After a couple of heavy rains, My Check Engine light as well as my VSA & Traction lights ( /!\ ) came on. The check engine lights remained on, but the other 2 went out after stopping and restarting the car. I had the codes read and it shows a P0116, which is ECT Circuit Range/Performance. Any suggestions on what to check?

 

were you doing burnouts in the rain? spinning the wheels in the wet?

 

P0116 - (ECT) engine coolant temperature Range/Performance

Common issues:
- Faulty ECT sensor
- Faulty Thermostat (stuck open)
- Low on coolant or empty
- Faulty cooling fan or hoses
- Blown headgasket

 

No, car was parked. But that sounds more fun that being at work with my car in the parking lot.

 

We can rule out low on coolant or empty. I opened the radiator cap after the car cooled down this evening and it was full. Oil seems clean as well, no signs of oil in it (or white smoke out the exhaust), so I doubt it's a blown head gasket. I'll check the fan and hoses this weekend. How do I check the ECT sensor itself or determine if the thermostat is stuck open?

 

Double check your coolant make sure it's not rusty or corroded, not sure about ECT sensor = shorted wiring? needle does not reach normal temp? a faulty thermostat results to overheating.

 

Make sure that the coolant level is up and properly burped. Check that the rad's cooling fan activates. Inspect sensor's wiring connection.

If it's been awhile since your car's coolant has been replaced, it may be a good time to flush the system and refill with new. Would'nt hurt to install a new Honda 2 stage T-stat and the ECT sensor if the code persists after clearing it.

 

I'll be checking the fans and inspecting the wiring this weekend. (Anyone have a diagram?) Temp gauage is reading normally. The rains we had were torrential, with over an inch coming down in about 30 minutes. I also noticed water streaks down the inside of my windshield, which leads me to believe it may be a corrosion issue, even though I doubt there's any wiring near the firewall/back of the dash that could affect this. Just the fact that we had so much rain in such a short period of time to cause that issue makes me think there could be some other corrosion elsewhere.

I'll re-check the coolant level, but the condition should be fine, as it was replaced when my timing belt was done about a year ago. Will also be reviewing my receipt to see what else might have been changed at that time (I'm sure the T-stat was).

 

There are all kinds of electrical wiring stuff located under the dash, inside the cabin's firewall.
Take a look underneath and see if ya can find any signs of moisture.

 

there are thermostats,,,, and then there are Honda Genuine Thermostats needed by the TL

failure symptoms can be erratic temp raises and cooing off, low temp if unit fails and defaults to open position, or severe overheat if rusty and sticks closed

 

Give it a couple of weeks to dry out and see if the code clears. Then test for stuck open thermostat.

 

if thermostat is stuck open, the engine wont get much temp on the gauge

 

The CEL went out on it's own. No issues with driveabilty or overheating issues. I'll monitor, but haven't had to take any action at this poinrt. I believe this was simply related to moisture due to the extremely heavy rains we had.

 

Good to hear things cleared up on their own !!!

Still may be a good idea to find the source of the leak to prevent any future problems with this again.

 

ck the drains on bottom of doors, and the sunroof and trunk have some too

 

I'll definitely take a look around at things again, but the rains we had were truely torrential downpours. The flooding here in southern CO streams and creeks was really bad. We've had very heavy rains since then (over an inch in 30 minutes) and those 2 initial rains were even heavier. Not sure we'll see that kind of rain again while I own the car (probably another 2 - 3 yesrs).

 

Hopefully not, but it's always better to be prepared......just in case, ya never know !!!