my2ks2k

so after hours of reading, i came up with a few possibilities, but nothing concrete yet.
here's my scenario:


*replaced alternator and battery in june, car has maybe 3k on it since then
** the car is an 00 with ~184k on the clock

-weekend trip to the dragon, interrupted by EPS light coming on and dimming cabin lights. obvious battery issue. stopped at a gas station, noticed a loose positive cable, tightened her down, jumped the car, everything seemed fine. drove all day that day and a good portion of the next.
-driving home, same thing starts happening again. EPS light comes on (which of course means power steering is gone), cabin lights dim. we pull over, look around can't see anything. jump the car again, and take off.
-car drives fine for probably 10 miles. same thing starts happening again. i decide i'm gonna cut everything off in the cabin and try to limp home (2.25 hours or so).
-that didn't happen. car died about 5 miles later. had it towed to the nearest honda dealer 12 miles away. this is a sunday, so i have to leave it outside their gates.
-talk to the dealership monday morning, ask them to test the electrical system. they tell me the battery is fine, the alternator is no good. i say meh, i'll come get it.
-brought the car home, had it tested. battery is fine, alternator is putting out no signal
-pull the alternator, they bench test it, seems fine. yadda yadda. i get a new one, clean the connections from the harness (they were bad), put it all back, good as new.

fast forward 1 week to yesterday.

-i changed pads/rotors and did an oil change. got her all back together, go for a test drive...no vtec. i can hear the changeover, but there's no power surge, and the angry sound that comes with vtec is kind of muffled. 1st gear just feels like a continuation of revs, 2nd and 3rd feel like they might actually be bogging just a bit. not much.

i disconnected the battery and pulled the backup fuse to reset the ECU...no change.
i changed the oil filter (again) thinking the first new one may have been clogged or something. no change.

this is where i'm at. i've heard some say that the cat going bad can create similar symptoms to this. that's probably my next try. keep in mind, i can hear the change at 6k, just...nothing really happens.

what i don't know is...how bad for the system is it to drive the car on a dying battery? i know eventually it'll just stop powering the fuel pump, which is what happened. but did i do any other damage that could be the perpetrator here?

sorry such a long read, didn't know if background info was helpful or not.

suggestions?
thanks!

whippets2k

Possible VTEC solenoid?

FitzyS2k

yeah check the VTEC filter. also how long did you drive around after resetting the ecu. keep driving it and see if the ECU relearns.

my2ks2k

filter looks fine, but i don't really know what i'm looking for other than something like obvious blockage. is there a way to test the solenoid to see if it's actually getting power and functioning properly?

FitzyS2k

I use this excuse every time something is wrong with a car. have you ever did an intake manifold cleaning?? I do one every spring and get all the carbon out of the engine. it def works.

The Gent

flaky ecu?

whippets2k

any possibility of having low oil? did you double check your oil level?

my2ks2k

i reset the ECU, the vtec solenoid filter is clean, there's no blockage anywhere, the solenoid is actuating fine, and the oil is good. coincidentally (or maybe not, who knows), i did an oil change immediately preceding this problem showing up. so yeah, the oil is good. for the hell of it, i also took the new filter that i just put on with the oil change off and put another new on one, just to make sure there wasn't some blockage in there. there wasn't.

sigh. i may try to swap another cat to check that possibility. otherwise, i suppose i'll just have to take it to the dealer.

icemans2k02

lol may be loud as all get out. take your exhaust off and cat and run her down the street. See whats happens before trying to waste your time finding another cat around.

FitzyS2k

Catless FTW. your neighbors will hate you for ever!!!!