I have a 2004 Honda Accord Coupe, 4 cyl. With 249,000 Miles

The other day my awesome Bat Mobile failed Maryland State Inspection with the following codes :

P0457
P0420
P0141
P1009

My engine light has been on for over a year, but the car runs mostly fine. The "needs maintainence" light recently came on. I do notice that sometimes when the heat is on and I am in parked position, the car begins to stall as if its gasping for air or skipping a heart beat , but when i turn off the heat, it calms down. In the summer when the air is on the car slows down in speed (i'm guessing this is an issue with any 4 cyl or maybe not figured I'd throw that out there anyway). Sometimes when I start it, it starts lazily. Let's see what else....ah yes! While driving I recently noticed that the left front side of my car wobbles, but the tires are fine.

.................All this and I was told when I took the car to be serviced (despite all the lights) that it was in excellent shape and well taken care of......only for it to fail inspection

 

Leaving check engine light w/o service for a year invites problems, and you have them.

P0457- EVAP code. could be missing/loose/damaged gas cap, or other leak.

P0420 - Catalytic converter efficiency below threshold. Converter is not doing it's job or there are other problems; exhaust leak, A/F sensor, etc. New converter is expensive as OEM part.

P0141 - Secondary oxygen sensor heater fault. This might be cause of P0420 or not. Usually fixed by new O2 sensor.

P1009 - Variable Valve Timing (VTC) Advance Malfunction. Could be low oil level, clogged VTC strainer, VTC oil control solenoid, blocked VTC oil passage. Has car had oil changed on schedule and do you regularly check oil level?

If you have to pay for repairs, better brace yourself. You could be looking at 4-figure bill.

good luck

 

Sadly because of my busy schedule I haven't been on top of the oil changes. It was recently changed a few weeks ago. I was told I had an oil leak but when it was taken to another place I wanted to see if they came up with the same diagnostic and they didn't. So I thought the first place was just trying to get extra money.

 

Find someone you trust to service/maintain your car and it will pay dividends in long run. Not changing oil causes buildup in engine that will eventually result in multiple problems that are difficult to resolve.

good luck

 

I am happy to announce I was able to resolve the issue by replacing the gas cap, downstream and upstream Oxygen sensors. The check engine light finally went off and I've passed Inspection.

 

Thanks for posting your outcome.

good luck