When you constantly have the "service engine soon" light on?

Question

Is there something seriously wrong with my car? So far I have not had any problems but the "service engine soon" light would not go off.

Answer 1

I advise taking it to Murray's or Auto Zone.  They will hook up the computer for free and tell you what the problem is.  Most likely you have a bad oxygen sensor.  That is usually what my problem is when my light comes on without symptoms.

Answer 2

I work for a dealership, and the engine light could be anything from a loose gas cap, bad hose, EGR valve, o2 sensor, or just about anything.

Just keep in mind that as long as the light is on solid, you are not going to hurt your vehicle, but it the light goes to flashing or your vehicle is starting to run bad, get it into a shop and don't drive it until you get it fixed. You could do major damage to your engine or transmission.

Answer 3

When my light came on, I had Chevy dealer check it out. They said it was nothing and they turned it off. About 2 days later it came back on and has been on ever since. That was about 2 years ago.

Answer 4

Sometimes, sometimes not.

One day, my dog was distracting me and I hit a curb at the mall, and my check engine light came on. For no reason, I took it to the shop and nothing was wrong, it went away eventually.

Sometimes when your oil needs changed it will come on.

With my moms Rodeo, her light comes on sometimes when a wire gets loose, to correct that we just have to pop the hood.

Answer 5

Call around and find someone that will scan it for you for free.  They'll tell you what has triggered the light to come on.

It's probably something that can be put off but eventually will leave you stranded on the side of the road.  Oxygen sensor and EGR sensors are prime examples of what would cause this without any immediate change in how it drives.  Oxygen sensor controls the air to fuel ratio and eventually will get so bad that your car will stall all the time and won't want to start.  EGR is exhaust gas recirculation and sends exhaust gasses back through your engine.  This makes your exhaust cleaner and can be put off for a very long time until you have a problem.  The first problem would probably be your catalytic converter failing.

And one more thing--you can't pass a smog test with your service engine soon light on.  Sounds like that's not an issue where you live.

Remember if the light is steady on it's just telling you something isn't working properly.  If it changes to flashing stop and turn off the engine immediately.  That means there is something very wrong and you could be causing severe damage to your car.

If it's a Dodge or a Chrysler you can get the code yourself.

With your car parked with the engine turned off turn the key to accessory then back to off then back to accessory.  The engine light will flash in a sequence that corresponds to a two digit number.  Three flashes then stop then six flashes would mean 36.  Then go online and find out what the engine code 36 means for your car.  55 means all is well.

Answer 6

there's a thousand things that could set that off ... go to checkers or autozone or whatever and have them hook it up to their reader. it should tell you what it is ...

Answer 7

It could be something as simple as a sensor. Take it in and have it checked!

Answer 8

Drive the car down to your local autoparts store (Autozone, Advance , etc.)  Tell one of the counterpersons your car has trigger the check engine light and ask if they will scan it for you. Most places offer this free service.  They have a hand held scanner that will let the car "talk" to the device & tell it what is causing the error code.

This way you can determine if it is something simple (like an oxygen sensor).

Good Luck!