda old but did anybody ever fix the problem? I just started having this problem after installing my new exhaust and cat delete and a new o2 sensor. I know its throwing both o2 sensors and the p1298 code. The day installed my exhaust it rained but it was till the next day that I put in the second o2 sensor becuase I only had one on becuase of the aftermarket header it eliminated my stock cat. Btw I got a 98 dx. I'm gonna try to check the o2 sensor wires since it was the last electrical thing I installed. If anybody has anything else please let me know.

Symptoms:
Dimming lights
Speedo going nuts
Engine accelerating and decelerating while in idle and while drivig.