I'm under 49,000 miles and just had an oil change two weeks ago. On the way to work today (just a 20 mile drive) my CEL came on. When I got to work I checked the gas cap since I'd seen that issue come up before on the boards. The cap was loose and I tightened it up, then started the car back up and the CEL is still on.

Can someone share some advice as to what I should do? Is this urgent enough that I should avoid driving the car until I take it in?

 

To reset your CEL, pull your battery terminals for thirty minutes, then re-install. CEL no more.

Your car is fine.

 

Mine has been on for the past 3 weeks, havent had the time to reset it. I went to autozone and got the code read to make sure it wasnt serious, they pulled #1456 - emissions/evaporation (gas cap loose or similar). Go to autozone and get it pulled to see if its a similar code. I did a search on the site to find what each code meant

P.S. your obd-2 port is underneath your passenger panel on the underside of the dash, it just pops off with clips

 

The gas cap code will clear itself after a few trips that the ECU considers successful. (It took mine almost a full week the last time.) The other way is to have Pep Boys/Autozone clear it with their OBD-II scan/reset tool. (Free of charge).

That being said, you know the cap was loose that is more than likely the problem so I wouldn't stress out about it. However, the price is right so it wouldn't hurt to have them pull the code anyway for piece of mind.

 

Thank you everyone - I will stop into a Pep Boys or Autozone at lunch and make sure, but to everyone's point, the fact that the cap was loose makes me feel better...or something like that!

 

Is the light solid or blinking?

 

Solid...what makes it blink?

 

From my understanding, and I may be wrong, a blinking CEL means the car has gone into safe mode and should not be driven. A blinking CEL is very bad.

 

#1 Go to AutoZone/Pepboys to verify what CEL code it is.
#2 The scan tool can reset the CEL. Ask the person at AutoZone to do this. You can also pull the 7.5amp backup fuse for 10 seconds. It is located in the under-dash fusebox.
#3 How do you know the gas cap was loose? Did you tighten it until it clicked 3 times?
#4 MY02 OBD-II port is underneath DRIVER'S side of the dashboard near the stereo.
#5 A blinking CEL can indicate a more serious issue.

 

Yes, Blinking CEL is very very bad. Glad to hear its a solid one. SHould be easy to fix. I just had a sensor replaced on my car last week that caused a CEL.