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<title>Honda Civic PO171 cracked catalytic converter - IATN A valuable
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<center><big><big><b><i><font color="#3333ff">Giammalvo Files</font></i></b></big></big></center>
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<img src="mark3.jpg" alt="Mark Giammalvo"
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<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark Giammalvo specializes in driveability
diagnostics </font><font color="#000000">at his family
business, Sam Giammalvo's Auto Sales & Service,
Inc. in New</font> <font color="#000000">Bedford,
MA. </font> </i> </p>
<p><i><font color="#000000">Mark, who has been with the business for
over 20 years, is an ASE
Master Technician and Parts Specialist. He also holds the
ASE L1 certification, and has an associates degree
in business</font> <font color="#000000">management.
<br>
Mark is also a writer for Motor Age
Magazine and is the past secretary of the Alliance of Automotive
Service Professionals, (AASP).<br>
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<small><small><small><b><big><big><big><big><big><big><big>
<small>IATN <br>
A Valuable Tool</small></big></big></big></big></big></big></big></b></small></small></small>
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<p align="center"><small><i><font color="#000000">(Printed in the Journal
of The Alliance of Automotive Service Providers, AASP) <br>
<br>
</font></i></small></p>
What do you do when an automotive problem has you stumped? Do you
check for service bulletins? Spend some money on a tec-line? How about
less than two minutes of time on the Internet? The latter is all it took
to solve a perplexing problem.<br>
<br>
A customer had come in with a 1997 Honda Civic with 95,000 miles.
The car had a history of setting code PO171 (Fuel metering too lean). This
little Honda was inspected high and low for all sorts of causes. Datastream
values were checked and rechecked. We monitored the O2 sensor's activity.
Service bulletins were checked. In the end, it appeared that the customer
may have to wait in hopes that Honda might write a PCM reflash to correct
this problem. Of course, that was unlikely if his was the only 1997 Civic
with this problem. <br>
<br>
As a member of IATN (International Automotive Technicians Network),
our shop has access to all their past technical e-mails. I cannot tell
you of the countess hours we have saved using this service. There is nothing
like finding a technician that has already seen your exact problem. As
a last ditch effort we checked the IATN web site for driveability e-mails
on 1996-1998 Civics. One e-mail, barely 30 day's old, looked promising.
The shop was in Michigan and they had a 98 Civic with code PO171 stored.
Unfortunately, the case was still open with no solution posted. This meant
that either they had not repaired the car or the shop had not yet found the
time to post the fix information. I figured a courtesy call by yours truly
wouldn't hurt. I called Brian Banfield and his auto shop of the same name
in Marshall, Michigan. Brian had stepped out so I spoke to one of his employees.
I advised him of my dilemma and immediately he remembered the car. Fortunately,
the car had recently been fixed and the shop employee knew all the details
fresh in his mind. Their Civic had developed a crack in the front pipe/converter
assembly. This cracked caused air to mix with the exhaust causing the front
O2 sensor to be biased lean. Sure enough with the hood open our Civic had
the same crack. You could see it where the front O2 sensor threads into the
manifold. With the front shield off the crack is really visible. A call to
the Honda dealer proved even more interesting. They had all the pricing ready
as well as the part numbers of every bolt we would need. You might say this
cracked catalytic converter is getting quite common. Lets just say they
had plenty in stock. Too bad this customer was out of the 8-year 80,000
mile OBD2 warranty. With the common nature of this failure, it seems like
something Honda should warranty. <br>
<br>
Anyway, the Civic was finally repaired. As a reminder, don't forget
to check the IATN e-mails. Just think of it as another tool in your tool
box. <br>
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