[Cobra10]

Hi,

I hope someone can help a complete newbie

I got my Civic (55 reg, 2.2TDI sport) a month ago and the previous owner told me that she newer used the aircon as it wasn't blowing any cold air at all. As I looked through the forum I saw that it might just needs a recharging so I took it to the nearest garage.
That's were it all went wrong.

They connected the set and said that's it's fully charged so it's an electrical fault. Then they removed the relay for the air con. I guess that's the point where they messed up my car as they started the engine again without the relay and tested it with the bigger type of amp tester (the one that you have to connect to the battery first). In the end I was told that I need to book in my car with them as they can not tell me what is wrong with it (50 quid just to search for the fault and who knows how much it will be when done)
And comes the weird part, as I took the car home the engine warning light came on (in the middle) and on the left hand side the "loopy" symbol was flashing - as far as my little knowledge goes that stands for check diesel engine / emission.

So atm I'm completely confused - I have a feeling that the garage conned me and deliberately caused the engine management light to come on so they can charge me even more.

Is there a way that I can reset the engine management light to see whether they caused the second fault and also any ideas about the aircon?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bodgerx]

The classic 'check engine light' is a icon of a small engine - not a loopy thing. I think that's your diesel glow plug/coil warning - which I believe lights up briefly on start, but shouldn't flash while driving. Consult the manual.

 

[Cobra10]

Hi,

Thanks for the post, I uploaded a pics about the 2 lights that's on, the "loopy" one on the left, flashes (took me a while to take a half decent picture of it lol)
DSC05705.jpg picture by Cobra10HUN - Photobucket

Also the seller didn't had the manual with the car - I was able to download a service manual though but thats like trying to read in Chinese for me

 

[bodgerx]

Yep, that's the check engine light. You could buy a OBDII port reader and it would give you the exacr error codes. Armed with that info, I'd go back and tell them to sort out the problem they caused. Seems like they are to be blamed.

 

[Cobra10]

Yep, that's the check engine light. You could buy a OBDII port reader and it would give you the exacr error codes. Armed with that info, I'd go back and tell them to sort out the problem they caused. Seems like they are to be blamed.

Thanks, is there a way to just "reset" the computer so it would recheck if the problem still exist? Basically I was standing by my car when they were working on it so apart from starting the engine without the relay I did not see anything suspicious.
I was thinking about disconnecting the battery for half an hour so the CPU would do an initial system check, however I'm not sure what would I cause if I do so (for example my keyfob might won't work or I'd cause a major problem)

 

[bboy]

I appreciate your main issue, but also annoying is how people 'some how!!!' manage to lose the owners manual. With the way modern cars are it's essential to have the manual as well, lucky you were able to download a copy.

As for the main issue I hope you are able to sorted it without costing too much.

 

[Cobra10]

I appreciate your main issue, but also annoying is how people 'some how!!!' manage to lose the owners manual. With the way modern cars are it's essential to have the manual as well, lucky you were able to download a copy.

As for the main issue I hope you are able to sorted it without costing too much.

Unfortunately I was only able to download the service manual which I can't understand at all (I must adint that I'm pretty dumb with cars )
As for the main issue I might will visit the local Honda dealer (but as I read on the forum they charge 50quid an hour just to take a look).
Of course I still hope someone can give some advise

 

[Frank Gallagher]

did they put the relay back??

 

[bboy]

Unfortunately I was only able to download the service manual which I can't understand at all (I must adint that I'm pretty dumb with cars )
As for the main issue I might will visit the local Honda dealer (but as I read on the forum they charge 50quid an hour just to take a look).
Of course I still hope someone can give some advise

I see you are in Ashford, where did you take it or regassing?. Also which Honda dealer would you be looking at? I use Thames Honda in Ruislip

 

[Cobra10]

did they put the relay back??

Yep they did, but just in case I took it out and put it back as well

 

[scotstu20000]

Starting the car with the relay missing will almost certainly bring up the engine management fault light. It knows something is missing!!!!!! To save money i would buy a bluetooth OBD2 interface from ebay for £10 (hundreds available) and a suitable app like Torque for your phone (£1.99), and a new relay for £22. Install the relay then clear the fault codes. I bet it works.......

 

[Cobra10]

I see you are in Ashford, where did you take it or regassing?. Also which Honda dealer would you be looking at? I use Thames Honda in Ruislip

Thank you for the advise I will give them a call tomorrow.
I took it to carmate in Ashford as originally I was looking for aircon specialist - never thought by doing so I'll have the engine management light on.
Could you advise me by the sound of my problems how mush Honda Ruislip will charge me?

 

[Cobra10]

Starting the car with the relay missing will almost certainly bring up the engine management fault light. It knows something is missing!!!!!! To save money i would buy a bluetooth OBD2 interface from ebay for £10 (hundreds available) and a suitable app like Torque for your phone (£1.99), and a new relay for £22. Install the relay then clear the fault codes. I bet it works.......

Thank you! Sounds promising

 

[Maciek]

Try checking fault codes as by this:
http://www.civinfo.com/forum/how/7044-read-clear-diagnostic-error-codes-no-special-tools-5.html#post649508

The "loopy thing light" is a glow plug light Shoud not be flashing constantly. Maybe they removed wrond relay or slightly move other relays while removing a/c relay.

Get back to them and tell them to fix the problem they caused.

M.
sent from SGS.

 

[bboy]

Thank you for the advise I will give them a call tomorrow.
I took it to carmate in Ashford as originally I was looking for aircon specialist - never thought by doing so I'll have the engine management light on.
Could you advise me by the sound of my problems how mush Honda Ruislip will charge me?

I wouldn't know about charges but they are a good Honda dealer I have recommended many a friends to go to them.

But it sounds like others have possibly provided a cheaper fix to try. What ever you do don't give it back to those cowboys as you won't know what else they'll kindly fix for you!!!!!!

 

[Cobra10]

I'm not going to bring my car back to them.
I ordered a new relay yesterday, so hopefully I can try out this foil thing tomorrow (if not than an eBay code-reader), hopefully Pottsy will be able to advise me on the error codes - worst case scenario is a visit to Ruislip Honda.
Thank you all for the replies, I will post the results as soon as I can - hopefully it will help others as well

 

[Cobra10]

Ok.
The foil fault reading and resetting is done - the only code came up was abnormal battery voltage.
New relay in - A/C works faultless
One problem left - the engine management light comes back again as soon as I turn the ignition on - whit the "loopy" symbol which as per Maciek it stands for glow plug light. I did code reading again - NO DTC
I removed and checked every fuse, none blown so I don't have a clue what's causing it...

 

[scotstu20000]

Did u clear the fault code the first time?

 

[Cobra10]

Did u clear the fault code the first time?

Yes I cleared the fault code as it was for abnormal battery low voltage and I've seen it on the forum before...

 

[Booboo]

Disconnect the battery for 10mins or so if it shows up still you've reconnected you still have a problem.