Recently posted about '97 3.2 overheating issue. Overheating seems better but in the process of purging possible trapped air from near heater core I somehow activated the check engine light. Following Pocket Trey's advice, I was filling the radiator as I pulled the upper coolant hose from firewall with engine running and calling for heat. I did install a new coolant temperature switch (Autozone) and upper radiator hose just prior to this procedure. Anyone have experience with this problem? Autozone pulled Code P0177. CEL light has been on for about 5 days and 10 drive cycles totaling about 100 miles in that time. I'm not sure how long it takes for the light to clear if the fault was only temporary. The engine does seem to have a slight hesitation now when first accelerating also. I haven't disconnected the battery to try to reset the CEL...thought I'd ask the knowledgeable ones here. Thanks again for any advice.

 

Woops... the code was P0117. NotP0177.
Cooling system seems to be working properly otherwise.

 

An update for anyone interested and could benefit. I ordered a new oem coolant temp sensor P/N 37870-PJ7-003 from the local Honda dealer today. Perhaps the Autozone part was inferior and tripping the CEL. I reinstalled the original sensor and the acceleration problem seemed better, but, the cooling fans quit working properly and engine began to overheat. I'll post the outcome after testing the new OEM sensor next week for a few days. Will the CEL clear on it's own after a while if that was the problem? I'm not sure if a fault like this can be cleared by unhooking the battery cables. I'd appreciate any advice.

 

Check engine light cleared after installing OEM coolant temp sensor from Honda. Returned the Autozone sensor SU4006. Either it was a dud or the TL is that particular about OEM quality for this sensor. Hopefully someone searching for help on this issue may benefit from this info. Back to my head gasket job... fun,fun