what does it mean when your service engine light comes on?

Question

1998 ford escort. 150k miles before the light came on the car would jerk and lose power the other day it had a puddering feel. now the light came on then it flashed then it went back to solid i know it is not good but wanted to ask what it might be

Answer 1

Means it is time to get urself another POS.

Answer 2

Service lights come on either after manufacturer pre set period of time or mileage . Its a reminder of routine service as set by the manufacturer . If you have engine problems the engine will go into limp mode and the emc engine management light will come on. Depends on the car but you can usually get service light reset tools on ebay

Answer 3

Flashing something in the emissions system is really messed up enough to destroy your cat converter or other expensive parts. Solid light means something is still wrong get it by an auto parts store who will read the code for you hopefully you only will need tune up parts. Driving with a flashing engine light may cause real damage.

Answer 4

Could be a number of things. Most local auto parts stores like Auto Zone will hook up a scanner and read the code for free. This is the best place to start. Most fault codes that cause a check engine light are sensors.

Answer 5

Need a scanner to read codes to see which cylinder,when light flashes,means misfiring,check all the basics around the interpretation of the codes before throwing parts at it.Most likely spark plug cables or plug itself.

Answer 6

means something is amiss and car needs to visit the car dr. Ignore it and you can have major issues. Could be anything really.

Answer 7

it means bring it to a dealer / mechanic and get it checked out then when they fix it they will turn the light off

Answer 8

it means u need to take it to a mechanic asap