Ok so today my girlfriend and i are on our way to her brothers house. We get on the highway like normal and as soon as we get on there is a lot of traffic and im trying to merge over and while not really paying attention i accidently bump my rev limiter in 2nd at 60mph. Now i know this is a dumb mistake and im an idiot for letting this happen, trust me i know. But as soon as it hit it the CEL came on and now there is a soft knocking noise coming from the engine but only while accelerating above 3500rpms. Now i'm somewhat knowledgeable with cars and engines and what not, but i don't know enough to make an accurate assumption as to what the problem is and how serious it actually is. I work at a sunoco service station and im going to have one of the mechanics pull the code and see what the problem is tomorrow, but does anyone have a good guess to what exactly happened and how serious this will be?

BTW, it is a 1998 Civic EX Coupe with the D16Y8 with 189,XXX miles on it.
The only mods i have are an AEM SRI, if that will make any difference.

Also, i am due for a timing belt, which means its probably quite worn down, if that makes any difference either.

And after i got home, i check the oil and it was low, i added a quart, and now the knocking noise is less intense, but still there.


thanks in advance for any info/advice!

 

You can easily retrieve the CEL code(s) yourself using the jumper wire method described here:

http://www.c-speedracing.com/faq/06.php

You may get a more detailed code, however, using a scan tool at your work.

As an aside, does the fact that you added oil mean that this incident caused an engine oil leak?

 

Hm,

Well i found the DIY for pulling the CEL and i tried that and came out with a 22. it did LONG-LONG-SHORT-SHORT-PAUSE.

and according to this - http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/066000_065578.pdf - 22 isnt a CEL code.

Any suggestions?

 

22 is a VTEC System Malfunction (see picture).


[IMG]local://upfiles/25538/51E66247AB874A4CB915CCDEB481FBB1.jpg[/IMG]

 

Nice, thanks for the help.

That sure explains why the noise is only heard while accelerating over 3500 rpms. So, about how serious do you think this is, should i let it sit and scramble for a ride to school tomorrow?

Thanks again for the help

 

No, i don't believe thats the case. It had just been a while since ive checked the oil, and a knocking sound from the engine makes me think low oil so i checked it, and sure it enough it was low, but that doesnt seem to be the cause.

 

I don't really know how to advise you on whether or not you should drive the car. The safest option would be to catch a ride from a buddy.

Pictures here and in the next two posts describe how to troubleshoot the CEL code. My wild speculation would be that you blew the solenoid valve.



[IMG]local://upfiles/25538/71B13632AFBF40348567DF1468DB7E7B.jpg[/IMG]

 

next picture...

[IMG]local://upfiles/25538/D1B171247B994DE489F0D2F01F151EF7.jpg[/IMG]

 

last picture...

Good luck with the repair, and I hope the fix is inexpensive.

[IMG]local://upfiles/25538/5EA4F58A720C479FB07F0C4177CF4DE1.jpg[/IMG]

 

I'm thinking you have damaged your solenoid. Try taking it out and see if it runs smoothly or not.