My check engine light has recently turned on in my 2004 hyundai elantra, and since it has come on my car will kick and sound like its going to stall, works but the automatic transmition refuses to shift. This inconsistent because it sometimes works fine with the light on and sometimes the light won’t even turn on and everything is ok. What’s wrong?
How about bringing the car in and having the codes read… The car is jumping up and down trying to tell you somthing, you just have to stop and listen… Most autoparts store will do this for free !! What ever you do dont drive it much longer or you may damage some thing !
It could be many things. Seems that the transmission is involved, you need to get the car’s computer scanned for error codes and ths can aid the diagnosis. Either take it to a mechanic you trust, or an auto parts store for a scan for error codes. It seems your car is going into “limp” mode which means it runs enough to get you off the highway safely. It could be overheating, or one or more sensors are feeding info into the computer that indicate a significant problem.
If you get the codes read (free at many auto parts stores as noted) and you want to post results for comment, please post the exact codes. They will look like “P1234.” Don’t come back and just post what somebody said they mean. They are probably wrong about that.