Honda Repair: electrical problems with 2000 accord, fuse box, life expectency

Question
Long story, sorry. I was driving my 2000 Accord (200,000 mi) in torrential rain. The wipers slowed & went back on. the radio went on and off and then the engine cut out completely. It started later, with a jump. I opened the distributor cap and the fuse box in the engine compartment to chek if they were dry. They both were. At this point the check engine light went on and I brought it to my mechanic. He checked the diagnostic codes. He told me that the PCM itself had failed and other codes were coming up too, but were unreliable because of the PCM failure. He would not replace the PCM and told me to bring it to the dealer. The dealer said that the PCM did need to be replaced as well as the battery and the ELD. They said there were other codes coming up, but they were not reliable with a bad PCM. They wanted too much for the repair on an old car. I got a recommendation for a mechanic who does only Hondas and said he would replace the PCM with a used one (half the price of the dealer). I installed a new battery and then brought it to this mechanic. He ran the diagnostics and said that it does NOT need a PCM. However, there are 4 sensors that are bad (including the ELD). He said that the O2 sensor showed that it was bad for 2 years. (dont understand this since the check engine light just came on and I had the catalytic converter replaced about 6 months ago). I dont understand how 4 sensors could all go at once. I'm wondering if this could all be from the battery/ELD problem. The car seems to run ok (but I've only driven it between mechanics). I dont know how to proceed. An ideas?

Answer
Mary, 200K and your car is 10 years old. Sensors are hard to disgnose until they fail. Who knows what the life expectency is for them. This is not uncommon for 1 sensor to fail then all 4 go like your issue. I would not suspect the O2 sensor to be going bad for 2 years but it might have triggered a code when the catalytic converter was failing you.

I would start by replacing the cheapest sensor first (O2 sensor). This not only regulates fuel milage and performance but (as you know) can trigger a cascade of other sensors to fowl. I think your car has 2 O2 sensors, bank 1 and bank 2. Replace the 1 (or both) closest to the catalytic converter. Then re-evaluate the codes. A free service at a local auto parts store. Then move on the next code and work through that one, so on and so forth.

Pretty much the repairs to your vehicle come down to how much money you want to invest in your vehicle. If your car has been reliable and economical to your satisfaction and you want to keep the car invest the money. If not I would due the necessary repairs and consider selling the vehicle. I think in your future you will continue to have some condensation issues on your electrical components within your vehicle and these either need to be evaluated and repaired and pass the problems on to the next buyer.