Limp Home Mode, no codes?

Did you have any luck figuring it out ? I have the exact Problem with my 2001 civic ex. I was going to change the PCM on Monday but now I'm not so sure.

ok, i'll recheck the timing again. I'm pretty sure that it's ok, but I could be off by one tooth. any suggestions for lining the cam marks up with the head? I know the two marks are are just supposed to be lined up flush with the head, but obviously my eyes may be a tooth off.

Did you get this fixed?

Is your engine a Vtec?

yes, it's a 1.7 L SOHC VTEC

I am having the same problem afterswapping out my engineand have gone through same diagnostics. Has anyone found the problem?

Hi all

I have a 2001 honda civic ex 2-door Coupe with standard transmission. It has about 123 K miles on it. We brought it ~1.5 years ago.

Recently it has been giving some problems. It goes into what is referred to as "LIMP" mode. Basically, the car loses throttle and comes to a complete stop. Though it is hot here these days the temperature guage reads as always in the middle. If we immediately try to start the car, it doesn't. After about a min or 2, the car does start however, the idling rpm goes to 0. Then in nuetral the maximum engine rpm at full throttle is ~3000 rpm. After 5-6 min it becomes OK and we are able to go at higher rpms and the car drives normally, though after this I dont have the guts to test the car at higher speeds in traffic.

Could there be an issue with Cruise control ?
The first time this happened was 2 weeks ago when we had traveled on road for about 1000 miles (~250 miles each day for 4 days) . The back of the car was loaded with stuff, though I estimate that the car was carrying 60 % of the permitted weight. I was then following a car who was travelling @ 60-70 mph (the speed was oscillating sufficiently). I was using cruise control and using the cruise control option to accelerate and decelerate with the person ahead of me. I suspect this probably was due to overuse of cuise control ??? Any body have any thoughts on this.
The CEL light came up. We located a mechanic shop after the car came back. I remember the CEL code was related to ECM/PCM mal-function (though I dont remember the exact code). Later that day, the car drove perfectly fine and we managed to travel ~200 miles after that. The CEL was cleared by the mechanic and it never came back again that day.

The same thing happened the day after as well. Though as before we were able to dive it for 200 miles or so after it stalled ( though we had taken ample breaks ~ a break every 60 miles) . The CEL came up and got cleared after some time by itself.

The same thing happened again twice last week. The CEL comes up and automatically got cleared. We were able to read the code on only one occcasion and we got P1362- TDC Sensor No Signal.

However, I should also point out that I have used this car to drop my wife off daily and it takes about 15 min each way (speed limit of 40 mph). It drives perfectly fine then. One thing that was different between the times it goes into LIMP mode is that we were driving at higher speeds ( a.k.a. 55-70 mph) then.

My questions are

1) The TDC sensor could be faulty
2) I know that man cruise control systems have been installed after markt by Honda.Is there a possibility of cruise control is a suspect.
3) I have seen that this could mean a faulty catalytic converter. How is cat conv. related to this? Can I do a simple check to see if the cat. conv. is the root cause? And if it is the cause how much would that cost
4) I have seen posts online about having to change the whole distributor. Is this necessary ? How much would this cost ?
4) Any other possible thing that could cause this ??

I really like this car and would want to get it back to normal as soon as possible. So any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks
Raja

There are 2 marks that will line up even with the top edge of the head. You can place a straight edge across the marks on the outside of the pulley and align that with the edge of the head.

Limp Home Mode is something that the computer switches into when certain components are either giving faulty readings or not giving any readings. It allows you to "limp home" with the car.
The code you mentioned tells me that most likely the ECM is overheating. Try finding one at a junkyard and swapping it out, see what happens. The other code you mentioned tells me that the crank sensor may be failing intermittently, which means it will fail completely soon. It should be replaced first.

ok, I just set the timing after installing a new tensioner, which I believe is what started this whole mess. The belt is much tighter now than it was when I did the job the first time. I think that it caused the belt to slip and tooth or two because it happened around 4,000 rpm and I was using the engine to brake. So I just did all that and the car is still in limp home mode where the rpm's won't go past 3,500 and it is still throwing the code for the crank shaft sensor. Could the sensor have been damaged? All the mechanical parts are lined up correctly.

Dear rivermikerat

Thanks for your response. Your explanation of the LIMP model puts things into perspective. It was indeed very helpful.

Regarding your suggestion about changing the ECM. I just tried looking to see where can I get these. I found a bunch of used ones sold from ebay found some of these parts online.

