Is there any known brand of gasoline that's guaranteed to be ethanol free? I continue to see small stickers on some gas pumps here in NC stating that the gasoline "may contain ethanol". I've been running Shell regular as much as possible, but I recall seeing the stickers on those pumps as well. I can't tell if the stickers have to be there by law in case the fuel by chance may contain ethanol or if the absence of a sticker means that the fuel is 100% fossil.

You didn't say what your son's car is, but it may have up to a 100,000 mile emissions warranty that will cover cat replacement.

Hello msirach,

Yes, you are correct, it DOES have the warranty. Even so, we hate to bring the car back to the dealer for anything, especially when it is running fine.

Its been many months now and the check engine light has not returned indicating a bad converter. By the way, the light is not burned out

MIL, Malfunction Indicator Light, popped on again a few days back. The OBD II scan shows 1 fault, and 2 pending:

P0420,
P0325
P0325 pending

Reset the light, and waiting to see if it illuminates again. Sigh.

Ugh. MIL blinked on this morning again. Pulling the codes now.

(BTW, there's a deal at HarborFreight on OBD II scanners.)

Codes are:
P0325 fault
P0325 pending

Which is Knock Sensor Circuit Malfunction, per shop manual page 11-121 . I wonder if this is related to the hesitation / clunk noted in a separate forum thread.

For PZEVs in some states, including California, looks like the knock sensor is covered for 15years/150kMiles:
http://www.ahm-ownerlink.com/Documen...t/APL31012.pdf

Well, this falls under the 'reality is more bizarre than fiction'. This looks like the culprit:

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread...int&id=2385490

http://www.wombatnation.com/2005/01/mice-ate-my-car

I'm an experienced debugger, but not a deRodent-ist.

Bad gas is the most likely culprit

The only bad gas here is the gas the rodent had after ingesting the tasty LAST morsel I left for it last evening. (Heh heh.)

From my inspection of the rodent nest, the knock sensor wire harness has been severed. Very good news is that I believe the wire can be replaced for those with agile small hands, without taking off the intake manifold. Since the dealer wanted several hundred dollars to repair, this 30minute fix with a fourteen dollar part might be a decent savings. At this point, this is merely the audacity of hope -- part is on order for installation in a few days: SUB-WIRE, KNOCK SENSOR 30531-RCJ-A00.

Update: Wire harness replaced this morning, reset the OBD II p0325 code, and tested per shop manual.

Time: 30 minutes
Tools: 12mm socket, flathead screwdriver, OBDII scanner
Parts: Knock sensor wire harness at $14

Satisfaction: Unsurpassed. (Honda service quoted $400+ for this job.)

Congrats on the speedy/cheap repair!

Keep in mind, the $400+ quoted really isn't just the cost of the repair. It's also the cost for the knowledge of *knowing* what to repair.

You ever heard the story of (really really short version) of the company that had a huge piece of equipment quit on them? They couldn't figure out what was wrong so they called in an "expert". The guy came in, looked at the machine briefly, grabbed a hammer from his toolbox, and lightly tapped on the side of the machine. Just then, the machine sprung to life and started working again. A few weeks later, the company got a bill for $10,000 from the repairman. Upset about the charges for a seemingly simple fix, the company called the repairman to inquire how he came up with such a rediculous amout. The repairman simply replied, he charged them $5 for the hammer tap and $9,995 for *knowing exactly* where to tap. The company paid the bill in full.

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