[juji_kp]

Hey, I’m sorry if this is the wrong category, but recently I bought a 2010 Honda Insight. I’ve had it for about three months. Last month, my car kept telling me to tighten my gas cap even though it was on tight and the little door was closed. I tried retightening while the car was on, but it would not reset until I turned my car off and left it off for a few hours. It does this every once in a while once I reach the halfway mark on the fuel gauge. Now, in the past two weeks my dashboard has lit up with warning sensors. The first two were about the power steering and to check my oil levels. I checked the oil levels and they were fine. I didn’t know what to do about the steering, so I turned my car off and left it off for hours and both warnings were gone. This morning I got in my car to drive home from campus and the check emissions warning came on. I haven’t had the chance to let my car sit since, but what the heck is happening, and do I need to take it to a dealership to get it checked out? I haven’t felt a difference in how it drives since this has been happening, by the way.

 

[retepsnikrep]

Check and load test the 12v battery and replace if at all suspect.

 

[jime]

So long as it runs properly, try to avoid the dealer. Honda dealers are horribly overpriced. If a new battery doesn't do the trick, next step would be attempt to read the trouble codes free at an automotive store. Many major stores do this for free.

 

[ganda1f]

Check and load test the 12v battery and replace if at all suspect.

Also make sure that clamps are clean and tight on battery terminals so there is good contact. I had a similar situation with a couple of random codes popping up. It turned out that the clamp on the negative battery terminal was a bit loose and thus gave unstable 12V.

 

[egads]

An 11 year old car could need a new gas cap.

Ir is well known around here that a weak 12 volt battery under the hood can make it seem like all hell
has broken loose. Start there. That battery rarely gets used to start the car, but runs all the electronics.
These cars have a lot of electronics.
If you cannot get the battery terminals tight, use battery shims, do not cut off the clamp and replace it.
The only proper way to replace the clamp is to replace the entire cable. Very expensive, shims are cheap.
They are like little lead caps that go over the battery posts.