my check engine light is on what should i do?

Question

i have a '97 honda civic Ex and my check engine light is on,i have clean oil in my car and anti freeze,but its still on should i take it to a mechanic and have it checked out or what.
and some times when i accelerate on the gas the light dims a little bit and when i take my foot of the gas pedal it brightins up again, any suggestions

Answer 1

Could be a faulty sensor or a short. My car is in top shape but the check engine light always comes on after I drive a few miles. It could be something more, so you may want to take it to a mechanic you trust (cause they may try to scam ya if it is just a faulty sensor).

Answer 2

Dependent upon your milage, it may simply need to be reset. A licensed Honda mechanic has to do this. Take it to your local Honda dealer.
Or a really cheap answer, take it to any auto parts store that will check your system sensor read out for you for free. AutoZone will do this for you, but all they can do is tell you the engine codes that the relay is pertaining to.
If you have a Maintainence CD that comes with your car or that you can purchase for your car, you can look up what those codes mean and then take it to your mechanic.
Having a dealer do it and diagnos it will cost you around $100.

Answer 3

Nothing to do with fluids. Flashing manner you're misfiring and that is anything that can be critical. A experiment of the code at this factor will simply inform you what cylinder is misfiring and I wager there may be multiple. Did you place cut down grade gasoline? That and the warmness might reason this. It might even be a nasty gasoline clear out, unhealthy spark plugs or unhealthy injectors. Happens plenty as the elements begins to get scorching out. I could move have the vehicle looked at due to the fact there are lots of viable explanations and it might get steeply-priced changing ingredients that would possibly not repair the drawback. You could get fortunate however it is first-rate to have it sorted and quit riding if it maintains as misfiring can harm the engine without problems.

Answer 4

The best thing to do is to take it to a mechanic and have it checked out, it may cost you only a few dollars to repair the problem, verses having to get another engine. Some places may even check the car free of charge!!

Answer 5

First take off your gas cap and wipe the inside of cap and filler neck(its free and a loose gas cap can trigger your check engine light).I have charged many people $90.00 to tell them their gas cap is loose-lol!you mentioned clean oil and coolant-these items if monitored are done so seperate of the check eng lite.more and more auto parts chains are scanning codes for free in hopes of selling you the bad sensors they may find.This is a good source of info-just remember its not the wand its the magician and things are worth what you pay for them-by this i mean the auto parts counter person is NOT a trained tech and he or she gets paid the same to stand inside as they do to go outside and hook the scan tool up to some jokers car that is looking for free advice-cavet emptor-if that is spelled wrong give me a break i'm just a mechinac

Answer 6

Have the mechanic check bulb it may be loose or not grounded properly. or check fan belt it to may need to be tightened or your generator might be loose causing the fan belt to shift or loosen when you accelerate the gas pedal.
These are things you can do your self.
These mechanic's make & take enough from us.
If you still have the original book that came with your car.. check it out. The answers are all in there.

Answer 7

its probably a screwed up computer glinch. i put a new engine in 90 silverado and that light has come on ever since. i took it to a dealership and has it dynotuned but they said there was nothing wrong.dont waste your money. just check engine oil transmission fluid those are the 2 that would cause that engine light to come on.check other fluids as well but i would keep 100 bucks and just deal with it myself if you know what i mean.with the light brightening and dimming it may be your alternator or the belt

Answer 8

Yes, it means that the engine management computer has detected a fault and logged a code. If it comes and goes with no other symptom it most likely is the O2 sensor out of range because the fuel mixture is temporarily incorrect. You need to have a diagnostic performed to access the fault codes. Jules, automotive lecturer. Australia.

Answer 9

If the car seems to be running fine just ignore it. Its probably emissions control related. Those things are programmed to come on at certain intervals so you can take it to the shop and spend some money on it. I once drove a truck about 40,000 miles with the check engine light on.

Answer 10

Take it to a mechanic. But first, make sure the gas cap is secure. My light came on because I hadn't tightened the gas cap properly.