Any advice about my old beloved Honda?

May 12, 2017 9:58 PM

As Honda aficionados know, when your car has a mechanical difficulty and the lights go on, you don't have to pay the dealer $75 to run a computer check; you can do it yourself -- you just have to close a circuit, the relevant lights on the dashboard will flash on and off a certain number of times, and then you can look up the resultant number in a table to figure out what's wrong. This isn't working and I'd appreciate further advice.

Oddly, instead of the blinking lights I was hoping for to explain why my Prelude's ATTS light is on, when I closed the circuit all of the dashboard lights came on. This happened for me; the dealership had the same result. Nobody knows what to do about this or how big a problem it's going to be for me to drive with the ATTS light on. Part of the problem, of course, is that the dealership no longer supports 16-year-old makes and models; basically, I'm driving an Apple ][ that nobody around here knows very much about. Any thoughts on what I should do now? I would be happy to drive it over to a specialist, provided I knew where one was.

posted by Mr. Justice to Technology (10 answers total)

Autozone will read ODBII codes for free. This says a '01 Prelude has a port here:
http://www.hondahookup.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-115869.html
posted by at at 10:22 PM on May 12, 2017

I always took my Honda to the local independent garage that specializes in them and had a great rep. Most areas have that one or two garages that live and breathe Honda and often do a better job at diagnostics on old beat..I mean classics because they see way more of them.
posted by zippy at 10:32 PM on May 12, 2017 [2 favorites]

Yep, like at says, a parts store will be happy to do this for you. Call first to make sure they do this as a free service so you don't waste a trip and try to go when they're not busy. I got the check engine light for my Honda Fit diagnosed at O' Reilly's recently. They gave me a printout and then told me it was more than likely a loose gas cap which the shop at my dealership confirmed. They have signs in the windows advertising this service because they hope you will buy your parts there. It takes about 30 seconds. Some dealerships will do it free as well as they've figured out you will be more likely to want to leave your car with them if they don't act like greedy asshats. O' Reilly's couldn't reset the light but it went out after a few days and a tightened gas cap.
posted by BoscosMom at 10:49 PM on May 12, 2017

1. Without trying to retrieve the codes, turn key to 'ON' (second) position. Dash lights should light. Wiggle the key a bit forward & back...is there any change in the lights? (Testing ignition switch in this older car).
2. Have you tried reseating the ATTS control unit?
posted by artdrectr at 11:00 PM on May 12, 2017

From looking at lights a table from a similar aged audi, many of the error codes are related to non-critical systems, the one I dug into helped highway fuel efficiency. It runs!! Keep oil topped off, check the breaks, fluids and toddle on down the road.
posted by sammyo at 7:58 AM on May 13, 2017

Part of the problem, of course, is that the dealership no longer supports 16-year-old makes and models...

Did they tell you that to your face? That's utter bs, if true. I've never run across a dealership of any make that wouldn't service older models. I can take my '01 VW to my local dealer with no problems. If they told you this, I'd say it's more likely that they just don't want to have to figure out the problem (and, thus, warrant the supposed fix).
posted by Thorzdad at 8:03 AM on May 13, 2017

Another quick note - you can buy an ODBII scanner on Amazon.com for like $13 - it'll be built like crap, but it'll let you read and clear codes. This was invaluable to me when I had to clean/fix a sensor in my car and couldn't wait for the code to clear itself as the car was due for inspection.
posted by destructive cactus at 10:54 AM on May 13, 2017 [1 favorite]

Do Honda codes not clear when you disconnect the battery for 15 minutes, the way they do with other cars? (This will also clear your radio presets and clock setting.)
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:34 PM on May 13, 2017

I thought the 'count the blinking lights' trick was for OBD I, only. Post '96, it'll be OBD II
posted by hwyengr at 4:56 PM on May 13, 2017

Back when I had a car, I used a $20 Bluetooth OBD-II/CANbus scanner paired with an Android device running Torque to pull codes and a lot of other neat stuff.

I also had a $15 Toyota-specific USB dongle to deal with the manufacturer specific stuff like pairing keys, etc, but that was a much bigger PITA to use and is unnecessary for simple code reading and resetting the CEL.

FWIW, it would do the blinky lights thing despite being a 2008. It was just faster and easier to figure out with a scanner than with counting blinks.
posted by wierdo at 12:01 AM on May 14, 2017