I have a 2004 Jeep Wrangler, 50,000 miles. I have had a light squeal for a couple of weeks coming and going. I backed up and the Jeep made a rough sound and stalling sound. I drove home with the engine light flashing, now the light stays on. I checked fluids, added oil, not dangerously low. Disconnected the battery, and the light stays on. Drives fine outside of when I am backing.
The “light squeal” might be nothing more than a loose, glazed, or worn serpentine belt.
Your big mistake was to drive the car with a flashing Check Engine Light, as this indicates a misfire in the engine. If the CEL is now steadily illuminated, that is certainly a better situation than if it was flashing, but you still need to determine why it is illuminated. To simply try to turn it off by disconnecting the battery is sort of like cleaning your house by sweeping the dirt under the carpet.
It was a good thing to check your oil and other fluids, but these items do not have anything to do with the CEL. The CEL is an indication that there is a problem with either the ignition system, or the fuel system, or the emissions equipment.
Go to Auto Zone, Advance Auto, O’Reilly, Napa, or another parts retailer that does free scans of the car’s OBD2 system. Write down the code(s) that they give you–the format will be similar to “P1234”–and come back to this thread to post the codes.
Until the codes are known, nobody can determine the problem for you.
Thank you. That was my mission today. Going to Advance Auto. I called my mechanic and he stated a misfire, and we were thinking possibly a bad cel. I had the fuel pump replaced a couple of months ago, could it still possibly be something with the fuel system?