Check Engine light came on!!!!!!

[L84THSKY]

The car has had this weird smell for days, like a cat crawled up in the engine and died. I figure it was possible, my GF was horrified that I would even presume such a sinister thought.

But last night at about 11:30 driving home from a wedding reception, the "Check Engine" light came on. The thing about our cars is, we only have a temp guage and a few idiot lights, so everything looked normal.

I'm wondering, is it worth buying the diagnostic tool to read all of the codes? I have the oil change /maintenance reset tool, but that is it. I'm sure I could have the dealer do a quick check to tell me what the problem is.

So no I have a cracked windshield and an engine problem, how nice. I have a 12:30PM flight to Taiwan tonight for a business trip, and won't be back for a week. That means this whole mess will have to wait till I return.

[robcarync]

I love my engine scan tool...it gives you more than fault codes...you have POWER over your car! no more being lost as to what it is! plug that bad boy in and BAM! your car keeps no secrets!

as for whether its worth it, im not sure...i got mine just for my o2 sensor CEL that came on...and now ive used it to find out i have a bad knock sensor, even though the light never came on...its a nifty tool to have, but if you are lucky, you wont ever have to use it again

[robbie-z]

is the smell like really rotten eggs or something like sulfur? if so, your catalytic converter might be bad... i'd say cat, but with the 'dead cat' thing, didn't think it would be cool.

[L84THSKY]

Come to think of it, the smell did appear about 3 days prior to the "check engine" light. You may be on to something. Wasn't the catalytic converter a recall issue?

Originally Posted by robbie-z

is the smell like really rotten eggs or something like sulfur? if so, your catalytic converter might be bad... i'd say cat, but with the 'dead cat' thing, didn't think it would be cool.

[ZeroG]

Originally Posted by L84THSKY

The car has had this weird smell for days, like a cat crawled up in the engine and died. I figure it was possible, my GF was horrified that I would even presume such a sinister thought.

But last night at about 11:30 driving home from a wedding reception, the "Check Engine" light came on. The thing about our cars is, we only have a temp guage and a few idiot lights, so everything looked normal.

I'm wondering, is it worth buying the diagnostic tool to read all of the codes? I have the oil change /maintenance reset tool, but that is it. I'm sure I could have the dealer do a quick check to tell me what the problem is.

So no I have a cracked windshield and an engine problem, how nice. I have a 12:30PM flight to Taiwan tonight for a business trip, and won't be back for a week. That means this whole mess will have to wait till I return.

I have been debating the same things for months. The thing is I want one for OBD I and OBD II. They are kind of pricey. I was looking at this one called the retriever that was like $500

If you just need to read the code cruise to Autozone and they will let you borrow one for free.

-Chad

[nick_hegel]

Black electrical tape and some air fresheners should solve it!! lol

[amd2132]

Yea the Catylitic Converter was a recall you might want to look into it .... also i had my check engine light come on before and it was my cam sensor that went bad so that might also be something that could have triggered it....Good Luck!

[AlaskaBlue]

Just recently like the past week when I get on it I get the same sort of smell after a little hard acceleration. No check engine light though. I also have 150,000 miles on the original cat.

[L84THSKY]

Well, the car was diagnosed. The problem was just two rubber vacuum hoses near the intake. I did notice they seem suspect when I looked at them previously. They also said I had a fuel tank issue, most likely tripped by a gas cap not being put on tight enough.

They charged me a half hour for diagnostics, and a few bucks for the hoses. They offered to put the hoses in and reset the codes, but I declined. I figure the added hour labor for putting in the hoses and resetting the codes can be better used buying a code reset tool and replacing the hoses myself.

I already have the Peake oil change/service light reset tool. If anyone wants to buy that tool after I get the diagnostics reset tool, shoot me a reply.

Originally Posted by robcarync

I love my engine scan tool...it gives you more than fault codes...you have POWER over your car! no more being lost as to what it is! plug that bad boy in and BAM! your car keeps no secrets!

as for whether its worth it, im not sure...i got mine just for my o2 sensor CEL that came on...and now ive used it to find out i have a bad knock sensor, even though the light never came on...its a nifty tool to have, but if you are lucky, you wont ever have to use it again

[maherbaz]

how much for it?

[L84THSKY]

Let me add on to this. The sales person said that if I did the work myself, I would have to bring it back to have the codes reset. I just got the car and the "check engine" light is gone.

So she was gonna charge me $50.00 to reset the codes. Seems they already did it anyway. I can't imagine them checking the codes, telling me what's wrong, and NOT reseting the codes; what was she thinking!!!!!

Since one of the codes was caused by a loose gas cap, that one should not come back, and it seems the cracking vacuum hose isn't causing the "check engine" light to reappear, atleast not right away.

Originally Posted by L84THSKY

Well, the car was diagnosed. The problem was just two rubber vacuum hoses near the intake. I did notice they seem suspect when I looked at them previously. They also said I had a fuel tank issue, most likely tripped by a gas cap not being put on tight enough.

They charged me a half hour for diagnostics, and a few bucks for the hoses. They offered to put the hoses in and reset the codes, but I declined. I figure the added hour labor for putting in the hoses and resetting the codes can be better used buying a code reset tool and replacing the hoses myself.

I already have the Peake oil change/service light reset tool. If anyone wants to buy that tool after I get the diagnostics reset tool, shoot me a reply.