Service Engine Soon

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

The codes for Service Engine Soon - P0410, P0442 and P16524 - read what they mean - don’t seem to be big problems - should I have them fixed? is it expensive? Light has been on 4 weeks…help!

2

will this help?

3

I have the codes-and read about them - just didn’t know if it’s urgent - do i need to replace the air pump - one is a gas cap problem - just don’t know

4

Even if the car will keep running without fixing the problems, there are three things – other than the risk of the problems becoming worse (more expensive) - wrong with ignoring them:

  1. Having the light on constantly could keep you from knowing if something else serious happens later on.

  2. If you have mandatory emissions or safety inspections, you will not pass with the light on.

  3. If you don’t fix emissions-related problems, your are polluting the air I breathe.

How much will it cost? If the car is under warranty (and emissions-related things might have a longer warranty), take it to a dealer to find out. If not under warranty, find a good independent mechanic, and take it to her/him to find out.

“Be good to your car, and your car will be good to you” is good advice. (However, you’ll get a lot of sound opinion on this forum that the next part of that jingle is very bad advice.)

5

thank you so much - I just had some work done with the field coil and I just don’t have the money yet to fix these problems this month.

6

Those are CEL codes. (Check Engine Light) SES lights tell you that maintenance is due. CEL means repairs may be due.

7

The Check Engine Light is a safety device, a warning, to tell you that something is not right with your car. While you might not feel these particular “triggers” of the light are important, effectively disabling that warning by not correcting the problems and allowing the light to always glow may result in your system being unable to warn you that something serious needs addressing.

I agree with Art. Maintaining the warning system’s ability to let you know if something serious has happened is reason enough to get the repairs done.

8

P0410 is “Secondary Air Injection Malfunction”. Is it serious? Sounds serious.
P0442 is " EVAP System - Sm Leak Detected". Is it serious? Won’t pass emissions, but, otherwise your car will run fine.
P016524 Can’t find this code. Is your car a Cadillac?

9

I couldn’t find it in my listing either. Too many digits.

10

Well, I wrote down two many digits…P1624 is what I meant…