Check Engine Light

AtlantaFalcon · 03-10-2010, 04:06 PM

On the way home from work today my check engine light turned on in my 2007 Civic (Automatic Transmission). A Honda dealership is on the way home from work, so I dropped in to ask them how much it would cost to see why the light was on.

$100.00 and an hour and a half in their waiting room just to see what the light was all about. I don't know why they felt like they needed to do such a thorough search rather than just tell me they'll check for codes for free. I give them business all the time for common maintenance. Is this common, or is this a poorly run dealership? I was going to take it to Autozone to get it checked out, but my brother-in-law has a code scanner and in 3 or 4 hours when he gets home from work I'm going to have him look for codes.

This is really stressing me out. I bought a Honda for its reliability and up to this point (47,000 miles), my 1997 Ford Taurus ran like a beauty.

webby · 03-10-2010, 04:20 PM

are you out of warranty? If you are, they're going to charge you for service. A check engine light could be diagnosed for free at a autozone/pepboys, etc.

AtlantaFalcon · 03-10-2010, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webby

are you out of warranty? If you are, they're going to charge you for service. A check engine light could be diagnosed for free at a autozone/pepboys, etc.

I'm at 47,000 miles approximately, so I'm past the 3 years/36,000 miles limited warranty. I believe the drivetrain warranty is 5 years, 60,000 miles isn't it? I don't even know what a drivetrain warranty is. Thanks to forums like this I am learning little by little.

Charging me a little bit of money would have been understandable, but to charge me $100 to do a thorough search for an hour and a half (presumably) when they could at least try to scan for codes first, seemed a little off.

quickfit · 03-10-2010, 04:25 PM

what was the code for?

AtlantaFalcon · 03-10-2010, 04:27 PM

I'm at about 47,000 miles, so my 3 year/36,000 miles limited warranty is over. My 5 year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty is still in effect, but I have no idea what that warranty covers. Thanks to forums like this, I'm learning little by little.

I would've understood a minor charge to check for codes at the dealership, but to only offer a thorough check of the engine for $100 for an hour and a half seemed like a bit of overkill.

AtlantaFalcon · 03-10-2010, 04:29 PM

I don't have the codes yet. I'm waiting for my brother-in-law to get home from work. I'm going to go to his house to have him check. Maybe I should've just waited to post until then, but I'm nervous and wanted to ask the initial question about dealerships ripping me off. I get my routine maitenence done there all the time, but I think a change may be in order.

quickfit · 03-10-2010, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtlantaFalcon

I'm at about 47,000 miles, so my 3 year/36,000 miles limited warranty is over. My 5 year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty is still in effect, but I have no idea what that warranty covers. Thanks to forums like this, I'm learning little by little.

I would've understood a minor charge to check for codes at the dealership, but to only offer a thorough check of the engine for $100 for an hour and a half seemed like a bit of overkill.

your your CEL should have been under teh 60k warrenty,

vega66 · 03-10-2010, 09:27 PM

The only thing the 5yr, 60,000 covers is internally lubed parts thats it. I am a service writer at a honda dealer and we charge $92 for diag on a cel. Now you can go to autozone or where ever and get the code, but they will not tell you exactly whats going on. If you get a code for evap leak tank side then what are you going to replace????? That's why when you pay the money they make sure your not wasting your money on throwing parts at it. Also did they tell you the diag time will get rolled into the cost?? My dealer does that, so in all reality your not losing the money.

AtlantaFalcon · 03-10-2010, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vega66

The only thing the 5yr, 60,000 covers is internally lubed parts thats it. I am a service writer at a honda dealer and we charge $92 for diag on a cel. Now you can go to autozone or where ever and get the code, but they will not tell you exactly whats going on. If you get a code for evap leak tank side then what are you going to replace????? That's why when you pay the money they make sure your not wasting your money on throwing parts at it. Also did they tell you the diag time will get rolled into the cost?? My dealer does that, so in all reality your not losing the money.

Yeah, they said whatever was wrong, the $99.95 would go toward the cost.

About an hour ago my brother-in-law pulled up the code. It was code PO420. Here is a little bit of information I found: P0420 - Check Engine Light Diagnostic Trouble Code Description

My brother-in-law reset the code and the check engine light is off for now. Is there any chance possible that it will stay off, or is it pretty much a given that the light will turn on again for the same reason soon? I've only driven about 2-4 miles since it was reset.

hondagirl · 03-10-2010, 10:57 PM

auto enginuity is an awesome diagnostic tool. It will pay itself I promise you should look it up.

webby · 03-11-2010, 03:32 AM

You didn't mention if you have any aftermarket parts - header, exhaust, etc?

vega66 · 03-11-2010, 06:51 PM

DTC P0420: Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold.

Cats are covered for 8yrs or 80,000 miles so it should be under warr for ya.

hondagirl · 03-12-2010, 04:14 AM

unless he has a race header, That could also throw the cell

vega66 · 03-12-2010, 10:28 AM

very true

gotsnodooks · 03-12-2010, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hondagirl

unless he has a race header, That could also throw the cell

I'm guessing that since it an LX and the way he's describing the car...he's not modded. he's looking for reliability. Probably an O2 sensor went out on him.

