CEL Flicker

[fatsodoctor]

Another inquiry about the overheating Honda. When problems come, they come in stacks, not separate sheets.

Two years ago the Check Engine Light came on. The code told us the oxygen sensor or the catalytic converter was bad. Because we didn't have the money to replace the catalytic converter, we just kept driving with the CEL on. Got used to it. Our little orange friend on the dashboard.

Two months ago it began to pulse, just a little. Just enough to notice.

This morning when I started the car, the car wouldn't start. Plenty of turning over, but no starting. Tried three or four times, and the engine kicked over, ran for about twenty seconds, and then cut off.

Eventually, it started and stayed started, but I had trouble starting it all day. And the consistent symptom was this:

Sometime, when I turned the key to 'on', the battery light and the oil light and the other dash lights would come on as normal.

But the CEL would barely light and would flicker badly. Not the other lights. Only the CEL would struggle.

Other times I'd turn the key to 'on' and the CEL would light up bright and solid like normal.

If I turned the key to 'on' and the CEL was barely flickering, the car wouldn't start, for no amount of cursing.

If I turned the key to 'on' and the CEL was bright and solid, the car would start right up.

Is it time I dealt with the catalytic converter? Or do these symptoms spell a different sort of trouble?

 

[fatsodoctor]

Update: ECU

I drove the car to an auto parts place. Lost power once on the road on the way there, but managed to coast it into the parking lot.

Plugged the code reader in while the CEL was in flicker-mode. The code reader responded "Communication Error".

A minute later the CEL came on brightly. Plugged in the code reader, which then had a nice conversation with the engine (and told me the O2 sensor was bad, which I knew).

The auto parts guy said the "Communication Error" message indicated my ECU was bad. "Very easy to replace," he said, "only we don't have any."

So, generous Civic experts: should I replace the ECU? Are these $100 ECU's on eBay worth the money?

(Ongoing appreciation to everyone chiming in on my Honda odyssey)

 

[fatsodoctor]

Not Audio, Interior Electronics

I opened up the ECU, and it looked beautiful. So, I hauled it to the mechanics, and they replaced all sorts of things, including the distributor cap, under-the-hood wiring, spark-plug cables. After several hundred dollars worth of parts and labor, the car seems to run. Wasn't the ECU.