Engine light check came on in car?

Question

I have a 97 Jazz Jetta. I was driving and the engine check light came on. I have an oil change about a month ago. Can anybody tell me what could be wrong or what i should do?

Answer 1

I had my 97 Jetta light come on at 47,000 miles. It stayed on until I sold it with 209,000, going out every once in a while. I wouldn't sweat it. It's probably an O2 sensor. If it does not effect it's running, don't spend the money looking for a reason.

Answer 2

If the gas cap suggestion doesn't work...

The Check Engine Light (CEL) is set off by your engine control unit (ECU). This is a computer that is tied in to every electronically controlled system in the car (which essentially means every system in the car). That means the car will detect every operating fault including a busted turn signal bulb (if your model has sensors for it), a bad oxygen sensor, improper fuel mixture, wrong manifold pressure, intermittent misfire, etc. etc. etc.

The CEL does not always turn on when a fault is present. If your car is operating normally with no light present you still may have a diagnostic trouble code (DTC) stored on your ECU. For instance... code 16395 would indicate that your timing is either advanced or retarded beyond preset parameters and could indicate you have a faulty cam adjustment unit or failing cam tensioner. The point is you would NEVER know unless you pulled a code from your ECU using the factory's VAS5150 or an aftermarket code scanner(your Audi/VW service shop... dealership or independent... will have the right hardware to scan your car).

As a rule of thumb, if you have a solid check engine light, take your car in to a shop that can service it as soon as possible. If you have a blinking check engine light, pull over and turn off the car... do not drive it.

Possible problems that might cause a CEL? There are too many to list, and most of them are not simple or cheap to fix. So if you want to ignore the fact that Audi/VW engineers installed a computer in your car to take the guesswork out of finding the problems, that's up to you, but you will spend thousands of dollars fixing problems that don't need to be fixed because you decided to ignore the computer. Service techs use the computer. They don't instantly know what's wrong with your car because they are so infinitely experienced or because they have x-ray vision. They plug your car into a scanner. That's it.

Don't fix the O2 sensor, don't change your gasoline. Take your car into a service shop and scan the ECU. It may actually be an O2 sensor fault or an injector undervolt. It may be a $500 cam adjustment unit. The point is... make sure by knowing what the problem is, not by guessing and working a laundry list of expensive and possibly unnecessary repairs.

Good luck.

Answer 3

It most likely is the oxygen sensor (about 90% of check engine lights are a result of this). The oxygen sensor detects the fuel to air ratio in your car and adjusts the fuel mix accordingly. After time these sensors get caked on with deposits and need to be changed. Usually it is $170-250 replacement job, depending on the car.

It is something that is difficult for the average person to replace, since you need to heat up the area with a blowtorch to unstick the sensor which tends to fuse with the engine due to the high heat of the engine. With the right tools, a mechanic can usually do it in about 20 minutes.

This is a very common problem in older cars, and a lot of people don't fix it, but rather ignore the light indicator. The most common result of not fixing it is lower gas mileage (usually a mile or two a gallon less), and sometimes sluggish performance, since your engine cannot properly fine tune the air-fuel ratio. Whether or not you decide to fix it, I would bring your car to the local car parts store and have them run the test codes to make sure it isn't something more serious.

Answer 4

there are a number of things that could be wrong with your Jetta, but some more information would be helpful.

were you driving along normal and the light came on? did the car hesitate or vibrate or act funny when the light came on? has it come on before? did you just get gas before the light came on?

in your car, when the light comes on, it stores a code in the computer. i would suggest getting the code read, that way you can make a better decision if it's a critical problem with the car, or if you can ignore it. if the car was fine when the light came on, it might be an emissions related component (oxygen sensor maybe). it could be something as simple as the gas cap not screwed on tight enough (computer thinks you have a massive fuel vapor leak). but it could also be a number of other sensors.

it's worth the piece of mind to pay someone to pull the code and advise you of what you should do from there.

good luck!

Answer 5

A verify engine easy can advise something, actually. I certainly have a automobile that it comes on only because of the fact it thinks i % gas at a million/2 a tank. it certainly relies upon on the place the sensors on the vehicle are. it ought to in comparison to your oil point or your something which comprise your brakes. as long as you have had the vehicle totally inspected and tuned up you would be great.

Answer 6

I had this happen on my 99 Jetta Wolfsburg and the problem ended up being that my gas cap was not on tight enough so vapors were escaping instead of staying in the gas tank...check your cap and when you turn it, make it 'click' 3 times and then you know its on tight...

Answer 7

There are so many little things that could cause this.

Is your gas cap tight?
Are you buying cheap gas?
Is you car running pretty good, but you're getting sorry mileage?

Change the gas you buy. I used to buy cheapo walmart gas. My check engine light came on all the time. Now I buy Chevron. No more lights. (It might take you a tank or two...

Answer 8

A mechanic told me that shops make thousands of dollars "fixing" the check engine light when, many times, it's simple to do yourself. According to him, it happens many times after you put in fuel. Do you tighten the cap until it squeaks or just barely "catch" it?

He says, unhook both battery cable, take the gas cap off, wait 10 minutes and re-attach them.

He says if "fixes" the check engine light most of the time.

Answer 9

Hello Kay,

I once had this problem with my Peugeot 206.
Drove it straight to the garage, they said the ignition misfired.
At the end it was the coil that was broken.
But in fact, the problem can be numerous ha.

Answer 10

mine did that right as i hit 36k miles, turned out i had an air leak in my gas line definitely take it to a shop, some places like auto zone sometimes even reads the error messages for free