Honda Computer Problems

Hi I need some help. Honda has had my car for two days now and they say they can't diagnose whats wrong with it. My car goes into what they call limp mode - This is when the vas light goes off and VSA lights up and the engine light goes on.

The first time this happen they told me it was the battery so they charged me and replaced the battery and retuned my car.

Two days later the same thing happen. So they then said it was the air copressor or something luike that code so they reset the computer then off i go again. Then two days later the same lights and limp mode came again.

They now are still testing it but they are unsure whats wrong with it. Has anyone else had this problem? Is this covered by warranty? and lastly if i need to change around the computer is their a sports computer or a performance computer i can put in their instead. SOmething from hondata maybe???? are these possibilities???? Any help would be great.

Thanks

In my experience these things always have a simple cause. There will be a broken sensor or switch somewhere thats putting the system off. It's just a matter of methodical differential diagnosis* (oddly, this wasnt invented by House). Work through the possible causes, and possible faults, eliminating one by one, if possible seperating parts of the system into larger, independently testable chunks to more rapidly narrow in on the problem.

You will find that the aprentice will stuff about with your car until someone gets the shits, and passes it on to the Guru. The Guru will have it fixed ten minutes later using the above technique.

People are always quick to blame the computer in these cases, and they are almost always wrong. Computers, and modern PCBs in general are VERY reliable. The bits that go wrong are the bits that move.... connectors, switches, harnesses that have been damaged, etc. The computer would be the last place I'd expect a problem. If the computer is in limp home it should have codes, and the codes will point The Guru in the right direction.

As I'm aware the hondata isnt a new computer, just new firmware for the existing one, so I wouldnt expect salvation there, even if the computer was at fault... and I'd go out on a limb and say that its almost certainly not.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_diagnosis

Assuming your car's under warranty, yes it will be covered, so I'd just let Honda fix it.

There isn't a direct replacement engine management -- you still need the OEM chip (then there are reflashes or piggybacks that you can buy). However, an aftermarket engine management system may well void your engine warranty, and insurance companies tend not to like them.

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Originally Posted by Tobster

Assuming your car's under warranty, yes it will be covered, so I'd just let Honda fix it.

There isn't a direct replacement engine management -- you still need the OEM chip (then there are reflashes or piggybacks that you can buy). However, an aftermarket engine management system may well void your engine warranty, and insurance companies tend not to like them.

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If my car isn't under warranty as i didn
t buyt he extended warranty are their any avenues which i can go through? As this is a component of a car that shouldn't break right???? They are also telling me that i have too much things running off the battery and wires running everywhere so it wouldn't be covered under warranty anyway. Is this true?

Ring a few auto-electricians, describe the problem and ask if they are interested in having a look, if they arent then ask them who would be. Gurus don't all work at dealers.

You will find that if you've done a lot of dodgy mods to the car then people will be less interested in looking at the car, no big surprise there.

Honda cannot be held responsible for after-market modifications, or any problems they cause. They do, however, have a responsibility to prove that the modification caused the fault. The catch then is that if they spend 5 hours working on the car just to find out that a modifciation caused the fault then you will owe them a decent amount of cash. Such is life.

do u have a piggyback ecu or a vtec controller like buddyclub's??
that is what cause the problem. i believe u rev your car quite often in the high rpm range??