NHTSA Complaint #10066084 — 1998 HONDA ACCORD

I HAVE A 1998 HONDA ACCORD LX V4. I HAVE REPEATEDLY HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT COMMING ON. I HAVE ALREADY REPLACED THE O2 SENSORS AND HAD THE CODE CLEARED AT LEAST 4 TIMES WITHIN THE LAST YEAR. MY MECHANIC HAS NOTED THAT HE CAN NOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR. I HAVE RECENTLY FOUND THIS WEBSITE, HTTP://WWW.CARTRACKERS.COM/FORUMS/LIVE/HONDA/33.HTML AND IT HAS BECOME APPARENT TO ME THAT THIS IS NOT AN UNCOMMON PROBLEM WITH THESE MODELS. BECAUSE I CURRENTLY HAVE 87,000 MILES ON MY CAR HONDA HAS SAID THAT IT IS NO LONGER UNDER WARRENTY. MY CAR DOES NOT DRIVE ROUGHLY AND I HAVE DRIVEN FOR MILES WITH THE LIGHT ON. IT GENERALLY STAYS ON FOR ABOUT 1,000 MILES OR SO, THEN RESETS ITSELF FOR A FEW MORE THOUSAND MILES. AFTER WORRYING ABOUT THE LIGHT REPEATED COMMING ON AFTER IT HAD RESET ITSELF I BROUGHT IT INTO MY MECHANIC AGAIN, ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT WHEN AN EMISSIONS CHECK IS RAN ON THE CAR THAT NOTHING IS WRONG. SINCE I LIVE IN CALIFORNIA, HAVING THIS LIGHT ON MEANS THAT MY CAR WILL FAIL A SMOG CHECK, EVEN THOUGH THE EMISSIONS ARE WELL UNDER THE LIMIT. BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING OF AN ODBII CODE ISSUE AND OTHER EMISSIONS RELATED PROBLEMS, I FEEL COMPELLED TO FILE A COMPLAINT. HONDA WAS FORCED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM ON THEIR 95,96,AND 97 VEHICLES AND I BELIEVE THAT THEY WILL NOT RECOGNIZE THESE PROBLEMS UNTIL THEY ARE FORCED TO. THIS PROBLEM HAS CAUSED ME TO GIVE LESS IMPORTANCE TO THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, COST ME OVER $200 WITHOUT SOLVING THE PROBLEM, AND HINDERS MY ABILITY TO SELL OR EVEN SMOG THE VEHICLE. RECENTLY, I WAS ADVISED TO REPLACE THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER, EVEN THOUGH THE TWO O2 SENSORS ARE NOT GIVING THE SAME OUTPUT, THUS SHOWING THAT THE CAT. IS IN FACT DOING ITS JOB. THIS WOULD COST AT LEAST $400, $1100 AT HONDA. I FEEL THAT A RECALL IS NECCESSARY ON THE EMISSIONS COMPONENTS, AND THAT THOSE OF US WHO HAVE TRIED TIRELESSLY TO FIX THE PROBLEMS SHOULD BE RECOMPENSATED FOR TRYING TO FIX A SIGNIFICANT DESIGN FLAW.