Check Engine Light

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Is this a gimmick so you have to take the car for service when is not really needed?



If the computers are so good, how come I don’t get a message telling me SPECIFICALLY WHY the check engine light went on?



Thanks,





Edgar

2

take the car to autozone or some other auto store and get the codes read off the computer, usually free…the messages are there. The codes will tell you why the light came on.

3

I would love an OBDII reader to be built into the instrument cluster as well. Automakers probably don’t do this for two reasons. Many people don’t care to know exactly what is wrong and would rather just have somebody fix it and make it all better. The other is that most drivers wouldn’t understand what it was telling them anyway. Oh yeah, and maybe they don’t want people messing with their own cars while still under warranty.

4

And come back and tell us what the code is [Like P0123] and also tell us what make model year car you have and how many miles as well as any problems or strangeness that seems to be going on along with the light.

The codes only tell you why the light goes on. It may say a high value reported by a sensor. That could be a problem causing whatever the sensor is sensing to out of norm and appears to be a problem or it may be a bad sensor. A bad sensor my have no other effect other than to warn you about something or it may also control some adjustment on your car. So just having the readout does not help if you don’t know what the possibilities are for that specific read out.