Civic Limp Mode

[PollyCranopolis 10+ year member]

Had my 03' EX (5spd) for about 2 years now. No problems to speak of...until this morning. Hop in to go to work. I notice that once revs hit 3500 rpm or so in any gear, car starts shaking and sputtering. The type of sensation when you hit the rev limiter, and the car kicks back and wont go any faster even though you want it to. Apparently this is the ECU going into "limp mode". I have a check engine light that comes on as soon as the car is started. It does not flash, but remains constant. Would not start at all on my lunch break until about the 10th attempt. I'm going to disconnect the battery for about 30, and reset the ECU. Any other ideas fellas?

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[Fusion_FREAK 10+ year member]

Reset the ECU.

Pull the 80 amp battery fuse and the IG1 fuse in the under hood fuse box. Leave it for about 20 minutes, and put back in. It'll reset itself. I have also never head of 'limp mode'. Have you had the codes pulled?

 

[Denhsturrr 10+ year member]

sounds like your MAF

 

[Curel 10+ year member]

Don't ignore the problem by reseting the ses light. Have someone or autozone scan the codes and report back what the codes are.

 

[bds0688 10+ year member]

sounds like your MAF

x2. My MAf was bad. It'd be fine on highway speeds or once I got cruising. As soon as I had to accelerate quickly, it chocked and sputtered.

 

[x2o 10+ year member]

You can try cleaning your MAF sensor, they sell MAF cleaner and it's like an aerosol type thing. I used it when my Mazda 6's CEL came on and wouldn't go away. Between cleaning that and the cold air intake filter I got rid of the light. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[PollyCranopolis 10+ year member]

Autozone and and another shop both tested it and it threw code P0340 - Camshaft position sensor. Fixed the sensor (under the valve cover on the right) and it fixed the issue. $60 part, and a few hours of my time.

 

[MAY03TBLT 10+ year member]

Have you had the codes pulled?

Have someone or autozone scan the codes and report back what the codes are.

x2 on both

 

[Fusion_FREAK 10+ year member]

Civic's also don't have MAF's //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

Glad you got it fixed.

 

[Skip01 5,000+ posts]

My distributor was bad and doin the same thing in my LS swap one time

 

[x2o 10+ year member]

Civic's also don't have MAF's //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif
Glad you got it fixed.

Oh, haha, didn't know that before... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

Nevermind my suggestion then //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Glad you got it fixed though, and it was only $60, not $600 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[PollyCranopolis 10+ year member]

Oh, haha, didn't know that before... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif
Nevermind my suggestion then //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Glad you got it fixed though, and it was only $60, not $600 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

No doubt. You can imagine me shitting myself if I replaced it and the light came back on (with a different code) with my first week of college starting and no other transport.