Hi - my first post here. I hope I am posting in the right area. I have a '96 Civic 3 door 5 speed manual transmission, with 139,000 kilometres on it. The car has been absolutely fantastic to me - in the 6 years I have owned it, I only had to replace one part - an oxygen sensor. I have taken really good care of the engine, with all scheduled service and oil changes evey 5000km.

Yesterday, the engine warning light came on and I went immediately to a dealer (not my dealer - I bought the car privately). They told me that the diagnostic indicated a problem with the 'throttle body' and that the fix was going to be worth CAD$1700 , labour and taxes in. They said that they turned the warning light off and that I should drive the car as usual, and if it came back on, to bring it in and expect that the throttle body will need replacing. The car is apparently running normally. Now...this car has been so good to me and of course nothing lasts forever. I am just wondering - I found a schematic of the 'throttle body' assembly and it seems to be composed of some 17 different parts. Is there any chance that this repair, if necessary, can involve less than the entire throttle body package? I am trying to figure out if it is worth it to do this repair or not (how much is a new engine??). I have taken the car to Honda for everything but oil changes, etc., and a friend of mine is telling me that I should really consider finding a good private Honda mechanic because the can often do identical work for less money.

Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated. As you can tell, I'm not much of a mechanic, although I have a fairly clear understanding of how an internal combustion engine works. Thanks, Nick.

 

Could be something as simple as a TPS sensor. What specifically was wrong with the TB?

 

Tell what was wrong and then maybe we can help a bit better.

 

hi honura and YeaItsaFourDoor

Thanks for the responses - it is unclear to me what exactly went wrong with the throttle body. The engine check light went on and I took the car immediately to a dealer for a diagnosis - they told me that they had looked into the cause of the engine check light and it was the throttle body. They did not tell me specifically which of the two throttle body sensors went off. All they did was figure out which error code was being generated - they didn't look at the car further or do any work to it. I have since learned that I can figure out the exact code myself using the 'paperclip' technique which is described here

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

The problem is that the dealer has turned the engine check light off and told me to drive the car as normal and see if it comes back on. Therefore I cannot use this technique to find out what the exact error code was. FourDoor - I have learned from Bumnah that it could only be either the TP sensor or the MAP sensor.

The car is running normally - I haven't been able to detect a difference in performance even when the light was on. I have been driving it for the past 3 days. I am hoping that the engine check light stays off but I just wonder why it would come on if there was nothing wrong. The last (and only other) time it came on it correctly diagnosed a problem with the oxygen sensor. This was the ONLY fix I have had to make to this unbelievably reliable car.

Any comments from either of you guys? I understand that you aren't working with much information here. Any information at all would be appreciated.

BTW... the regulars here have been very very helpful to me and I am getting some good advice. Most of you have said that you need to know what the error code was and of course I am hoping that I'm never able to give it to you because that would mean that the engine check light didn't come back on Thanks again.

 

Just a quick update for those of you who helped me out.

My car is running fine and the CEL has not come on again. I am not sure if anyone has any other comments about this anomalous check light - as I mentioned, the last time it came on it was right on, diagnosing an oxygen sensor problem. Is there anything else I can/should do to make sure the engine is ok, or to diagnose some hidden problem?

Thanks again to all those who helped me out with PMs.