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Is your Check Engine light on? |
Why yes, it is. Funny you should ask! |
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52% |
[ 46 ] |
No, absolutely not. |
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[ 41 ] |
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Total Votes : 87 |
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touron Member
Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 10293 | TRs | Pics Location: Plymouth Rock |
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touron
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Wed Oct 10, 2012 7:14 pm
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As I was driving home today, I looked at my dashboard and noticed that something was different but I couldn't quite place it. Then it dawned on me. My Check Engine light had finally turned off. I've had my car for several years, and last year, about a week before I was going to renew my tabs, the Check Engine light turned on. And it stayed on. And with my tabs renewal notice was a note that I had to get my car emissions tested. So, I went in and took the test with my check engine light on, and I failed the test. Hmmm.... I loosened the gas cap, as some suggest might help, but it didn't. So I drove the car for another week or so, and the light turned off by itself. Then I went back in and took the test and I passed. However, throughout the winter, the light would turn on and turn off, mysteriously. Mysteriously I say, because I did not have a mechanic look at it. Perhaps I should have, but other than the light being on, the car was running great. Then came the day when the light turned on and stayed on, for months...until today. Now it's off again. Now I am kind of wishing I had taken the car in and had it looked at, but somehow I suspect that opportunity will arise again in another week or month.
So I ask, is your check engine light on?
Touron is a nougat of Arabic origin made with almonds and honey or sugar, without which it would just not be Christmas in Spain.
Touron is a nougat of Arabic origin made with almonds and honey or sugar, without which it would just not be Christmas in Spain.
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Conrad Meadow bagger
Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 2298 | TRs | Pics Location: Moscow, ID |
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Conrad
Meadow bagger
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Wed Oct 10, 2012 7:54 pm
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You can go to an auto parts store like O'Reilly and borrow their diagnostic reader (if you don't feel like buying one for ~$70). If you don't understand the code it gives you then you can Google it, which may help you decide how seriously to take it. The reader can also clear the trouble code from the car so you can see if / how soon it pops up again. My oversensitive car triggers on the same trivial code fairly often, but I like to read the code to assure myself that it's just the usual false alarm, and turn it off so I can know if any new more serious codes pop up.
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markh752 Snoozing on a rock!
Joined: 03 Dec 2011 Posts: 866 | TRs | Pics
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markh752
Snoozing on a rock!
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Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:18 pm
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I voted Yes It Is, simply because it's still on despite fixing the problem months ago.
I should probably have the memory cleared in case another problem pops up.
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Malachai Constant Member
Joined: 13 Jan 2002 Posts: 16088 | TRs | Pics Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny |
Black electrical tape solves the problem
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
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tigermn Member
Joined: 10 Jul 2007 Posts: 9242 | TRs | Pics Location: There... |
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tigermn
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Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:33 pm
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Malachai Constant wrote: | Black electrical tape solves the problem |
Not with the emissions folks.
On newer cars they basically just read the engine error codes (i.e. what gets recorded when the check engine light comes on). They don't even hook up to your exhaust anymore. I guess if they don't like the engine code readings they get they will fail you.
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Magellan Brutally Handsome
Joined: 26 Jul 2006 Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics Location: Inexorable descent |
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Magellan
Brutally Handsome
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Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:46 pm
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If your CE light is on and you have the problem fixed, the mechanic should have reset it. If the light is still on pull your battery cable for ten minutes. If the light is still on, your problem has not been fixed, or it has returned.
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Shred Member
Joined: 05 May 2009 Posts: 255 | TRs | Pics Location: Slowhomish |
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Shred
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Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:41 pm
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Sounds like an o2 sensor is going. Like previously stated, go to local auto parts store and test.
