Check engine light On and Off

fishbelly

我部車係 2001 Acura EL, 盞 check engine 燈有時無啦啦著, 又無啦啦自己熄番

什麼問題?  要搞下嗎?

donshiu

It mean time to change oil, but you can wait till the light stay on to do it, because the light turn on and then off  this only a warning meaning you need change petty soon

布小熊

@ @ I thought check engine light is more serious then just "need to change oil".....

pkphilip

Get an OBD reader and see what the code is...

I think everyone who own a car should have a OBD reader, so they don't get rip off by mechanics.

Philip

fishbelly

But the thing is I just changed my oil last month.....it's not nearly close to another maintanance.....

Catpiano

U need to take it back to the shop la....

If it stay on, then may be just your fuel cap is not tight, but if it is on and off, something is getting worse ...

You can probably still drive it, keep your eyes on the engine tempteture....

Same here .. check engine light on my car has been on for ~ a year now, and then the air bag light .. it is fine to drive, until now, the ABS light is on as well .. so .. need to take it to the shop ... big buck ..

PK, which OBDII reader you have? I have seen people selling them on ebay ... but not sure ..

I have one on back order, (cable, connect to laptop, suppose to work as reader too..  will see) but I assume it will only work for one car..  not sure if something universal.

myversa

Last time (just few weeks ago) my engine light was on for the past few weeks and I went into the dealer to check.  It turned out to be some oxygen thing that was broken.  The fee to fix it was about 1000 bucks.   I was glad I was still in Warranty...

shutterbug

Check engine light on and off means there's probably a problem with your car but it's not urgent.  If it's an Acura with a decent amount of mileage, then I could be your O2 sensor being slow.

OBDII has a set of universal codes and each manufacturer has a specific set on top of that; it depends on the 2nd digit.

Light on and off usually stores a 'soft' code in the ECU.  I'd say take it back to the dealers as you sound like you don't know much about cars so there's no reason to buy an OBDII reader and fiddle with it.  A reputable shop will not rip you off, don't worry.  A code is just a hint for the mechanic to diagnose a problem; the cause could be something totally different that what you think.

Mashimaro

8# shutterbug


well if its on and off it could be some exhaust control or EVAP is busted. I get that all the time and its so hard to trace the actual cause. Btw just check it out to be safe.

eng. light due to lose gas caps  will not turn off (for 90's cars I think) until you erase it with an OBD reader, missfires or other tranny trouble will not run off as well. That on and off light should happen more frequently if you leave it unattended.

shutterbug

if you're interested you can get this, on sale now

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/b ... %2BCar%2BReader.jsp