Hi, I have a 2003 Buick Century which has been a great car. About eight months ago my check engine light and trac light came on. If I put it in reverse then to drive they would go off, but no longer. A few months ago I took it to the Teacher at Evergreen College car shop. He had one of his students check my car out and they could not fine the reason for the lights being on and this is the same with my mechanic. Buick would check it out at over $200.00 and then plus repair to fix what is causing it. Too much for me. My mechanic said just ignore it. My car does run well and has over 150,000 miles. That is the next question my mileage light has been off and again all three above do not know why there is no light, so everyone just guess at my mileage from the last time I had something done.
Any suggestions for the above problems would be appreciated. Enjoy your column.
@Cardoza I’m a little confused.
Did anybody ever retrieve any stored fault codes?
Was the scanner they used able to retrieve GM specific fault codes? Not all are able to.
Is it possible that your mechanic did retrieve fault codes but wasn’t able to determine why warning lights came on? If so, did he look at any freeze frame data? Freeze frame data has helped me a lot to determine the cause of fault codes.
If you post the diagnostic trouble codes, folks here will offer some good advice I expect. The college shop should have these already read for you, so ask them first. If not, most retail auto parts stores will read them and give you a printout for free. Withou the codes, the diagnosis is pretty much impossible based on what you’ve said. It may well be the best sol’n is to just ignore it, but before you decide, best to post the codes and see what the experts here think.