What is Your "Check Engine" Light Telling You?
One of the most vital components to a properly functioning vehicle is the ‘Check Engine’ or 'Service Engine Soon' light. It alerts you to a variety of potential problems based on the vehicle’s onboard diagnostic system. When the ‘Check Engine’ light comes on, it means that some system in your vehicle, including ignition, fuel injection or emission control, is not operating at peak performance, even if your vehicle appears to you to be running normally.
A glowing ‘Check Engine’ light doesn't mean you have to immediately pull the car over to the side of the road, but it does mean you should get the car checked out as soon as possible. Ignoring the warning light could severely damage engine components and incur additional repair expenses.
If your ‘Check Engine’ light comes on, it could possibly be that the gas cap was left loose after refueling. Many times this triggers the ‘Check Engine’ light. If the cap was loose and you tighten it, the light may go out after a few short trips. If the gas cap wasn’t the problem or the light remains on steady, have the system checked out as soon as possible. A light that flashes requires prompt attention, indicating a more severe condition that must be checked out immediately to prevent damage to the catalytic converter. When you experience a flashing light, minimize driving at high speeds or under heavy loads, and get it to us as soon as possible.
Our technicians at S&S Service Center will connect your vehicle's computer to one of our diagnostic computers, which will provide a “trouble” code indicating which system activated the ‘Check Engine’ light. While that diagnostic computer is connected to your car, our technicians can use it to test several other key indicators. These results tell us which supplemental tests have to be performed to pinpoint the cause of the fault. Once the problem is diagnosed and fixed, your car's computer makes sure everything is back to normal with a self-test. (It may take over 2 weeks of normal driving before all of the self-tests, or monitors, are run.)
One note: As soon as the computer turns on the 'Check Engine" light, it suspends many of its own self-tests. It knows that since it has one problem, that problem could affect many other systems & cause false codes to be stored. This is the most important reason for having a fault repaired. You don't want to drive around in a car that is developing more & more problems, and not even letting you know they are happening.
Be sure to familiarize yourself with the purpose of the ‘Check Engine’ light and every other gauge and warning indicator on your dashboard. It's all covered in your owner's manual.
