2013 Accord - Occasional Flashing Check Engine Light
 

Hi,

I've recently notice my Honda struggling to accelerate ~2 RPM. Whether just gaining speed to merge onto a bigger street or up a slope, the car will occasionally jerk/stutter before picking up speed. Once this started to happen, I've been more cautious in accelerating. Recently the malfunction/check engine light flashed on while I was driving and I lost the ability to accelerate - the gas pedal didn't have an effect when this light flashed, I was basically coasting at speed.

I read the manual, let the car cool down and was able to drive it safely back home. Next day, I took it into the shop, the mechanic said there were no stored codes, the car is fine and just drive it normally. I was pretty skeptical but he insisted and I just moved on. The issues came again recently and the check engine light flashed again about a week later (today).

I'm planning to take my car back into a new shop, but I want to go in with some expectation and knowledge about what this issue could potentially be. Is this a common issue? What can I expect when going into a shop so they don't take advantage of the situation? I did some reading and my guess on this issue is something with the transmission / transmission fluid.

You had a flashing CEL and there were no stored codes? Was the battery disconnected?
A transmission is not going to flash the CEL. That only happens for engine misfires. How long has it been for plugs and such?

Also it's good to supply us with basic information
Year
Make
Auto/stick
mileage

Hmm so I'm pretty dense about car specifics outside of general maintenance. By plugs, do you mean the spark plugs? I don't think those were ever changed in the last 5 years. The battery has not been disconnected.

That's correct in that I had a flashing CEL and no stored codes. The flashing CEL was a somewhat "random" occurrence. It happened once on the freeway, I managed to get out and let the car rest. Started it back up, no CEL for over 2 weeks. It just recently flashed again, for less than 3 minutes. It doesn't come on every time the car starts, but I do notice my car struggling to accelerate up to normal speed limits. The first mechanic just gave me a free diagnosis by plugging in the device to check for stored codes and said the car is fine. I'm going for a second opinion at a different place, but I just want to be somewhat informed before walking in.

Here are the car specs:
2013 Honda Accord LX (the lowest base model)
Auto
80k mileage

What may provide some insight: this car did not have the best history of receiving regular oil changes. The last year of oil changes were good and have been at 5k / 5-6 months. But the years prior to that were not in the best routine (to the point where one oil change was very black and sludge-ish).

You need to put a set of plugs in. That ,may cure your flashing light.

hey! Thanks for the responses and solution - it did end up being the spark plugs. Car feels waaay better now. I never knew when to replace plugs, gotta put down a reminder for myself.

They should be good for 100K.