2001 Honda Accord 2.0 SE - Engine management light - coincidence? - Theunisse

Starting up the car a few days ago I heard an odd buzzing or clicking sound that I hadn't heard before. I had been listening to the cricket on LW in the morning so assumed it was poor reception on the radio. On the 10 minute journey home I realised it wasn't the radio but instead seemed to be coming from the passenger footwell or behind the dash. Anyhow, half way back home the dreaded engine management light came on and has been on since.

On the next journey I realised that the sound was coming from the heating system, as switching off the heating/climate control completely stopped the noise and switching it on again made the noise reappear.

In the last two days the noise gone away whether the heater fan is on or off. The management light is still on however. I haven't had a chance to scan for any fault codes yet but should have use of a scanner in a day or two's time. Given that the MIL light came on within five minutes of the noise appearing would suggest they are linked but equally it could just be a coincidence. Has anyone had similar problems in the past?

2001 Honda Accord 2.0 SE - Engine management light - coincidence? - elekie&a/c doctor

A buzzing/clicking noise from the heater could be something trapped in the blower motor .Drop the glove box out to access the cabin filter to check for any debris.Interestingly,I run the same car and my mil came on about 2 weeks ago.There were no starting or running issues.On testing the system found fault to be the lambda sensor heater circuit,probably the most common fault on these engines.I have cleared the fault and it has not returned.Don't think the 2 problems are linked.hth

2001 Honda Accord 2.0 SE - Engine management light - coincidence? - Theunisse

Thanks for the reply.

When the MIL came on I naturally assumed the two things were linked but was aware that just because the two things happened within minutes of each other didn't necessarily imply cause and effect.

I plugged it in to a code reader this morning and got the following;

P1491 Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve insuffient lift. Looks like it might be a problem caused by repeated short journeys from cold (my commute is less than 4 miles - and yes I know I should cycle to work instead of driving :-)) So it might not be the lambda sensor this time although it was the lambda sensor at fault the last time the MIL came on a few years back.

2001 Honda Accord 2.0 SE - Engine management light - coincidence? - Theunisse

Just want to add my thanks to Gendan.co.uk for some excellent service. I rang up at about 3pm on Friday afternoon to order one of their code readers and it arrived at 8am on Saturday morning.