My 2009 fit suddenly began intermittently loosing power. I replaced the air filter, fluids current etc. Today I drove it around and it lost all but enough power to drive at 5 mph. Emissions light began flashing. No slippage, I don't think it's the transmission. Doesn't sound like any cylinders are missing. Gas cap is tight & I just replaced it anyway. Any thoughts? Trying to see if there's anything easy I can try myself before I take it in. I have replaced alternators, drive belts, spark plugs, brakes, fluids... just to give an idea of my level of mechanical comfort.

130 k by the way.

Update: removed the egr and cleaned it up a bit. Emmissions Light is still on & idle seems sluggish but I was able to drive it with no power loss for a few minutes. Longer test drive needed, but I don't want to drive too far, lol. Thinking maybe I should buy an obd2 reader...

Any other things I should look at in the meantime?

 

OEM gas cap or aftermarket? When it comes to gas caps Honda's can be picky.

 

Aftermarket. Think I should try an oem?

 

Yes. Go back to OEM. I tried a "pass through" gas cap once ( no unscrewing, a spring hinged flap) got a cel almost immediately. Went back to the OEM after pulling off the neg cable from the battery. No more cel. Hondas are finicky about that. And I have 105k on my 2009.

 

And if the gas cap you put on is not OBII certified, the ECU will not recognise it and can put you into "limp mode". Gotta luv CARB.

 

Here are a couple of things you can try yourself before taking it in:

get the engine light codes read at a mechanic or at autozone for free

get a can of maf sensor cleaner and clean the sensor....read instructions carefully...I entered limp mode after some excess fluid and debris got on the sensor and burned it out....a new sensor would have been just $50....honda got me for new plugs, coils, and a sensor for 1k due to my inexperience, they also refused to use MAF sensor cleaner saying they dont have that....


any fume smells? you may want to check the sparks....loose sparks will give off fumes, rob power, and light up codes for the cat converter since the combustion process will be slightly compromised...learned the hard way that these plugs can loosen over time, so do the valves....


and the gas cap of course....go oem on it.

 

with those kind of miles, I'd test the maf sensor and pcv valve just in case...

 

IMHO it is a waste of time and money to clean or replace things without knowing the code that is causing your flashing light. If you have an Android phone or tablet, download the torque App and get yourself an ELM327 device for plugging into the OBDII port. Buy the torque App. You get more info than with the free one. It is only $5 and the ELM327 is under $15 from Amazon. You will get more information than with any cheap code reader. In fact you can read basically all sensor values and even mode $06 data. That is the test data that your car actually uses to turn the check engine light on. That means you can actually tell right away whether you have actually repaired a problem instead of waiting 2 or 3 drive cycles to see whether any codes return. It will also tell you if any specific cylinder is missing. It will report how many misses in each cylinder for the current drive cycle. It can also tell you long and short term trim numbers that are important in diagnosing this kind of problem. It can also tell you exactly what was going on with the car when the light first came on such as throttle position, engine temp, speed, etc that can help diagnosis. Do not use this, or any tool, to clear the codes, until you think you have solved the problem. Even then, the codes will clear on their own in short order.