Check Engine Light

[red92s]

Originally Posted by am_vanquish

Red, thanks for the advice. You seem to know what you're talking about & you've got a great way of communicating it. I will disconnect the battery tonight to reset the light. Hopefully it was a loose gas cap & the light won't come back on. If it does, I'll replace the gas cap (I found out they're only10 bucks) & reset it again.

If that still doesn't fix it, I'll give up and pay the $80-$90 to have a "professional" take a look at it. red92s, if you're available, I'll have you take a look at it ... I trust you. Surely you live in close proximity to the metro atlanta area, right???

Ha. Actually, I was raised in metro atlanta, went to high school there, went to college there . . .then moved to New England after graduation in 2007. Sorry.

I am not even close to being a mechanic. I've just a very analytical person (engineer, naturally) and have grown up working on cars.

How does someone with a title like "AM Vanquish" know so little about cars?

Now that I know you are in GA: You WILL fail the GA state inspection. If your car is throwing any emissions-related check engine lights, you will fail. They are plugging in and checking the codes just like you. This is also why it's important to clear the codes, even if you find and fix the problem!

[red92s]

Originally Posted by maat55

You may have to have auto-zone clear the code. Sometime fixing the problem does not clear the code. It could be fixed, but needing the code clear electronically.

Disconnecting the battery will usually accomplish the same thing. When you remove power, the ECM memory is lost. Typically you can just pull out a certain fuse that will do this also, and maybe not kill your radio presets in the process. On my Honda it was on the same circuit as the radio anyways, so there was no way around it.

NOTE: you only need to disconnect the NEGATIVE (black) batter terminal, not both. Disconnecting one has the same affect as disconnecting both!

[am_vanquish]

Originally Posted by red92s

How does someone with a title like "AM Vanquish" know so little about cars?

Haha ... you busted me. Most people can't make the leap from AM to Aston Martin, so I usually get away with being ignorant. I've got an appreciation for the appearance of nice, expensive cars. How their engineered & how they operate is a different issue altogether ... no clue.

Originally Posted by red92s

Now that I know you are in GA: You WILL fail the GA state inspection. If your car is throwing any emissions-related check engine lights, you will fail. They are plugging in and checking the codes just like you. This is also why it's important to clear the codes, even if you find and fix the problem!

Ironically, I just had my inspection about 5 weeks ago, so this won't be an issue in the immediate future. That said, I have every intention of resolving this issue (I'm hoping this car will last me another couple years). I'm really just trying to make sure that I don't get ripped off along the way by someone capitalizing on my ignorance. Thanks to you guys, that shouldn't happen!