Kind of a strange one here. 3 months ago I bought a battery at Wal-Mart for
my '98 CL 3.0 and they installed it. Yesterday I returned from 3 weeks out
of town to find a stone cold dead battery. Got a jump from a neighbor this
AM and headed for the Wal-Mart. They spent about an hour charging the
battery (said something about running a diagnostic but I'm pretty sure all
they were doing was timing how fast the thing recharged from an external
charger). They said it was charging too slowly and agreed to replace it.
Most of this was around the lunch hour and 2 or 3 different guys worked on
it at one time or another. They didn't maintain the circuit while switching
batteries so I lost the radio (I have the code) and I assume some or all of
the ECM data was lost. All fine so far...a bit inconvenient but nothing that
shouldn't be routinely recoverable. But after the swap was done the car
started much harder than usual and the 'check engine' light was on.

A mechanic ran a basic engine diagnostic and found the starter, alternator,
etc. were all fine. Then he plugged in the OBDII and got a code of P1607
which I confirmed with my Acura Dlr. indicates EGM/PGM Internal Circuit
Failure. The electronic brain, in other words. He says he reset the code to
turn off the light but he's just a college kid and I'm not at all sure he
wasn't out of his depth here. Anyhow light was back on/still on with the
next start. Time to head for the Dealership.

After consultations among several mechanics and service writers there was no
consensus of how or why this situation might have occurred and whether it
could conceivably be something which might self-correct as the ECM database
is rebuilt (best case) or whether I'm looking at a $700 bill to replace the
ECM module. Next step is a Dlr "check engine" light diagnostic as soon as I
can schedule it.

Depending on circumstances I may be able to collect on a claim from Wal-Mart
but I know they're not going to be anxious to part with $700 over a $70
battery so for now I'd appreciate any relevant advice or information you
guys might be able to offer and especially as to how a 'bungled' battery
swap might have been responsible for burning out some ECM circuitry. Thanks.