While driving home from work today in relatively slow city traffic, my CEL turned on. I quickly pulled over, checked for oil leaks (recent oil change) and took a quick listen to the motor. Everything checked out ok. Got back in drove home and everything seems fine. No loss in power, no wierd noises, no weird feel.

Just wondering what you guys think could possible cause the light to come on. I remember my buddies CEL came on in an older car due to a bad 02 sensor but i highly doubt thats the case. Car has only 28k on the clock.

TIA

 

gas cap or oil cap not tight enough issue??

 

While you did check for oil leaks, did you actually check the oil level?

You may also want to check all the vacuum and coolant lines (the black hoses connected to random places to the block and intake). A leaking hose or connection can cause the CEL to come on.

Worst comes to worst, bring it back to the dealer. Usually checking the code is within warranty. Just make sure that they don't do the actual work until you've approved it: We went to a dealer once with a CEL, they checked it (which was within warranty) and plugged the hose back in (which was not within warranty). They charged us 75 bucks for the plugging the hose back in, something we could have easily done ourselves, had we known the problem. We managed to talk them out of it (since they never cleared the 30 seconds of "labor" with us before doing it) but you want to be sure, in advance, of what you're getting into.

 

Autozone will pull the diagnostic code for you for free. There are too many things that it could be (gas cap, spark plug, injector, coil ...).

 

Thanks guy, I ll double check all of them again.

If i reset the ECU and the light doesnt come back, can i still do the diagnostic thing or will the code that was thrown be erased as well?

Thanks again

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by docofmind
[B]Thanks guy,