Hey everyone,

I was driving home last night in a huge rain storm in massive puddles of water on the main roads. Water was splashing into my engine bay from the bottom and my check engine light came on.

Today the speedometer / odometer doesn't work, and it looks as if my radiator fan also doesn't work. The engine doesn't overheat and the temp gauge works, but it idles a bit lower and the check engine light is still on.

I'm not sure what to look for, checked harnesses and fuses quickly but no signs.

Any advice would be appreciated.

1999 Honda Civic CX Hatchback.

 

Retrieve the CEL trouble code(s) as detailed at the link in my signature. The trouble code may be for the VSS, which determines vehicle speed.

Check whether fuse 15 (under dash) and 57 (under hood) are blown.

 

Thanks Ron,

I'm heading down to take a look now.

I'll report back.

 

Ok,

So I checked the fuses and fuse#15 (alternator, speed sensor.vss.7.5A) was blown in the dash panel. Along with fuse #12 (back-up radio 7.5A) also blown under the hood.

I changed both and fired up and drove around the underground parking lot. Parked the car and pulled the fuse (alternator, speed sensor.vss 7.5A) and it was blown again. The speedo didn't work at all. Checked the (back-up radio 7.5A) fuse and it was still good.

I couldn't find the harness for the cel under the passenger side kickpanel. I'm gonna head back down with a flashlight. Lighting was limited.

 

I think you have the common problem with the wire harness wearing thru and shorting out behind the engine, under the intake manifold. That will blow the alternator fuse. You get several codes from that (oxygen sensors, VSS). This isn't directly related to driving thru water, it just happens.

 

I was just reading up on this... thanks man. I will go take a look.

 

Here's a PDF of the service bulletin described by mk378:

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x99-029e.pdf

Nonetheless, if the CEL was not ON prior to going through the deep water, then I don't think this is your problem. Instead, my guess is that one or more connectors under the hood are wet and shorting out. You need to dry them out. Start with the alternator connector and the connector for the VSS atop the transmission. Pull the connectors apart and use compressed air to dry them.

You also need to pull the CEL trouble codes. Remove the passenger side floor kick panel. The service connector you seek is situated above the ECU and branches from the main wire harness.

 

Thanks for the docs,

The manual is great.

 

Thanks for the help guys,

I cleaned all of the clips on wiring harnesses and made sure they were dry. I reached behind the intake manifold and the wiring harness seemed to be tight against the metal bracket. It's very hard to get to without the car being on a hoist. There must be wear there and it's shorting on the bracket although I can't see it. I pulled the harness and clip away from the bracket replaced the fuse and pulled the backup fuse for 10 seconds.

Voila. Check engine light is off, and speedo is working!

I'll put it up on a hoist and get to that harness to replace the wiring when I get to a shop.

Thanks a million for the help RonJ and mk378.

This forum rocks!

P.S. I also finally found the cel clip under the passenger side kick panel. I will use that for sure the next time I get a CEL.

Cheers!