# 1997 honda accord engine check light **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** accord, honda\ **Created:** [December 9, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-engine-check-light/58489 "2010-12-09T22:51:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rkingery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@rkingery](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rkingery)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-engine-check-light/58489/1 "2010-12-09T22:51:17Z")
1997 honda accord 104000 miles…engine check light comes on when started…stays on, no flashing. any suggestions as to why ie: mileage, transmission, emission system, bad sensor, etc? thanks ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-engine-check-light/58489/2 "2010-12-09T23:26:44Z")
Is the car up to date with all of its maintenance? Poor maintenance is a prime cause of CELs lighting up. But–why guess? Take the car to Auto Zone, Advance Auto, O’Reilly, or (possibly) Napa in order to have them connect a code reader to your OBD terminal. This is free-of-charge. After getting the code(s), then you can come back to this thread to post the codes for specificaadvice. The codes will be a format similar to P0123. ---
**Author:** ![mark9207](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@mark9207](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mark9207)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-engine-check-light/58489/3 "2010-12-09T23:30:45Z")
Be sure to just give us the number, not the definition or what the clerk tried to sell you to “fix” the problem. Don’t buy or replace anything without coming back here first! ---
**Author:** ![rkingery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@rkingery](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rkingery)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-engine-check-light/58489/4 "2010-12-09T23:43:16Z")
thanks…will get back later with codes ---
**Author:** ![rkingery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@rkingery](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rkingery)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-engine-check-light/58489/5 "2010-12-10T00:38:22Z")
Obtained code p0740 from the OBD terminal… ---
**Author:** ![mark9207](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@mark9207](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mark9207)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-engine-check-light/58489/6 "2010-12-10T05:09:13Z")
P0740 indicates a problem with your torque converter clutch. It is most likely not locking up when it is supposed to. Failure to unlock would cause stalling when you bring the vehicle to a stop. This could be a problem with the solenoid (if this vehicle has one), the transmission control module, or the wiring for either. Hopefully someone more familiar with this problem on this vehicle will come by and fill you in better. You will want to fix this when you can, though. No torque converter lockup means more heat in the transmission, which could lead to premature transmission failure. ---
**Author:** ![rkingery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@rkingery](https://community.cartalk.com/u/rkingery)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1997-honda-accord-engine-check-light/58489/7 "2010-12-10T19:39:50Z")
Thanks Mark…I really appreciate you input and time…I will take it to a hopefully honest transmission specialist…RK