Unfortunately oil from a gas trimmer was mixed into gas put into my car.now the check engine light is on.is there anything i can do? Or do i need to just bring it into the shop?
It’s probably good for your engine. Check engine light may be on because it is sensing the additional oil in the fuel. I would fill the car up with super unleaded and drive. After the tank is empty, fill up again and see if the light goes off. My bet is that the light will go off. A shop may have to reset the check engine light.
It may be just co-incidence that the two happened at about the same time. You need to know what the check engine light is indicating. The engine computer will tell you, with a trouble code, where its sensors are detecting a problem. The larger auto parts stores will scan the check engine light, for you, for free. Call ahead for the best time. Let them scan for the code and bring it back here. Also, you’ll need to tell us the particulars about your car (make, model, year, and engine size).
I would say you damaged some of your emission sensors, contamination can cause big problems, costly too.
What kind of car? Someone maybe able to tell you hoe to turn off the check engine light. If it doesn’t come back on, then no harm.
If it does, then you need to have the code(s) read to see what the problem is. It maybe unrelated or it maybe a quick and cheap fix. You can get them read for free at an AutoZone or some other parts place. Get the code numbers and post back here. The store will also tell you what the code indicates, AutoZone will give you a printout. Post that also. Depending on model of car, it isn’t always what the readout says. Some cars have known histories with certain codes.
tell you how to turn off the check engine light
EDIT feature???
How much oil and how much gas was in the tank and how far have you driven?
Within reason it should have caused no damage. Enough oil however with not much gas could result in some damage including killing the converter.
After we get an idea on the questions above, we should be able to make better suggestions of where to go from here and what if anything the CEL may be.
BTW you can have the error code that triggered the CEL read for free as some auto parts stores like Autozone and Advanced Auto parts. Get the whole code (like P1234) and post it back here with the answers to the above questions.
Ha ha ha Are we having fun yet Keith?
Click and Clack actually answered this question a couple of weeks ago. They said that is shouldn’t hurt your engine. Reset the check engine light and see if it comes back. On my car (Honda civic) all you have to do is pull out a fuse under the hood near the battery and the light will go out. If there is still a problem then it will come back on.
See if you left the gas cap loose.
Not withstanding the “Click and Clack” answer, I would probably drain the fuel then reset the light. Hopefully, that will be then end of it. If the light comes back, get the codes read and find out what’s going on. You may get away with burning the whole tank without problems, but not in my car. Gas is cheap, repairs are expensive.
If your tank was low (mix fuel not diluted) it may have caused this. Just fill it up and see if the light goes out after running a few fresh tanks.