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peppersteak'n'ale Member
Joined: 28 Aug 2003 Posts: 1996 | TRs | Pics
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Just remove your battery cable for approx 10 minutes and re-connect it - should clear the code and check engine light unless there is a real problem
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GeoHiker Rocky Walker
Joined: 26 Feb 2005 Posts: 6033 | TRs | Pics Location: Off the Deep End |
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GeoHiker
Rocky Walker
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Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:51 pm
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Malachai Constant wrote: | Black electrical tape solves the problem |
Yes!......or just clip the wire. Check engine light is money in the bank for car manufactures. People that let the State steal their money at the emissions testing deserve to be bilked. There's less than 1% failure rate over the last 10 years with the emissions testing. There's absolutely no reason to keep this going other than it's a cash cow for the State. If they did a safety check then I could justify the cost, but they don't. Time to put a fork in the emission tests!......
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye......Eagles
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye......Eagles
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Hulksmash Cleaning up.
Joined: 20 Apr 2008 Posts: 7113 | TRs | Pics Location: Arlington |
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Hulksmash
Cleaning up.
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Thu Oct 11, 2012 12:52 am
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touron wrote: | Hmmm.... I loosened the gas cap, as some suggest might help, but it didn't. |
Loosening the gas cap will never turn OFF the gas cap. If the cap is too loose it can cause the check engine light to come on. Clearly your car has an intermittent problem. Even if your check engine light is off the code may still be stored.
And yes my check engine light is on. The code is P0401.
"Bears couldn't care less about us....we smell bad and don't taste too good. Bugs on the other hand see us as vending machines." - WetDog
Albuterol! it's the 11th essential
"Bears couldn't care less about us....we smell bad and don't taste too good. Bugs on the other hand see us as vending machines." - WetDog
Albuterol! it's the 11th essential
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GeoHiker Rocky Walker
Joined: 26 Feb 2005 Posts: 6033 | TRs | Pics Location: Off the Deep End |
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GeoHiker
Rocky Walker
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Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:42 am
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Hulk, is this your Jeep or VW?....I'd take that in right away as it could be something very serious. Your vehicle could blow up or spontaneously burst into flames. If you don't get that fixed right way you could be endangering yourself or the public. I'm going to report you to the State it's my duty don't you know......
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye......Eagles
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye......Eagles
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
Yes it is. It is because Ive disabled my EGR system, so Im used to it.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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tmatlack Member
Joined: 21 Aug 2007 Posts: 2854 | TRs | Pics
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tmatlack
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Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:30 am
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Not only is my Check Engine light on, it blinks a lot too. So, I put the car in neutral, shut off ignition, then do a rolling restart. That quits the infernal blinking. My mechanic comped. me four hours of time looking for the Check Engine code, then gave up. Cam sensor? Misfire on #5. Bad injector...Who knows?? Drive it till it dies. It's a soccer mom minivan!
Check Engine lights are the last of the true Communist Plots against our great nation.
Tom
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tigermn Member
Joined: 10 Jul 2007 Posts: 9242 | TRs | Pics Location: There... |
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tigermn
Member
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Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:21 am
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I had the check engine light come on years ago on a 1985 Dodge Shadow on a long drive. I ignored it as it was only on off and on. Well about a week later I was heading over to play golf by Bremerton and it came on again and I was losing the battery or something. Turns out my alternator was going bad and took the battery with it. The car wasn't even that old. I managed to limp to a Sears Automotive place in Silverdale (it was a Sunday, nothing much was open), had to leave the car overnight to get it fixed and find a ride home.
So it CAN mean something bad. Granted most of the time probably just an annoyance. Probably worth at least finding out what it indicates if you don't already know.
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Daryl Big Shot Economist
Joined: 05 Dec 2008 Posts: 1817 | TRs | Pics
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Daryl
Big Shot Economist
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Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:28 am
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In AZ I had a jeep that didn't like passing emissions. I quickly learned that if i retarded the timing a little and plugged the right vacuum lines, it ran like crap and passed emissions with flying colors. Then i'd undo it in the parking lot so i could enjoy the drive home. Emissions testing is a waste of everything.
(chances are it's the O2 sensor which is cheap and easy to replace, or the EGR valve, which may be a little harder to replace but still in the cheap and easy category)
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