Auto… Check Engine Light ?

[GolfVenture]

The Engine Check light came on my 98 Nissan Quest Van.. The van ran good otherwise , no other warning lights on the dash. The temp gage was closely monitored while continuing to drive for the next near 3 hours. Figured that be the most important issue to monitor.

Bought the Van new in 98 and the last major repair was at 120,000 miles where Nissan replaced the timing belt & water pump also had the fuel injectors cleaned out and tuned up.

Since then there has been other repaires but nothing that I can think that could be related to the check engine light. Currently it has about 190,000 milies.

I know that many drivers run their vehicles with the check engine lights on and ignoring the warning all the time for it is some minor reminder thing.

Anyone know what some of the most likely cause of the engine check light could be, before I take it to a shop.

Also anyone have a local Vacaville shop recommendation, besides a Nissan Dealer?

[bongobobny]

The most common cause for CEL is evaporative leak detected, usually someone forgot to tighten their gas cap, but it can be a multitude of reasons. Generally if the light is on constant it is just some error code, but if it is flashing it is more serious. Sometimes it is the sensor itself that has gone bad. With the mileage you are mentioning, I'll almost bet it is an O2 sensor gone bad.

 

If you go to an Auto Zone or similar store they will read the code for free. Also check your owner's manual for a method you can read the code, usually by turning the key on and off five times in a row or something like that, and then look up the code on an online web service...

[Snaggletooth]

I hate Engine warning lights!! Drive ya crazy.

 

Both my Taurus and the Lincoln were always coming on. Both cars always ended up with the same thing. Some air flow sensor.

 

My friend that owns the shop I go to just got into the habit of cleaning the sensor in the Lincoln about every time I'd roll in for a visit. If I wasn't on the bike he knew the light was on. Just laughs and tells me to stay off the gravel roads.

 

Guess I'm too simple of a guy. Gimmie a light that says "LOOK HERE!" Wait, we used to have those.

 

Engine Warning lights mean "What's in your wallet?"

[GolfVenture]

I just called Auto Zone in Vacaville and they said that a law was passed about 4 years ago preventing them from providing this service.

[oldandcrotchety]

I don't know about your car in particular, but a lot of cars are programmed to have the light come on at certain mileage points where routine maintenance is scheduled. My last vehicle had the light come on 100,000 miles for the 100k maintenance and again at 130K 175k and 190k. When I got it there was more than 90,000 on it, so I don't know the intervals before that, and it went tits up shortly after the 190k light. I have a diagnostic tool that will turn it off for me.

[Guest]

Buy yourself an OB 2 scanner from Harbor Freight and plug it into the port located under your dash. It looks like a large USB port. It will read what your error code is with a description of the error, depending on what model you have. Mine cost me 59 bucks on sale. Most chain shops will also read the code for free or a nominal fee. The tool will also allow you to cancel the light (code).

[IronMike]

There are other ways to re set the light, but just know it can come on for some very stupid reason, , As one said, the gas cap, and mine just came on because the fuel gauge mis read one time. I have a scangauge and it allows me to read the codes and reset them and change values and all sorts of stuff, wotht the money saved me more than I paid first year.

 

Autozone near my house still reads them for free, I think they just no longer reset them, unless they know you. Ahem.

[Ky. Rider]

Although this doesn't diagnose the problem some can be reset by unhooking the battery cable.

[MikeWa]

Brian

I have an obd2 scanner. We can meet up somewhere and I will scan it for you or you can just borrow the scanner.

Mike

[Huggy]

Usually it the negative battery cable that has to be disconnected to reset the warning lights.

 

[GolfVenture]

Brian

I have an obd2 scanner. We can meet up somewhere and I will scan it for you or you can just borrow the scanner.

Mike

 

 

Mike, Thank You, but my wife has it in Vacaville CA. All systems of the Van works just fine, so it most likely one of the O2 sensor. Midas in Vacaville will provide the Error code with no charge. If it is one of the O2 sensor she is just going to drive it like it is. I'm flying down later this summer and she and I will drive it back. I'll replace the sensor whrn I return.

 

Thank You for the offer Mike.

[djh3]

I have one on the wifes 02 Durango thats been on for over 2yr. Its something to do with the fuel vapor return garbage. A couple things it says can be bad, one is a $20 electric valve (once you install its yours) and the other is vacume hoses "could" be bad and leaking between the tank and the valve and charcoal canester. So now you know why we just drive it. No way I'm going to change a $20 part to find out its $20 more in vacume line and 3 days of work to replace them.

