Malfunction indicator lamp Honda Civic

mickey mac

I've got a 99 1.4 honda civic, going fine until last night when the malfunction indicator lamp came on and stayed on. (orange light/ engine symbol) Manual says have car checked by dealer straight away, I called to Tom Fox motors( where I bought the car) but he can't look at it till next week.

Has anyone seen this problem or know any possible causes?
I'm not sure if I should continue to drive or will it be OK until next week, the dealer didn't or did not want to advise me!!!
The car is still driving fine, with no other symtoms.

5500

Is it your engine management or cat light?

You can check the ecu for fault codes yourself its not hard at all

mickey mac

The manual says that "it indicates ONE of the engine's emissions control systems"
That's as much as I know! I don't know how to check ecu codes!

jayok

The engine malfunction light is used to represent any one of a number of problems, however 99% of the time its a emissions sensor that's reported a fault. Now two things could have happened:

1. The sensor detected a problem on the emmissions
2. The sensor is broke/damaged

The results of the sensor are held in the ECU an on the 99 Civic's you'll need a computer to read the ECU. The like of Tom Fox's would have this and be able to tell you what the problem it. Just a point of note, if 1 occured, it is possible that the detection was just a glitch and reseting the sensor will result in the light going off and normal operation occuring. However, with the 99 Civic, you will either need to clear the sensors with a ECU reader or you could try disconnecting the batter for a few minutes. I cannot remember if the result codes are store in EEPROM on the ECU. Anyone else know? (JHMEG I'm looking at you)

Beyond this you should be ok to drive the car.

JHMEG

When that light blinks it means your timing belt is broken.

Only joking!

Under the glove box to the far left there's a two pin connector with nothing connected to it. Jumper it with a paper clip or similar. Turn ignition to the on position (but don't start). The check engine light will blink out the code for what's wrong. Google for Honda codes, and cross reference it.

Alternatively, behind the plastic kick panel on the passenger side floor (ie beside where the passenger's left foot is) is where the ECU is. It's easy enough to remove the panel and there's a little window on the ECU that allows you to see the status LED inside. It blinks the same code, only you don't need to jumper the service check connector.

Jayok is most likely correct: It is likely that a sensor is broken, or that your cat is completely fooked.

LOTTOWINNER

Thank's alot lads, for all the help.
I have the car booked in for next week, (not Tom Fox) the reason I posted was I was afraid of doing damage to the car.
Thanks for the info on ECU's! very informative


Thanks again