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Check Engine Light in 00 OBW


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Just this past Thursday my check engine light came on after driving my 00 OBW for about 180 miles. I got the car about a month ago and this is the longest trip its been on so you can understand my alarm. The car had 90,9XX miles on it when the light came on. The car drove fine, no noises, no hesitation, nothing i could tell that would be wrong. All the fluids look alright. The car sat for three nights while i was on vacation. I came back just this morning, the check engine light was still on. I put another 200 miles on it with it on and no issues that i could tell. The car sat at my house for probably three hours tonight until i went to pick up my wife from work. When i started the car, the check engine light did not come on!?!? What the heck is that all about? Anyone have any insight? Could it be some type of Major milestone in service that is required that it's just warning me about? Does this car's check engine light come on when the oil needs to be changed?(shouldn't be for another 1000 miles...) Is it something to do with the emission systems? Why would the light just go off by itself?

 

Im just confused about it so if anyone has any insight on this topic, Id appreciate it!

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Had a friend who had emissions problems...check engine light was on all the time and the car ran fine...if its no big deal you can just live with it...

 

or if your like me and cant stand it, there may be a sensor malfunctioning or some sort of leak somewhere...

 

Hope this helps

 

Cory

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I'm gonna go out on a limb here. It's the O2 sensors(front and back). I had the same scenario on my 00 OBW at around 80,000. Car seemed to run fine, but that blasted light drove me nuts. Got them replaced and problem solved. Go to your local Advanced Auto and have them pull the codes.

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Prolly the O2 sensors. We've had ours replaced twice and we stil get a CEL regularly. Finally gave up and just live with it. Stay away from the stealership, I guarantee they'll try to sell you a new cat for $800.00.

 

Check the VIN on the SOA site and see if the TSB for the O2 sensor has been done, if not SOA owes you a new one ... but DON'T let them do ANYTHING else.

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Every time the computer turns on the Check Engine light, it also stores a trouble code in memory that explains why it turned the light on. You should try to get someone to read the code for you; it's a lot more effective than trying to guess at the cause (though the two guesses people in this thread have made are good ones). LIke WANTONSOUPGUY says, a lot of auto parts stores read codes for free as a courtesy.

 

If it's not a big deal you might choose to leave it, but there are two reasons you probably should fix it: 1) In most states having that light on and/or having the trouble code stored will cause the car to fail an emissions inspection, and 2) If your engine develops a more serious fault you won't necessarily know about it.

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