check engine houdini

[Heresy]

so my comforting night light, aka, check engine had been on for the longest time. approx a month.. and dont get me wrong, i care about my car. the first time it popped on, it wasnt an hour before i was at my mechanic. it turned out to be the gas cap. so everything was fine for a week and then it came on again.. so i called my mechanic up and he said it could be a pressure in the gas tank, or a bunch of other reasons the light could get thrown.. so i decided to get it cleared when i get my next oilchange. well last night i got in the car and expected the nightlight to come on, and it never did. i thought when the light came on, it would stay on until someone cleared it.

any thoughts?

 

[manuel]

the car probably thought "screw it..."

 

[ChrisK]

i've been having a simlar problem, it comes on sometimes, and then turns off? Does the light come on if I'm close to my next inspection?
But I haven't had a chance to get the code read... cause it's not always on. Specifically when I'm planning on going to get it checked.

 

[Wadula]

no chris, that light has nothing to do with inspection. you are talking about reading the code. how is that done any way? i never did that but don't you need a little computer style thing to do so?

 

[allhavoc]

There's a thread on the board that tells you how to read the code without using the lil computer thingy. I tried it a cpl of times and it worked. As for the check engine light, if it's being on constantly for a long time, I dont think it should go off by itself - atleast not until the problem is fixed. My check engine light turned off a while back, but that was only because I had a faulty DME. Once I got a new DME, the check engine light came right back on and it's been on since