My Honda Accord (05) was recently refitted with a reconditioned engine for £2,500. It's been five weeks and covered 550 miles.

1. The power drops in 1st and 2nd gears when one tries to gain acceleration. Sometimes to the extent that the engine appears to stall/stop if one steps on harder to pick up speed.

2. The smell of fuel comes through the air vents, on and off.

3. When parked, it leaks fuel at both the front and rear (apparently from the engine; and also at the rear, close to the exhaut outlet).

4. The Emission Light still remains on. It provided the first indication of problems that eventually let to the replacement of the engine.

As instructed I took it back to the garage at 500 miles.

First, the garage is saying there is nothing wrong with the engine and the problems are in no way related to the reconditioned engine and the installation work. Next, they advise that I should ignore the emission light because with a reconditioned engine installed, it is meaningless. Further, they claim their diagnostic computer shows a fault code that is not listed anywhere. I am being told the meaning of the fault code can be obtained only from Honda, but that Honda is not releasing it or returning the garage's calls. Lastly, in their estimate, possibly the problems stem from a defective or blocked catalytic converter.

I am seeking advice about what possibly could be causing my car/engine problems.

My sense it that unless I am prepared to pay for additional work (over and above the £2500), the garage is not prepared to resolve the issue under the guarantee offered on the reconditioned engine.

They have returned the car to me saying they will call me if they find out what the diagnostic code means. They will however not tell me the code.

Quote from Honda Accord owners site,this may or may not be the problem but you still need the error code to find the fault,though the fuel leaks may be their doing but without looking impossible to say why did you need another engine I assumed these units were bullet proof?

i-CTDi (IMRC) Frequency Solenoid Failure

This is applicable to all years of i-CTDi Accord diesels as well as FN3,FK3 & RE6 (Civic 3D, Civic 5D & CRV i-CTDi)

This is a tricky and annoying bug with all i-CTDi engines, the tell-tale symptoms are the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) Comes on whilst driving or idling.

On reading the ECU via a reader you find the code DTC - P2004 stored, please you will find this condition intermittent adding to the frustration.

Honda have diagnosed this problem with the the frequency solenoid valve which develop an intermittent internal vacuum leak. A new revised part for both facelift and prefacelift cars has been designed to fix this issue .The manufacturing process for the frequency solenoid valve has been improved according to Honda.

Owners facing this issue are to go ahead and replace the frequency solenoid valve no attempt to repair the old valve should be made.

Part number for the affected vehicles

For all prefacelift 04-05 Accord the part number is 36190-RBD-E02
For all facelift 06-08 Accord and Civic the part number is 36190-RSR-E01
For diesel CR-V the part number is 36190-R06-E01

If all you want is to get the code so you've some idea what you're dealing with, just get yourself a cheap blutooth OBDII interface and dowload Torque Pro to your smart phone.