That light on your dash…it’s been on for a while now, right? It’s a little picture of an engine and it glows red or yellow, and it keeps staring you in the face. Yeah, your car seems to run fine, so you just ignore it. You think it’s probably nothing, or your friend says “You left your gas cap loose”.
Well, in reality, that check engine light might be an indication of a larger problem that handled now, could save you from an inconvenient breakdown and a lot more money. And if your getting close to renewing your car registration, and you need to get a smog check, get it fixed now, because your car will fail the smog check with the light on.
Your car’s onboard diagnostic computer system, or OBD system, monitors the engine and transmission’s sensors. When it detects a fault, something that has not given the correct reading, it will turn the light on. This could mean something as simple as an intermittent glitch, to a real problem. But the computer knows when a glitch has occurred. It will set what is known as a “pending code”, or soft code. When that glitch happens more than once, it turns the light on, and a “hard code” is set. When a code is set, the computer goes into what is called “closed loop” and runs off a pre-set program. The car may seem to run fine, but power and gas mileage goes down. If something critical fails, the engine may run very badly or just quit running all together.
A few of the things that might cause a code to set…
- Oxygen sensors, or O2 sensors
- Engine misfire or rough running
- Mass Air Flow sensor
- Catalytic Converter
- Bad thermostat, engine runs too hot or too cold
There are lots of other things that could go wrong, this is just a very short list. It best to have an experienced repair shop diagnose and repair the problem. Call us or go online for an appointment at your convenience.