However before I venture into this deeper, my primary concern is if I should do it myself OR if I should let a mechanic take care of it (though i will prefer avoiding labor costs). It would be great if I can be guided on this further:

1) I have seen ECU / ECM and PCM all terms used pretty much interchangably. Are these all the same. It seems that these might be different for different models. What is it for 2001 Honda Civic.

2) My google search on this topic suggested that it is located under the carpet on the passenger side. Is this correct ?

3) I have one of those cars which have a built in chip with in the key. If I install the new ECM will starting be a problem OR do I have to take this to a Honda dealership to "program" it.

4) I know that Autozone lends equipments for diyers. Can I check this ECM before I order another used one ?

Thanks again for all the help
Raja

What is the exact code number?

It's something you can do on your own. Find a Chilton or Haynes motor manual at Advanced Auto parts, Autozone, etc. They're about $15 and will help you with just about any repair you might attempt.
According to the attached drawing, the ECM is located behind the glove box.
The key chip shouldn't be an issue.
A full featured code scanner should be able to put the ECM through a set of self-tests.

The same one as before P0335

Dear rivermikerat,

Thanks for your info. I did get a Haynes manual for 25 USD from Autozone. It looke pretty good.

It seems that your hunch might be correct. Today while I was driving something unique happened. The car appeared to stall at lower speeds (was driving at 35 mph). For about 30 seconds or so the car stalled and as opposed to previous times no CEL came up. The car came back up immediately after I restarted the engine. To me it basically strengthens the point that the ECM might be the culptrit.

I am going to open up the glove box to make sure I order the correct part.

Thanks for all your help. I will keep you posted.
Raja

The same one as before, P0335 Crank Sensor Circuit

My pleasure. Please do keep us updated. and let us know if we can be of further assistance.

Sorry, I missed it before.

I have a flow chart for that code but it's too big to upload here. I'm going to try a couple links here to see if any work for you.

Ok, so after many timing rechecks and sleepless nights the car is finally runnig flawlesly. Here is the breakdown of what happened. I bought this car with 90k on it and always wondered if the timing belt had been done on it, but I waited untill 150k to find out, which was last week. The timing belt had never been done before and half of it(shavings) were pilied up in the bottom of the timing cover. So I replaced the tiiming belt and water pump, foregoing the belt tensioner. I gues I should have spent the extra 80$ for it becasue this was the cause of all my woes. The tensionser was worn and about a week after I did the belt my timing skipped a tooth because the tensioner failed. Here is where it snowballs into a disaster. Luckily this motor is non-interfereance so I didn't have to worry about bent valves or any of that mess. So the belt skipped a tooth and the car went into limp home mode where the rpm's wouldn't go over 3,500. The next moring when trying to start the car it jumped even more timing and in the process the battery died. So after installing the battery I tried one more time to start the car to no evail. During the process of trying to start the car so many times I ended up fouling out the spark plugs. So I reset timing later that day only to find the car in limp home mode still. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on. That's when I contacted you. So I rechecked timing again the next day and this time replaced the timing tensioner, this made the belt sooooo much tighter than before and I imediatley knew what the source of my problem was. But the car was still in limp home mode. I refused to believe that there could have been more than one failure at the same time for my car, the tensioner going bad ,skipping a tooth, and then the crank sesnor taking a dump. But after running through your tree it really had gone bad somehow. One new Crank position sensor later and it's running like a champ. I know it'spossible for multiple parts to fail simultaneously, but usually highly unlikely. So in the end, a new tensioiner, new sensor, new battery and new plugs got me back on the road. Thanks for all your help and pointing me in the right direction!! :)

Glad to hear you finally got it fixed. Use 2CarPros anytime, we are here to help. Please tell a friend.

I have a 1998 Honda Civic. Yesterday my car battery died so I had to get a new one. While I was getting a jump I had to put the car in shift lock to move it. The car was running fine when I got home. The next morning I changed my Battery with a new one. I started the car in the morning and everything seemed to be going fine. I put the car into reverse and I noticed it went into limp mode. A few minutes later my MIL started blinking. I ran the codes to see what was wrong with the car and it said system misfire and it pointed to one of the ignition spark plug cables. So, I decided change the spark clubs, the ignition spark plug wires, the rotor and the cap. I tried to turn the car on and now the car wont start. The car cranks but the engine does not start. I can't seem to figure out whats wrong with the car now. Any ideas?

You have messed up the ignition firing order. This picture will help.

I checked the firing order and its just as you posted.

So I rechecked everything and the car still isn't starting. I'm sure everything was done properly. I checked to see if the gas pump was working which it is. The fuel is also getting to the engine. I checked to see if maybe my spark plugs were bad but the car wont spark at all. The car still cranks though. What should I do next?