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What Your Check Engine Light Is Telling You
Edmunds.com
Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
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1 Fine Tuning 2] Oil change & 3] Check Engine/Service lights AKA"idiot lights"
I own a '97 Chevy Tahoe which sports a 350. I get exceptional mileage and performance without any extra bolt-on or expensive gadgets.
I bought the "Hoe" 5 years ago from an old gentleman that used it on his farm. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but it does suit me well for work and travel.
When I bought it, it had been somewhat abused, so I set out to "un-abuse" it...
1] Fine Tuning: A mechanic friend who happened to be a Chevy guy told me that the manufacturer sets the engines [computer] to meet the minimum EPA standards.
He hooked up his laptop, pulled up all the info and "dialed in" EVERYTHING.
My Hoe went from a engine shuttering POS to a Silky Smooth tune.
BTW when he had it hooked up, the 'Puter told him I was getting 8city and 12hwy.
When done, It said I would get 17C and 21H.
On my road trips, I get an astounding 27highway...and I have a lead foot.
2] Oil Change: Though ANY oil will be blackish after 50 miles, I test the oil "old school". I feel it and "light it up".
Feeling the oil, you'll feel grittiness... or not. "Lighting it up" is putting a lighter to the oil on the dipstick...if it crackles...it has water in it. Change the oil.
My MINIMUM is 5000 before change, but my standard is roughly 8000/10000.
3] Service Lights: PAY ATTENTION to them. DO NOT ignore them. They're there to protect your vehicle.
The "cheapest" way to find out what it is...MOST Auto Parts stores will check them for you...for free.
Though some code readers are different than others, go to 2 places and have them plug in.
99% of the issues are easily fixed...even if you're not mechanically inclined.
I did recently get a code, had it checked, bought the part [$75.00], R&R'd the piece in 15 nimutes.
IF a Light Does Come On...FIRST thing to do is REMOVE THE GAS CAP and Put it back on. Also, when you have the gas cap off, check it for broken/cracked seal.
I've had friends that have spent upwards of $1000.00 with NO Improvement...only for me checking out their gas cap to find it in bad repair. $10.00 later...problem fixed.
Happy Motoring Y'all
Articles like the one above were very poor representations of the work that technicians had to do in order to analyze and solve vehicle problems. What was even worse was that they were little more than advertisements for companies like CarMD and in this case AAMCO. Both of which were marketing their causes at the expense of people who were working very hard to try and keep up with the changes in vehicle technology.
Click on the link for CarMD and it takes you to a website that sells their wares. They still try to promote the idea that all you have to do is pull the codes and that tells you what parts need to be replaced. It's taken a long time but if you read the responses in the forums today you can clearly see that most of the regulars have learned that approach is the wrong one and now they are starting to take a better approach. The trouble code when generated by the computer does NOT tell you what is wrong, it tells you what test failed. Now you need to find out what that test was, how the computer runs it, and then you have to test the circuit or system the same way that the computer does. AAMCO and other companies who pushed "Free Diagnostics" route forced their techs to be less disciplined in their approaches and that is coming back to haunt them.
Today there is a shortage of qualified technicians. It takes twenty years to really master the trade but that comes with the caveat that there is no finish line when it comes to having learn more. Meanwhile there are still way to many entry and early career techs that don't earn the kind of living that will see them stay in the trade long enough to learn to be really good at it. Articles like the one above did more to discourage people from pursuing a career as a technician than it ever did to help someone fix their car.
Ask me how I know....