and secondly do you think this usually means something is actually wrong, or is it more of a ploy to get people to take their car in to get fixed? i have a 2001 vw jetta.
2006-06-19 06:57:54 · 9 answers · asked by moi 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Unless you know the code for your radio do not unhook your battery or you will be taking a trip to the VW dealership and spending money to diagnose the problem plus resetting your radio. Either check with Autozone or similar for a basic diagnosis. Call first to assure they have the right connector for your car. It is usually O2 sensors or fuel management system.
2006-06-19 07:13:22 · answer #1 · answered by Max B 3 · 2⤊ 3⤋
First of all, you can turn the light off yourself, in a roundabout sort of way. What you need to do is disconnect the battery cables, and leave them disconnected for 15-30 minutes. When you reconnect the cables and restart the car, the check engine light will be off. (Make sure that you reattach them to the correct poles!)
If there is something wrong with your car, the light will come back on. If may be something as simple as the gas cap not being on correctly. That causes a problem with the vent, and the light comes on as a result.
To find out what is wrong with your car, you could take it to an Autozone store, and ask them to attach the code reader to your car so that you can find out what the problem is. It's just a little handheld device that translates the code into english. They'll give you a print out of the results. They do this for free, by the way.
Good luck, and I hope it's nothing expensive!
2006-06-19 07:07:48 · answer #2 · answered by Mama Pastafarian 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any one with an OBD-II diagnostic device can. (service centers, autozone)
Most people remove the terminal from the battery to take out the check engine light but that is not solving the problem, my best advice to you would be to go to a trusted mechanic and have him read the codes with the OBD-II, that's the only way you will find out if its a serious problem or not.
When the check engine lights comes on it could mean a whole lot of different scenarios, most of the time it could just be a hicop one your sensors experienced.
You could also check to make sure every thing visually looks good under the hood, check to make sure the oil cap is on tight, the air filter housing is lock properly.
Good luck
2006-06-19 09:20:15 · answer #3 · answered by Dario 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes you can. Disconnect the battery cables from the battery and leave them off for about an hour. That should reboot the computer inside your car therefore turning off the check engine light, If the light comes back on after a couple of hours something has got to be wrong with the car/truck.
2006-06-19 07:03:41 · answer #4 · answered by sk8rx 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anyone can provided they have a code reader. With it you can clear the code/check engine light. However, the onboard computer has detected an error/inconsistency in the vehicle's operation. It should be checked out. I bought myself a code reader so that I can go to the mechanic armed with knowledge.
All my cars (7) are VW's which I fix myself. When I bought a '99 Eurovan I knew that due to the computer, I could not fix everything myself.
2006-06-19 07:18:15 · answer #5 · answered by zimmers5 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The check engine light is not a ploy. It is telling you that it needs something. Bite the bullet and take it to the VW dealer and see what's up before you seize up the engine.
2006-06-19 07:14:04 · answer #6 · answered by Waferette 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes there are repairs that can do it for you. but your car uses sender units and sensors in the engine if the light come on there is something wrong with the engine. or the censer is faulty... witch is more likely the case. common failure censer's pack up.. or the ecu it not reading correctly have it checked ASAP it will save you a load of dosh mola cash .on some ecu (electronic computer units) if there is no power the ecu will not reboot and it will be un repairable so see a reputable garage. to fix the cheep way is fixing the expensive way down the road
2006-06-19 07:05:42 · answer #7 · answered by SAMASTER 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you have an auto zone or an advance auto parts store in your area they will do a free analysis of the check engine light and tell you what is wrong....Usually it is just spark plugs or something and you can get it right there and get them to put them in and the engine light will go off....don't go to the dealer and spend 40-60 dollars..that is a rip off-- good luck
2006-06-19 07:02:27 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Find a good mechanic they can reset it
2006-06-19 07:06:38 · answer #9 · answered by AngelBaby 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