I am not the best car-maintainer. Maintenance on my car is one of the last things on my list of things to do at any given time. I blame this on my parents because they were not the best examples of car-maintainers in my formative years. There were no discussions about when to change the oil, when you might need new tires, why a car might need servicing, and how much this all might cost.
Of course, now that I think about it, my paternal grandfather discussed these things. He was the car-maintainer king. Of course, he bought a new car every five years for as long as I can remember. I think I didn't pay attention to his car interest because I got the feeling my parents thought it was a little obsessive-compulsive. I got the idea that they thought his car talk could be filed along with his "mow the lawn in different directions every time you mow" lecture or his "check your roof every fall and spring for problems" lecture.
Anyway, my check engine light came on this weekend. Wait, that sounded wrong. My car's check engine light came on this weekend. My check engine light is an entirely different thing and probably shouldn't be discussed in public.
What to do, what to do? It came on on Saturday evening and I had this thought that it might just go off if I let the car "rest" for awhile. So, the car rested overnight and I checked it Sunday morning. Then I thought it might go off if I filled the car with gas and re-tightened the gas cap (this is not crazy - my car has had this problem before). Nope. Well, the car needs servicing anyway (so the dealership schedule tells me) so I called the dealer.
This is probably one of those things that is going to cost me hundreds of dollars to "investigate" and turn out to be a short in the light that illuminates the check engine light. I think I might follow the advice of the guys on Car Talk and just fix it with a small piece of black electrical tape. You know, to cover the light.
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7 comments:
Okay, to avoid the hundreds of dollars solution, go to your local Auto-Zone or other large chain car parts store and they will often read the computers log for free and tell you how serious it is.
Half the time, it is a hiccup in the computer or a pre-programmed light set to get you to return to the dealer every so many miles or months.
So call to the local garages and auto parts stored and see which ones will hook up to your computer for free.
I learned everything I know about cars from Car Talk. Name a mechanical failure and I can imitate the sound. So is your car making a brattle brattle brattle noise or is it more like a fidgle sound? <-poor attempt at humor
By the way- what happens when your check engine light comes on?
WLW - I have an extreme dislike for local parts places or garages. Call me judgmental, but I think they screw you every time. I want someone who cares about their local reputation (ie, a local car dealership) enough to be forced into mitigation of my problems/complaints if they screw me.
PI - There is no noise, just the light. And the other thing probably isn't any of your business.
I've had that gas cap problem too. I called and told them what was going on and they said to tighten the gas cap until it clicked 9 times. I thought they were insane, but it worked...
Try Reid's Mobil in Kickapoo. Just off of I74.
My first car was my parents old car. They gave it to me when it hit 150,000 miles. They bought the car new and at 35000 miles the check engine light, it just said engine, came on in the car. They took it to the dealership and after several more trips the decision was that it was a faulty engine light, so they just ignored it. In college whenever someone got in my car they would always say, "Do you know your engine light is on?". I would always reply that that meant it work.
Try Westart Tire and automotive shop downtown. Owned by millie ( she is great and very honest ) and the mechanic is Kirby ( awesome guy, won't fix it if it ain't broke) . Walking distance to downtown as well.
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