[Guest]

Mike, Thank You, but my wife has it in Vacaville CA. All systems of the Van works just fine, so it most likely one of the O2 sensor. Midas in Vacaville will provide the Error code with no charge. If it is one of the O2 sensor she is just going to drive it like it is. I'm flying down later this summer and she and I will drive it back. I'll replace the sensor whrn I return.

 

Thank You for the offer Mike.

 

Dont ignore those O2 sensors. When they go bad it can cause rough idle and stalling. The ones near the motor, usually on the exhaust manifold are the important ones. The one located more rearward wont affect anything.

[k9cottage]

in Aus we do the timing belts every 100.000 with you coming up on 200,000 is it telling you it is time for the belt again some of these engine lights are controlled by the trip meter

[GolfVenture]

The Check Engine Light went off on its own.

 

If my wife takes to Midas for a free code check will it still display the last code or is it gone now?

[dacheedah]

it should display, my guess is gas cap, you should tighten and turn till it clicks. The rubber washers can go bad or debris on the fill can prevent a good seal.

Edited July 11, 2013 by dacheedah

[GolfVenture]

Did the gas cap off and on test. a couple days back, did not help.

[MikeWa]

The Check Engine Light went off on its own.

 

If my wife takes to Midas for a free code check will it still display the last code or is it gone now?

 

 

Good. The OBD2 system on this car will reset the light if it does not see the problem for three drive cycles. That is different than key starts as it requires a certain amount of driving. So if it was due to a loose gas cap for example and you tightened the cap the light will not turn off immediately. It still would be a good idea to get the car scanned for history codes just to know what caused the light in the first place.

 

Mike

[wrnchjox]

as a mechanic for over 30 years,it has beenmy great displeasure to have to chase codes.having a code scanner from harbor freightisnt a bad thing however it does no good if you dont understand what actually causes the code to set .your midas should be able to read an historic code,but always ask for a second opinion if they tell you it could be an expensive fix for a code that has reset itself.(probably evap,especially if vehicle was fueled without shutting it off).good luck to you and hope its nothing serious.

[Flyinfool]

There are also a lot of codes that have no effect on drive-ability or safety and can be ignored till you have time to deal with it.

[Dragonslayer]

I just acquired a master degree education in check engine light OBD2 system trouble codes. My problem traced back to a mechanic changing the valve cover gaskets back in 2009 and moving the attachment point for the o2 sensor grounds to an attachment point not grounded. Finding and finally fixing the problem took 4 +/- years and I'm seeking damages of about $5,500.

 

First step is reading diagnostic code(s) of the OBD2 system with a scanner. The diagnostic codes definitions are easily found on the internet, that will lead you to the possible problem. Once fixed you then have a thing called drive cycles to go through before the ECM will reset, the codes go away and the engine light goes off.

 

Good luck

 

PS. Toyota dealership first diagnosed fix was new o2 sensors for $856.00 when that didn't fix problem they condemned the ECU computer for $1,800 when I got a knowledgeable second opinion the fix was actually moving the grounding lugs to thier proper attachment point cost $265.00. Typical of Steelerships.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Dragonslayer

[Marcarl]

I have 3x 2005 Chev trucks,,, thought that orange light was for emergency dash lighting,, oh well, at least they are all the same.

[SilvrT]

The check engine light was coming on in my '05 Silverado (with only 72000 kms). It would come on for a few days and then not come on for a few days... eventually it just stayed on... then my gas gauge would stop working for a day or two and then it would work again.. finally it too stopped altogether.

 

Turns out the gas gauge sending unit was faulty and that is what was causing the check engine light to come on.

 

$700 later and a new fuel pump solved the problem ... they just don't make 'em simple like they used to!

[meach]

Get a scanner, mine was only like 40$ or so from Advance Auto several years ago. Its handy having your own scanner because sometimes the CEL will come on for minor things as stated before, by having your own scanner you can check the OBD code and then clear it and start up vehicle to see if same code sets again or not. Wifes 05 T. Matrix light started coming on but only in the winter, would clear it and wouldn't come back on until some time. After several years of doing this I did a little research and found out Toyota in certain years used an inferior intake manifold gasket (they would never admit to it) that after a several years during cold weather would begin to barely leak just enough to trip the CEL. Never happened anytime except during the coldest months and even then not consistent. Performance was not affected. Had gasket replaced when car died to faulty ECM that was replaced under a recall, I had em go ahead and replace gasket while in the shop and CEL has never come back on.

 

Truck CEL light came on, checked code and did a few min of research and found most common cause which turned out to be gas cap was loose.

[dysfunctional33]

The Check Engine Light went off on its own.

 

If my wife takes to Midas for a free code check will it still display the last code or is it gone now?

 

More than likely yes. the computers do store the codes for so long even after the light shuts off:322: