Why is my check engine light on?

They say that there are about 14,000 reasons why a Check Engine light would illuminate on your vehicle’s instrument panel. If you are wondering who “they” are and what are they doing dealing in vague, useless, statistics? My money is on the people who write disclaimers in 2-point type on travel insurance brochures or talk a mile a minute at the end of late-night TV ads.

Odds are that there may be people out there who think that the Check Engine means that you should open the hood and see if the engine is there. Members of the same group wonder how often you must change the fluid in your turn signals.

The root cause of the problem is the OBD System. It is a computer that performs On-Board Diagnostics. So, it’s nosy and we are lucky the OBD didn’t come up with 14 million reasons it just might decide to turn the Check Engine light on at the start of your vacation or when you finally found a romantic place to park by the lake.

Most likely, when you see a Check Engine light it may be that your fuel cap is loose. Maybe, the Mass Air Flow sensor is faulty, or the Oxygen Sensor is having an issue. Could be that the Catalytic Converter has lost its evangelistic zeal, or the darn spark plugs need to be checked. If no obvious reason can be found see your dealer. Dealer Technicians speak fluent OBD.

The only thing you should not do is drive around hoping the light will go out on its own. If that happened the orange light might turn red. Come see us instead so we can fix things while they are simple.  Click here to schedule a service appointment with one of Eagle Buick GMC’s Certified Service Technicians.  And, check out our Service Specials page to find a money saving coupon for your visit. 

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