[queenofdnile]

Not certain of where to discuss this issue in the Forum, but here goes: My 2019 2.0T/6-spd manual trans Accord seems to have a mental problem. It's done the "Check Engine Light/Limp Mode" thing twice before 5,000 miles (once on a dry, sunny day, unlike most of the other cars) and now it's turned up 10,000 and we get this: Driving in pouring rain the other day, and I mean, really raining (2nd gear on I-77 raining) I noticed that the little outside temperature display, between the tach and the speedometer, read about 10 degrees less than it had a few minutes before. "What a cold front!" we thought. Well, the readout continued to drop, by a few degrees at a time, until it came to settle on -19. I don't want to see my car say that it's "19 degrees below zero" even if it IS 19 below; the problem was, it was about 75 degrees outside. And the colder the car THOUGHT it was outside, the warmer the air conditioning got until it was only blowing hot air. Another four hours on the road, in some more heavy rain, and the temperature display wandered from -19 up to 40 degrees and the warmer the car thought it was outside, the cooler the A/C got. Finally, close to home and on dry roads, it got up to 60 (when in fact the outside temp was closer to 80) and the A/C was working fairly well.

At no time was the coolant temperature gauge doing anything but sitting where it always does, just south of mid-way.

After sitting overnight, it's working fine, the last two days. I talked to the local Honda dealer yesterday morning and they said they'd never heard this one before.... but then, this car was their first experience with the Limp Mode thing too. Were these cars not built for driving in the rain???? It's going to the dealer for the 10,000-mile service in the morning anyway, but I know what they're going to say: Just keep driving it. Well, it's supposed to go to south Florida on Thursday. Where we might want some air conditioning. And it's raining...

Thanks ~

W.

 

[queenofdnile]

The dealer just called and said, as I suspected they would, that there is no trace of that bizarre behavior in the computer. They called Honda and nobody's heard of this there, either. Figures.

The Check Engine/Limp Mode thing last happened 5,000 miles ago. This car's done it twice, once at 3,000 and again at 4,800 miles and neither time did it leave any codes except for "misfire Cylinder 1" the first time, nothing the second.

 

[queenofdnile]

Yeah, it's a little aggravating. I have a five year old Jaguar that's been flawless for 40,000 miles... and this Honda? Not so much.

 

[queenofdnile]

Re: the Haunted Accord: I was at my cousin's little BMW shop in town the other day, relating the strange behavior of my Accord. He just laughed, and said, "Oh, that's the Ambient Temperature Sensor, BMW's do that all the time!" Apparently the BMW sensors get loose, hang on the end of their wires and then cause problems. (Mine was almost certainly just a case of water where it shouldn't have been, in that moment; it's been fine for another 4,000 miles.) My cousin said that they've had a 3-Series convertible that the top wouldn't lower, until they discovered that the Ambient Air Temp. Sensor "thought" that it was 40 below zero, and so it refused to work! My question is why those things have to be wired together. If I want air conditioning at -19 or to go top-down at 40 below, shouldn't that be my choice? (My old Miata obediently does what it's told...)