Malfunction Indicator lamp has come on.The owner’s manual says the engine’s emissions control “may have a problem”,the fuel cap is tight and I always make sure it clicks several times when refueling.
What Kind of a problem am I looking at??
The owner’s manual says to take the vehicle to the dealer. How do I know I’m not going to get ripped off??
Help!
Any shop can read these codes. Many auto parts stores, like Pep Boys, Autozone, O’Reillys will also read them for free. Get the codes and post them here. We can give you much better advise then.
I’ll have the codes read,thank you. I’ll let you know what they say.
p0420 is the code,they said it indicated that the cat-convertor may have a problem
P0420 is “catalyst operating below threshold,” which does NOT necessarily mean there’s something wrong with the catalytic converter.
This code often pops up when one of the O2 sensors starts to go bad.
Don’t let anyone sell you an expensive cat until they’ve done all the diagnostics associated with the P0420 code and eliminated all other possibilities.
Many dealers install cats when this code comes up, and two days later the light comes back on with the same code because they didn’t find the reason the cat wasn’t operating correctly in the first place.
It’s unusual for the cat on a 5 year old Honda to need replacement.
Took the vehicle to the honda dealer,they said they “went through their sheet” that Honda recommends.The mechanic said it was “probably poor gas” and he reset the light on the dash.I’ve only got 67,000 miles on it,the cat is covered to 8yrs/80,000miles.They told me if the light comes on again,they’ll change the Cat.
Like you, I don’t have a lot of confidence in this dealer. Perhaps, another dealer for the warranty stuff? An independent for everything else.
If that dealer does throw a catalytic converter at the problem, let us know the results. Somebody is here (in cyberspace) 24/7.
“Probably poor gas” is #1 on the list of excuses to give to customers when shops cannot find out what caused the problem.
Keep your copy of the shop order. If it happens again, you get a free cat. Keep that paperwork too. If it happens a third time, you’ll be within your rights to demand that they put the ozygen sensor signals on a scope and do further diagnosis.