Question about a purchased car

[Lohman446]

Originally posted by cphilip


A code reader for ODB II systems will point you in the right direction. But one thing you can do is disconnect the battery for an hour or so to allow the capacitors to discharge and this will reset the light for you and clear the codes. A good code reader will also have a reset function. But this battery disconnect will do it as well. Clears the memory. A good code reader is like $250.

Clear the codes, drive the thing, see what happens. Sitting should not cause the light to come on, but guess what, I have seen cars that have sat for extended periods of time flip on check engine lights. Clear the codes, drive it. Autozone will read the code, say oh look Oxygen sensor (or whatever), want to buy one (what a surprise). There are complex flow charts for every code, just because the code indicates a fault in the oxygen sensor circuit does not mean it is the sensor itself.

[cphilip]

Well thats the good thing about the phase in of ODB II specifications (and by the way my post should have read "mid 90's not 80's) is that they all now HAVE to be the same language. And so no proprietary languages and no need for vehicle specific code readers after 1996. And so now code reader manufacturers can put out a good code reader MUCH cheaper. When I bought mine it was top of the line and around $250 or so. Now I see even more features in $199 models. And good brands to!

And to make sure I correct early mistake in dates. All were ODB II compliant in 96 and even some in 94 and 95....

However not all trucks still are fully ODBII. However I can get a good bit of information even off mine. They are partialy compliant. Soon to be all complaint.

[Lohman446]

Edited as of no use to this discussion

[dansim]

look, ignore the rest of theese yahoos you paid damn good money for this car and a bunch extra for the warranty, take it to the dealership and tell em the check engine light is on and youd like them to fix it, if they say it isnt covered say hey you know what i drove 10 miles with this car before that light turned on, and if you dont find and fix the problem i will be getting my money back and people will hear about this.

[Machina123]

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got it check out just some mileage thing. no biggy.did a full diagnostic check everythign passed with flying colors. but wooo lemme tell u eclipses are fast

[Morally0Confused]

i got a vw and check engine light on them has to do with exhaust or emmissions not being right (has like 10 dif check lights) it came on i changed oil it went away