SteveOFG2 · 03-12-2010, 12:30 PM

Give your OEM WBO2 a new lease on life try this before you go back to that dealer....and buddy if you are in a R18 and if the upstream it the problem diy save some money

xrathy · 03-12-2010, 12:37 PM

my car only has 7,000 miles and they still cant find the problem for the check engine light =p. Brought it to the dealership like 7 times already. Today is the 8th time its currently there right now, hopefully they find the problem today and get it fixed

SteveOFG2 · 03-13-2010, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xrathy

my car only has 7,000 miles and they still cant find the problem for the check engine light =p. Brought it to the dealership like 7 times already. Today is the 8th time its currently there right now, hopefully they find the problem today and get it fixed

take to someone with a code reader such as autozone and get the code and we can go from there

xrathy · 03-13-2010, 01:33 PM

already got code read all that stuff, its fixed now but yeah. Autozone and kraagen stop doing code checks cause its illegal

SteveOFG2 · 03-13-2010, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xrathy

already got code read all that stuff, its fixed now but yeah. Autozone and kraagen stop doing code checks cause its illegal

why is it illegal?

03-10-2010, 04:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
AtlantaFalcon Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 7	Check Engine Light On the way home from work today my check engine light turned on in my 2007 Civic (Automatic Transmission). A Honda dealership is on the way home from work, so I dropped in to ask them how much it would cost to see why the light was on. $100.00 and an hour and a half in their waiting room just to see what the light was all about. I don't know why they felt like they needed to do such a thorough search rather than just tell me they'll check for codes for free. I give them business all the time for common maintenance. Is this common, or is this a poorly run dealership? I was going to take it to Autozone to get it checked out, but my brother-in-law has a code scanner and in 3 or 4 hours when he gets home from work I'm going to have him look for codes. This is really stressing me out. I bought a Honda for its reliability and up to this point (47,000 miles), my 1997 Ford Taurus ran like a beauty.
	Tweet

03-10-2010, 04:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
AtlantaFalcon Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 7	I'm at about 47,000 miles, so my 3 year/36,000 miles limited warranty is over. My 5 year/60,000 mile powertrain warranty is still in effect, but I have no idea what that warranty covers. Thanks to forums like this, I'm learning little by little. I would've understood a minor charge to check for codes at the dealership, but to only offer a thorough check of the engine for $100 for an hour and a half seemed like a bit of overkill. Last edited by AtlantaFalcon; 03-10-2010 at 04:31 PM.

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03-10-2010, 04:20 PM	#2 (permalink)
webby Acorns! Join Date: May 2005 Location: Storage Room B Posts: 17,766	are you out of warranty? If you are, they're going to charge you for service. A check engine light could be diagnosed for free at a autozone/pepboys, etc.

03-10-2010, 04:25 PM	#4 (permalink)
quickfit Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NY Posts: 18,876 Resident asshat	what was the code for?

03-10-2010, 04:29 PM	#6 (permalink)
AtlantaFalcon Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 7	I don't have the codes yet. I'm waiting for my brother-in-law to get home from work. I'm going to go to his house to have him check. Maybe I should've just waited to post until then, but I'm nervous and wanted to ask the initial question about dealerships ripping me off. I get my routine maitenence done there all the time, but I think a change may be in order.

03-10-2010, 09:27 PM	#8 (permalink)
vega66 Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brownstown, MI Age: 28 Posts: 86 Phil	The only thing the 5yr, 60,000 covers is internally lubed parts thats it. I am a service writer at a honda dealer and we charge $92 for diag on a cel. Now you can go to autozone or where ever and get the code, but they will not tell you exactly whats going on. If you get a code for evap leak tank side then what are you going to replace????? That's why when you pay the money they make sure your not wasting your money on throwing parts at it. Also did they tell you the diag time will get rolled into the cost?? My dealer does that, so in all reality your not losing the money.

03-10-2010, 10:57 PM	#10 (permalink)
hondagirl Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 3,782	auto enginuity is an awesome diagnostic tool. It will pay itself I promise you should look it up.

03-11-2010, 03:32 AM	#11 (permalink)
webby Acorns! Join Date: May 2005 Location: Storage Room B Posts: 17,766	You didn't mention if you have any aftermarket parts - header, exhaust, etc?

03-11-2010, 06:51 PM	#12 (permalink)
vega66 Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brownstown, MI Age: 28 Posts: 86 Phil	DTC P0420: Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold. Cats are covered for 8yrs or 80,000 miles so it should be under warr for ya.

03-12-2010, 04:14 AM	#13 (permalink)
hondagirl Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 3,782	unless he has a race header, That could also throw the cell

03-12-2010, 10:28 AM	#14 (permalink)
vega66 Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brownstown, MI Age: 28 Posts: 86 Phil	very true

03-12-2010, 12:30 PM	#16 (permalink)
SteveOFG2 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Manassas, VA Age: 25 Posts: 2,432 Steve-O	Give your OEM WBO2 a new lease on life try this before you go back to that dealer....and buddy if you are in a R18 and if the upstream it the problem diy save some money

03-12-2010, 12:37 PM	#17 (permalink)
xrathy Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Long Beach, CA Age: 23 Posts: 841	my car only has 7,000 miles and they still cant find the problem for the check engine light =p. Brought it to the dealership like 7 times already. Today is the 8th time its currently there right now, hopefully they find the problem today and get it fixed

03-13-2010, 01:33 PM	#19 (permalink)
xrathy Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Long Beach, CA Age: 23 Posts: 841	already got code read all that stuff, its fixed now but yeah. Autozone and kraagen stop doing code checks cause its illegal

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