Ok, so I am certifiably confused about the following conundrum & how I should proceed.
About a week ago, I brought my car into the dealership to have some recall replacement parts installed - as part of the wonderful GM fiasco of course - and that went fine enough. However, a couple days later, my Check Engine Light came on as I was driving home from work.
Somebody I know adamantly told me to just ignore it altogether, given that I’d just come from the dealership & they’d likely done something purposely to cause the light to turn on so that I’d return to the dealership & they’d get more of my $$$. This person told me to keep driving & that eventually the light would turn off on its own; however, me being the cautious fellow that I am, I did go ahead & make an appointment to have this issue looked at in a couple of days.
The thing is, driving home from work just now the damn light turned off on its own when I restarted my car; up until then, it had been on constantly for ~2.5 days.
Needless to say, I’m confused as Hell about this & I don’t know whether I should take my car in to have it looked at again. I’d REALLY rather not deal with the dealership again if I can avoid it, so I’m at a loss as to how to proceed. The best I can figure is to keep driving tomorrow & see if that stupid light comes on again; if not, then I’m likely gonna cancel my appointment.
But for all I know, that might be foolish. So please SDMB, help me out!
First off what recall was done? Something on the engine, or something else?
I always love the complaint of Ever since you put a tail light bulb in my car, the check engine light has been on, you did it.
I highly doubt the dealership would do anything to make the light come on on purpose. Speaking as a dealership service manager if this happened at my dealership, I would scan it for free to see what was the cause. Just because it happened at about the same time, that does not mean the dealership caused it. If it was our error I would fix it for free, if unrelated, you would pay for the repair.
Also it is damn difficult to set up a car to set a check engine light at a future time, and not when you started the car to leave the dealership.
I can tell you from experience that when the check engine light is on when the customer goes to pick up the car, the manager tends to get just a tad moody at the technician that worked on the car.
In my professional opinion your friend need more tinfoil for his hat.
To clarify, 99% of the time a CHECK ENGINE light comes on it’s due to a loose (or left off) gas cap. And it can take a day or so to reset on its own even once you put the cap back on.
When the Check Engine light comes on, you should stop and look under the hood. If the engine is still there, close the hood and drive on. If not, call AAA for a tow.
At least, that is always what the wording of the Check Engine light has suggested to me.
To further expound on the “gas cap” theory, on some cars the way they detect leaks is by looking for a pressure changes as the temperature in the gas tank changes while it sits overnight. That means that if you do leave the cap loose (or do actually develop some other leak in the system) it might take a couple of days for the computer to detect it and turn the CEL on. It may also will take a couple days to clear it once you re-seat the cap.
If you’ve got a non-Apple smartphone or tablet, there are some ludicrously cheap bluetooth scan tools out there now. I’ve got this one that’s currently about $7.50. It works great-- I’ve got a standalone scan tool, but I pretty much always just use my phone now.
When I worked at a shop, we put tires on some woman’s car, and then, she claimed, her AC stopped working, and she demanded to know what we did when we put the tires on that made her AC stop working. And she’d just gotten it worked on at another place, she said, so it wasn’t possible that it had just stopped working. It was perfect when she’d driven it in.
You would you guys stop with the: It’s ALWAYS THE (fill in the blank).
First off you are probably wrong.
Secondly you make yourselves look stupid when two or more of you show up in the same thread.
Modern cars have the ability to turn off the light if a problem us no longer there. A code will remain in memory for a period of time that can be retrieved by a technician.
First off, they left some wiggle room. Second off, they’re also correct - a lot of the time it’s the oxygen sensor; the first thing most dealers ask is if you put gas in the car recently. If the car is new enough to be under warranty, something in the emissions system failing is unlikely.
I’ve taken classes in auto shop, worked in an auto shop and been a lawyer for several years for an auto manufacturer. I do a lot of the light work, like oxygen sensors, on my own cars and have looked up what “check engine light” is for a series of my vehicles. It is certainly possible that it might be something other than the oxygen sensor, I didn’t say always, is said probably. It probably is. My six cylinder car has four of them. So don’t call me stupid. Rick.
Geez has reading comprehension gone to hell on this board?
I did not call you stupid. What I said “you make yourselves look stupid”
Your a lawyer for a car company? Cool. I’m impressed. Next time I need a restraining order against an oxygen sensor I’ll call you. However when it comes to umm, you know diagnosing cars I am fairly certain my CV with 40+ years as a working professional beats the shit out your I have written briefs for a car company.
The problem with an O2 sensor code is it takes skill and experience to determine if the O2 code is the cause of the problem or the result of another problem. At least 40% of the time the O2 sensor code is the result of a different problem.
But what do I know, I just do this shit for a living.
If the vehicle is driving normally, then the fuel economy may be getting worse and worse.
For a diesel, the poor mixture may then create more soot which then clogs the particulate filter…
You may save yourself a lot of money by getting the fault rectified sooner rather than later.
Other times, the Check Engine light is just saying that there is a code to be read, and that can be due to the testing the workshop did (in this case?), or due to tyre slip (driving on slippery road, or particularly bumpy road or something),and/or tyre size changes, and so on, triggering a traction control error, and that sort of thing can just go away on its own.
So do wait the week and see if the light goes away… you can visit a small garage mechanic to do the scan …far less hassle than a dealer…
Most of those chain auto parts stores have some repair services. And is it really true that they’re not permitted to scan the computer? That’s weird, given that you can buy the scanner yourself for a hundred bucks or so.
No most chain auto parts stores here in California don’t have a repair shop attached.
Repair shops are regulated by the State Bureau of Automotive Repair and have to be licensed and comply with a whole book full of regulations. Auto parts stores aren’t licensed as repair shops and therefore can’t act as one.
The damn light turned on again, ironically enough, right after I filled up my tank on the way home from work. I’m guessing the issue has something to do with the gas tank or something thereabouts. As much as I’d really rather not go back to the dealership, I’m leaning towards checking this out just in case.
I’m confused as all Hell about the whole thing, though, & I’d be lying if I said that I’ve been able to shake the nefarious intentions that I’ve gleaned from the dealership.
