opinion?

[emchy]

anyone have any thoughts about why or how serious it is that my 'service engine soon' light came on?
my car is a 2005 mitsubishi lancer with 48500+ miles on it

all of my other cars were american with 175,000+ miles on them and the service engine light usually came on about 2 minutes before the car died completely.

that isn't the case here. car is full of all of its fluids. running 100% fine. no weird noises. seems happy except for the light.

the mechanics are closed today for the most part and since i now have to drive to commute i am trying to figure out the best way to deal with this and be responsbile. i did some digging online but didn't really see a good sort of common sense answer around this.

any info / help / perspective is very appreciated.

Comments

[crayonbeam.livejournal.com]

click and clack always say to take off the gas cap, put it back on tight, and that might help, tho some cars have lights that once they are on, need a mechanic's code to turn off

[amarama.livejournal.com]

Yeah, bring it in to your dude and have him check the gas cap and the electrical system before worrying too badly--wiring usually goes without warning way before an engine will. Could also be a hose or something relatively minor. It's worth it to let your dude know that you want to spend your labor $ on ruling out these things before you dive into potential engine problems. Good luck!

[gordonzola.livejournal.com]

on newer cars it isn't a panic situation. It just means a regular service is due. Usually. I know what you mean though. I always view it as "car will self-destruct in 5 minutes" even though I now know better.

[odelenu.livejournal.com]

I was in a panic for a long time too. The light comes on when you are nearing a certain number of miles. Usually 50k, 75k and 100k. The light will come on for no reason. Also, the light will come on for something real too. So unless you know your car, it is best to get it checked out. Fwiw, I've been driving my truck with the engine light for a year.

[beckastar.livejournal.com]

my check engine light is broken, and is always lit. it just happened one day.

(it drives me nuts, but would be about a five hundred dollar repair)

[the-moonshiner.livejournal.com]

Some late-model cars do that automatically when they approach regular service milestones. If it's coming up on 50k there's a good chance it's nothing.

[sfgabe.livejournal.com]

agreed, for new cars it usually isn't a big deal. the pain is that you usually have to have a mechanic hook it up to the magical code machine to see if it is a big deal.

if it really bugs you and you can't do anything about it, usually you can disconnect the battery for 15 minutes, reconnect and it will reset the computer, and the light will go off.

[sult.livejournal.com]

i drove a car with teh engine light on for about a year, then only checked it when i sold it...it was signaling me about the seat not being able to adjust. easy fix.

now i'm paranoid and always bring them in though...gone are the days of when a car breaks down on a freeway and i go, ah, fuck it, and walk to the nearest cafe or bar.

[huskypapi.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it can mean a dirty air filter- which will throw off your fuel air mixture. This is usually really easy and much cheaper to change yourself- you have to get your mechanic to reset your sensor though.