This is a total noob question...

I got gas last week on my way to school (was riding on fumes), on my way home, I noticed the check engine light. As I thought about it, I was wondering if I put in regular gas without thinking, but can't be sure.

I called Honda to set up an appointment, lady told me that if it's running fine, I should check the gas cap, then drive more and see if it goes off. Cap seemed tight already when I checked, but I cranked it and gave it a couple days, it didn't go off.

When I got down to half a tank, I filled up with premium and reset the ECU myself (pulled the fuse for 30 secs). Check Engine is off and stayed off for the first drive.

So my question is... can putting regular gas set off the check engine light? Also, can I stop worrying about it now that the light is off (as long as it stays off with more driving)?

 

Next time, borrow a code reader (OReilly's and Autozone lend them out free) and see what code is triggering your CEL.

 

I didn't know about that. Honda told me they would charge me $120 just to read the code. That's good information, thanks.

 

$120 to read a code? Autozone and stuff does it for free, and I have my own code reader so I can pull codes and erase CEL's when I want, cost me like $40.

Anyways, i'm not sure if the gas will throw a CEL or not, I know our cars are picky about things though. The main thing that usually happens is the CEL for the gas cap leaking or loose. I wouldnt worry about it if everything seems normal and the CEL hasnt came back, and always use premium in your gas tank.

 

Yeah, I was half asleep and in a hurry, and my wife's car uses regular so I could have easily just done it without thinking about it.

Now I wish I had posted here earlier so that I could have found out that you can just borrow a CEL reader because this has been weighing pretty heavily on me for a few days.

 

Samething happened to me four years ago when my car was new.
On a trip to Calif. from Fla. ,I stopped and filled up in a small town in Texas. Once back on the Interstate, I noted a CEL. My immediate assumption was bad gas. I continued driving for several hours until I needed another tankful of gas. After refueling, the CEL dissapeared and I have never seen it again. That was 16,000 miles ago.

 

check gas cap, and re-tighten.

 

Could have easily been the gas-cap, as much as it could have been a screwy fill. Especially in an earlier S.

 

I think I'd feel better if the CEL disappeared on its own, resetting it myself makes me feel like I'm just hiding it. I guess I'll just see if it comes back after a few more drives.

 

Probably a loose gas cap.

There are a few guys on some other s2k sites who run only regular unleaded because they can't afford premium. The ECU will compensate for the lower octane by retarding the ignition timing, and you will probably notice a decrease in performance, but no CEL.