Official 'What did you do to your car today?' Thread

Well, not today, but yesterday I did the A1 maintenance (tire rotation and oil change) as the light popped on. Also took the time to pull my headliner out of the car so that I can begin to figure out why my sunroof is malfunctioning.

Today, I'm supposed to have my windshield replaced due to a rock chip that has spread quite a bit over the past few months.
IMG_6981.jpg
 
webby said:
What’s it doing or not doing?
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I haven't messed with it in a while due to several competing things on my time; but, the biggest issue is not operate, particularly when trying to close it. Basically, it tends to open fine but when pushing the button to close, it would just click and that was it. It didn't matter if it was just popped or actually completely open, it would always take me a bit to get it to close. So, I asked on here some time ago (I forget the thread) and tried a few things folks recommended to no avail, consistently the same issue where I could hear what sounded like a relay click yet would get no movement from the sunroof to close (almost got caught stuck open with impending rain). So, I took the headliner out so I could begin troubleshooting and easily replace parts as needed to get it back to working order.
 
AlmosN8kd said:
I haven't messed with it in a while due to several competing things on my time; but, the biggest issue is not operate, particularly when trying to close it. Basically, it tends to open fine but when pushing the button to close, it would just click and that was it. It didn't matter if it was just popped or actually completely open, it would always take me a bit to get it to close. So, I asked on here some time ago (I forget the thread) and tried a few things folks recommended to no avail, consistently the same issue where I could hear what sounded like a relay click yet would get no movement from the sunroof to close (almost got caught stuck open with impending rain). So, I took the headliner out so I could begin troubleshooting and easily replace parts as needed to get it back to working order.
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I think this is my culprit for sunroof operation failures:
Civic Sunroof Motor Circuit Board.jpeg

Updated this thread with more details: https://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/rusted-sunroof-glass-frame.15725/post-481672
 
Not really sure where to put this question; so, I figured a post about random stuff would be the best place.

Anyhow, driving my Civic into work this morning; stopped for gas on the way, maybe about 10mins from my house along my 50min commute. When I started the car back up, I had no power steering (warning on the dash and all). Popped the hood, looked for obvious signs of failure like loss of the drive belt or low fluid level (thinking the car had a hydraulic system), not finding these (or perhaps I missed them) I surmised that the power steering system is probably electric. So, what do you do with electrical components that randomly fail? You turn them off and then back on and check again. So, after restarting the car, same problem, no power steering. I finished my commute to work and jump on here with the few minutes I had to spare. This was my first issue having any problems with the power steering system. Unfortunately, I'm a little pressed for time this week and next so I did a quick look here on the forums and the only thing folks mentioned were battery issues (at my quick 5min look).

So, I'm curious, has anyone else encountered a random loss of power steering? And, if so, what is the proper fix, just replace the car's battery?
 
id start with checking the fuses for the EPS system, if theyre blown maybe a freak thing, maybe the rack drawing too much power because its on its way out. Pretty sure theres still fluid on a EPS rack, so if theres no fluid that could burn out the motor.
 
ethlar said:
id start with checking the fuses for the EPS system, if theyre blown maybe a freak thing, maybe the rack drawing too much power because its on its way out. Pretty sure theres still fluid on a EPS rack, so if theres no fluid that could burn out the motor.
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Well, I had to jump in the car for a quick errand and when I started it up, everything worked as it had before (no Power Steering issues). So, not a fuse at least. Also, not sure if the EPS rack on a '12 Civic Si uses fluid (I haven't had a chance to dig into things) but for what it's worth, the car doesn't leak anything (I never see a puddle of any kind left behind at the house). So, maybe it just glitched or didn't see enough voltage on startup when I was at the gas station (further indicating a battery issue); still odd that it just quit and stayed off for the majority of my commute.
 
Electrical gremlins can be dirty or wet connectors, or rodents chewing on wires too
 
AlmosN8kd said:
random loss of power steering
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Others have had this. It seems like the battery has been to blame for some users. It does say this in the manual:
webby said:
from the manual:

If the EPS Indicator Comes On
■ Reasons for the indicator to come on
• Comes on when there is a problem with EPS.
• If you depress the accelerator pedal repeatedly to increase the engine speed while the engine is idling, the indicator comes on, and sometimes the steering wheel becomes harder to operate.

■ What to do when the indicator comes on
Stop the vehicle in a safe place and restart the engine.
If the indicator comes on and stays on, immediately have your vehicle inspected by a dealer.

If the EPS Indicator Comes On
If you repeatedly turn the steering wheel at an extremely low speed, or hold the steering wheel on the full left or right position for a while, the system heats up. The system goes into a protective mode, and limits its performance. The steering wheel becomes harder and harder to operate. Once the system cools down, EPS is restored. Repeated operation under these conditions can eventually damage the system.
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webby said:
Others have had this. It seems like the battery has been to blame for some users. It does say this in the manual:
Click to expand...
Hmm, interesting. Unfortunately, the only situation that really 'mirrored' my situation was the first part of the second one when I turned the car off and then back on. While the EPS indicator was on and the system was out, I unfortunately couldn't afford the stop at the dealer at that time. However, the system has been working fine ever since this event so I'm still thinking it was likely a voltage/battery issue as I've noticed some slow starts after long periods of being parked (like 1 or 2 wks at a time). I think I last replaced the battery sometime in 2019 or 2020 so it may be due.
 
So, over the weekend, I managed to get the new sunroof motor and glass installed along with reinstalling the headliner I had removed months ago to begin troubleshooting the sunroof. The new motor did correct my sunroof operation issue. And, the glass seemed to go in without much trouble (although, I think the new one has more curvature than the original as it seems to sit high in the center and low in the corners). After getting everything reinstalled and the car back together, I have a new issue.... For some reason, now I'm getting a Check Airbag System on the MID when I start up the car. I did have to remove the seats to get the headliner back in and am fairly confident I plugged them back in properly. If it is not that, I'm thinking something got snagged for the side curtain airbags when reinstalling the headliner. It seems as though it is never ending.
 
AlmosN8kd said:
Check Airbag System
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Double check the yellow plug for the seat? Someone else had it when they unplugged their seats, and it supposedly wasn’t all the way clipped in:

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Rechecked the plugs underneath the seat and turns out the yellow plug appeared plugged in but a light tug and it came right off, I reinstalled it and it now made a “click” sound and when I turned the car on, the warning message went away and srs light turned off.
 
webby said:
Double check the yellow plug for the seat? Someone else had it when they unplugged their seats, and it supposedly wasn’t all the way clipped in:

—————

Rechecked the plugs underneath the seat and turns out the yellow plug appeared plugged in but a light tug and it came right off, I reinstalled it and it now made a “click” sound and when I turned the car on, the warning message went away and srs light turned off.
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Yup, that was it, driver's seat plug wasn't fully seated. As I thought about it, during the reinstallation, I had plugged them all in, then started to unplug them to reroute the harness thinking I didn't route it properly, only to figure out I had it right but failed to reverify the plugs. Oh well, simple mistake that was easy to fix. The light remained on until I restarted the car which was kind of a relief. On my Stealth, if you get an SRS (airbag) light, those codes are locked in and neither a restart or even a battery disconnect will clear them; the only way to clear an SRS light is by a diagnostic computer (which I have, just not for an OBD2 car).
 
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