Resetting a CEL

I have a 2002 KIA Sedona with the CEL on. I got the code and would like to clear it but Auto Zone who read the code said they were not permitted to clear it and highly recommend not clearing it. So is it bad to clear it and if not how can I do it myself?

You may be able to clear the code, but it does not mean you will pass an emissions test if that is where you are going with this. There are minimum run times that may apply. More info better answers.

No tests here in Indy, CEL being on drives me crazy, just want it off.

Get autowhatever to read the code. You could disconnect the battery negative cable to reset the code but often times the cure is worse than the disease, so I do not recommend it. Post the code and people here will help fix it the right way, as with a reset it will probably come back anyway.

@Bertrand

Don’t you even want to know what the code is?

You only want the light off?

Are you interested in fixing the root cause?

If you are interested in fixing it, please post the code.

I know the code and posted a question on what to do already here.

So I assume your other post of the p0340 ode?
http://www.obd-codes.com/p0430
or use electrical tape so it may cost more later.

Now now, children . . .

Disconnect a battery cable for 30 seconds or so, that will reset the cars computer and clear the codes stored in the computer.

Don’t disconnect the battery!

Read this http://www.aa1car.com/library/battery_disconnect_problems.htm

Though your vehicle isn’t listed, nobody really knows what will happen if the battery is disconnected. So if you disconnect a battery to try and turn off a Check Engine light, which doesn’t work, you could end up at the dealer having modules reprogramed.

Tester

If you clear the code and the problem has not been fixed, the CEL will just come on again in a day or two. Your monitors will lose their ready status and some may never come back unless drive cycle is complete. That won’t matter but the CEL is hopeless without a fix.

Just a question, if disconcerting the battery is bad then when they do it to repair the problem I am having won’t that damage the car?

The things ‘stepping into the weeds’ is said to not be by design for that reason but there have been plenty of cases where certain devices require reprogramming when batteries are pulled.
If it is not by design, it is boneheaded. There is no excuse for having that happen, in this day and age with the technology available – but, now that we’ve got you thinking about it, the devices requiring reprogramming is in their interest too: it has to go to the dealer. A small shop can’t fix that so money,money,money…

You pull the battery cable as a reset IF you have performed repairs and know the codes won’t repeat.
Last week I blew the fan belt ( serpentine belt for younger readers ) on my 08 Expedition. Ripped to absolute shreads and it broke a wire harness to the fan clutch in the process of turning on the CEL for alternator and overheating codes.
Made the rapairs and knew everything was fixed.
Pulled the negative cable for a while and reinstalled.
Reprogrammed the radio stations.
All is well now.

Okay so do I disconnect both cables or just one and if just one which one and for how long?

Disconnecting the battery twice a day will prove to be a greater nuisance than having the light on. After the problem is repaired the light will go off.

The light being on is driving me crazy, it stayed off for two weeks after turning itself off last time.

Turning it off is kinda like putting a snooze button on a fire alarm but since you’re tired of looking at it, just get some electrical tape and mask it out.

This is a type 2 DTC (diagnostic trouble code). That means that it has to occur twice in two consecutive drive cycles in order to turn the MIL (check engine light). If the MIL is on and the condition does not occur for three drive cycles in a row, then the MIL will turn off, but the code will remain for up to ten drive cycles before being erased from the computer.

Since your MIL is not going off, that means that the condition still exists. If you turn it off, it will come right back on in the next couple of drive cycles.

What is happening is that your camshaft position sensor has a malfunction. What is causing the malfunction depends on what type of ignition system you have. If you have a lost spark ignition system, which you can identify as having no distributor and shared coil packs. That is you have one coil for every two cylinders. This is pretty common for cars made in the 2002 era.

If this is what you have, you probably have either a bad spark plug wire from either end of the coil that serves the #1 cylinder. The wire may not be so bad as to cause a misfire, but its resistance is substantially different from the other sparkplug wire from the same coil. All wires should be changed, and the plugs too as a plug could also cause this same condition.

If you have a COP (coil on plug) system, then you have a plug that has a different resistance for some reason or a defective coil, most likely the plug. So just change the plugs and see if that does the job.

If you have a distributor, then it is not so simple. The CPS and usually a CPK are inside the distributor and so is the problem. You can try changing the plugs if they are anywhere near due, but you will be lucky if that works. More likely its going to be costly to fix.

How do I find out which type I have?