what could be the cause of an intermitent check engine alarm?

Question

my vehicle is a subaru impreza saloon with 1600 c.c. engine capacity

Answer 1

Check engine light has to do with emissions. Check the gas cap first to see if it is on properly. If the car is running fine with no change in fuel economy you should be okay. If the light is flashing get it to a shop ASAP. But if it is coming o then going off after a few minutes it should be scanned, it may be a loose or bad sensor.

Answer 2

I own a shop, and what I would do is; check everything that is obvious such as coolant tank being empty. The gas cap being loose, or leaking can cause this. Some vehicles even have an alarm go off when the windshield washer gets low. Check the engine oil level, and the transmission/trans-axle levels. Some vehicles has an alarm that goes off when your fuel tank gets down too low. If you don't find anything by just looking, then have the computer codes pulled to see what is going on. The codes will tell you for sure where to look. They might not tell you the exact component, but they do tell you the exact circuits to begin looking.
Part 2:
What some people don't realize is; the tank that holds coolant for the radiator has a sensor inside it that will set off a light when it gets low, and yes this does have something to do with the computer/check engine light. A loose or leaking gas cap can set off a check engine light with the evaporator system. Many people don't know this either.
Glad to help out, Good Luck!!!

Answer 3

Could be anything. Literally anything.

Do you have an Autozone where you live? They will do a free check engine light diagnostic to help you narrow it down.

Bear in mind that they can't exactly pinpoint the problem, but they can give you an idea of what to inspect and repair.

Hope this helps, and good luck!