After I got gas yesterday, On Thursday night I noticed the Check Engine Light. Right after I turned the car on the Check Engine light came on but didn't stay lit. It flashed on and off like 7 times and then doesn't stay on. So IDK what that means but it still does it. In less than 30 seconds it stops flashing and never turns on again until the next time I turn the car on. Anyone know what that is?

 

Bring your car somewhere to have the code read or buy a code reader and do it yourself.

Your local Autozone might do this for free.

That's the only way to be sure what's triggering the CEL.

Bob

 

check you gas cap. if you don't tighten it enough it will trigger the engine light.

 

Good Suggestion!

 

Is it the cel or the Maint required light thats flashing?

 

I have a 99...I dont think I have a CEL....Its the Maint Req Light....I just tightened the Gas cap and turned the car on again, Still the same thing..I will go to autozone later.

 

All that light means is it times to get your regular mantiance done. It comes on every so many miles to remind you to get your service done. When the dealer services your car they are supposed to reset it. It has nothing to do with anything wrong it just comes on every so many miles. Its funny you say that becasue today mine started doing it too and I litterally had my car serviced less then 1K miles ago. The dealers just sometimes forget to reset the light is all your TL is fine.

 

Yea I went to autozone......There were no problems but he did say that too about the mantenance he said that too...its getting close too 100,000 its on 96,xxx now so its time to change the plugs. But Thanks anyways guys.

 

just a quick hit, if do get ure maintenance done BY URESELF, and not the dealer. ure gonna have to reset the maint. req. light. check ure manual on how to do it. if u dont that maint. req. light will stay on.

 

The maint required light is supposed to be reset at every oil change. Its programed to go off at 7500 mile intervals. It means nothing as far as you needing to do any thing. Or that any thing is wrong. Its very easy to reset it yourself. Its in your manual

 

push the trip reset and trip and b slelctor at the same time and it should go off.

 

Sorta

As for the Maint required light its in your manual on how to reset it as well.
It means nothing more than its time for a oil change (when properly reset) Its designed to come on full at 7500 miles.
With the car off,Press and hold the Trip and Reset light with 1 hand, while holding them BOTH in turn your key
to the RUN position (not start but run) and continue to hold them in till they turn off. It takes about 10 seconds.
If you turn the key and then press the buttons in you will change the Outside Temp settings

 

i hate to put you in a panic or to blame everything on the tranny lol.... but my car starting doing that about 4 weeks ago and i wasnt sure if it always did that or not i didnt really pay attention to it.... needless to say i have a new tranny as of about 2 or 3 weeks ago.

 

You didnt have a tranny die after your Maint req light started flashing. He had a Maint Required light, Not a cel. No need to make someone worry with bad info

 

Yea dont make me worry, I still havent changed my tranny...at least I dont think it has from the previous owner.....I do remember the check engine light going on at the 7500 mile interval a while back when I first got the car but it didnt flash it just stayed lit longer than all the other lights...never remember it flashing and I did reset it a while ago when I actually read the WHOLE owners manual lol.....But yea dont scare me

 

OHh yea and one more thing, you think a noob can change spark plugs? cause Im thinking about getting them and changing them...Im just afraid Imma Over or under-tighten the Plug....Im such a baby

 

no, i did... i do not know if the two problems were related, however on start up my car would flash the "maintenance required" light for a few seconds before turning off... the CEL only turned on after the tranny actually crapped out. like i said not sure if the two problems are related but that is in fact what happened on my car.

 

Dont scare me AC k CL.......How much of a difference did you guys feel when you guys changed your plugs?

 

Well first at 6000 miles the light comes on when you first turn on the car and will just flash. Once it hits 7500 then it will come on 24/7.

 

The tranny dying and the Maint req light had nothing to do with each other. The maint req light is ONLY for reminding you to change your oil every 7500 miles.

 

^^^ ahh ok... didnt know because, i had my oil changed about 3000 miles ago... thanks.. weird though ... it stopped doing it after the tranny was replaced... maybe the dealership reset it?? but yeah see ThreePointTwoTeeEl nothin to worry about! haha.

 

You battery was disconected so that probably reset it. Like i said before its programed for 7500 mile oil change intervals. It will start blinking around 6k when you start the car(what you saw), then at 7500 it will stay lit till its reset

 

thanks for the help... you answer my questions or teach me somethin new in every thread i post in haha... your a friggin TL genius! :-P

 

AHHH ok ok good...But Did you guys feel a difference when you changed your spark plugs?

 

You may if they are old or starting to wear out. I replaced my first ones about 115k and the only things i noticed were a smoother running engine (at idle) and slightly quicker throttle response

 

not to hi jack the thread but could spark plugs be the reason at a stop sometimes my car hesitates and feels like it wants to stall?

 

Possibly, but it could be many other things as well. (any thing fuel related) coil packs. Have you tried running a full system cleaner thru the fuel system?

 

i havent yet... what brand do you reccomend?? ill try it out ... its probably the cheapest thing to attempt.