Today I went to my RV storage place and was going to bring my rig over to my house to load it before going to Albuquerque/Santa Fe for a week on Wednesday.
I pulled out of my space, hooked up my tow car, and started the RV.
CHECK ENGINE SOON
Dang, what the heck does THAT mean? I pulled out the manual and it said if the light stays on, it's safe to drive but should be checked ASAP. I'm meeting some friends that live there and are flying in from Houston and I was going to host dinner on Friday. My 1998 rig has about 78,000 miles on it now.
The weather is going to be just over 100 degrees here in Las Cruces, and it just didn't seem smart to drive a 500 + round trip if something were to happen. I did look on the Internet and it said that a code reader (like at AutoZone) can be hooked up to find the specific problem.
At any rate I booked a hotel and am driving my car to meet my friends, and will call Bogart RV here in Las Cruces to make an appointment for that and an oil change, etc...
Has anyone had this before on their rig, and was it something really serious? Seriously bummed! :-(
Someone with an OBD scanner can plug it in under the steering wheel and 'pull a code'. The code should point in the direction of the problem for an experienced tech...
Steve
There are many things that can trigger the check engine light. Some inexpensive some very expensive. Don’t panic until you get the code pulled. Even just a loose gas cap can trigger the light. But I would get the code ASAP to see what’s going on.
A lot of auto supply stores will either loan you the scanner, or do it for you.
This is from O’Reilly Auto Parts.
Once you know the code, Google it.
Check Engine Light Testing - Free
A check engine light is often the first warning of a potential problem. O'Reilly Auto Parts offers free check engine light testing to help you diagnose the problem. Most of our stores can loan you a code reader for OBD 1&2 systems for vehicles from 1996 and up, except in areas where it is prohibited by law. Also, our stores now offer "Trouble Code Support," and they can provide you a print out to identify your code. Further diagnostic or repair service is not offered. For more details on the loaner code reader and Trouble Code Support, please call your local O'Reilly Auto Parts store.
A lot of auto supply stores will either loan you the scanner, or do it for you.
This is from O’Reilly Auto Parts.
Once you know the code, Google it.
Check Engine Light Testing - Free
A check engine light is often the first warning of a potential problem. O'Reilly Auto Parts offers free check engine light testing to help you diagnose the problem. Most of our stores can loan you a code reader for OBD 1&2 systems for vehicles from 1996 and up, except in areas where it is prohibited by law. Also, our stores now offer "Trouble Code Support," and they can provide you a print out to identify your code. Further diagnostic or repair service is not offered. For more details on the loaner code reader and Trouble Code Support, please call your local O'Reilly Auto Parts store.
Had this done in Denver during return from 2016 Ladeze in Idaho, because I was looking at the 500+ mile trip across Kansas back to Missouri. I can't remember the code, but they gave me a printout & it was the same thing that had happened at Rawlins, WY, on the way to Idaho that a mechanic had just "re-set" & sent me on with no problems...so I headed back to Missouri. O'Reilly's can't re-set the codes, so it was a white-knuckled trip back to my own mechanic...something about the changes in altitude (though this had not occurred going/returning from Ladeze 2015 in Moab which had entailed up & over the Divide on I-70 twice).
I love the LD, & it's good for the gray matter to have stimulating experiences to keep building new neural connections, but I'm not so keen on the anxiety some of these learning experiences generate :P ...thought I left that behind with algebra & graduate statistics.
Hope you had a good time with your friends, Cheryl, in spite of the defugilty.
Lynne
Just an update...
My RV is getting an oil change and a "going over" at Bogart RV here in Las Cruces, NM. The code that caused the engine light was p0115. P0115 Engine Coolant Temperature Circuit Malfunction (http://www.obd-codes.com/p0115)
My RV isn't ready yet, but they're replacing the sensor and testing the system after the installation.
Just an update...
My RV isn't ready yet, but they're replacing the sensor and testing the system after the installation.
Thank you for the update and in a short while, your rolling home will be ready to hit the road once again. Now, if only my body could be fixed so easily as I have a growing list of broken parts!
P.S. It's such a nice treat when folks post the results of their particular LD issue.
Cheryl--
Glad to hear it's not something awful like Larry's Moro Bay thread.
Ed said, "Now, if only my body could be fixed so easily as I have a growing list of broken parts!"
Indeed--Now I understand why the Tin Man needed an oil can. :P PE was useless in HS--nobody plays half-court basketball anymore, & the only time I ever used crab soccer was when I had to spread a tarp on the roof until the repair guy could come fix the tree branch hole (managed to heave myself over the gutter, but too scared to stand up once I was on the roof, hence the crab soccer movements--if it had been daylight the neighbors would have had quite the laugh...when it came time to get down I felt like a cat up a tree; fortunately a neighbor came out into his driveway/heard my call/came to steady the ladder as I heaved myself back over the gutter :P ).
Glad I discovered a Yoga for Every Body class a few years ago (thankfully I always manage to find a spot on the back row, so there's no one to observe me doing Down Dog ::) ), & our health department started Tai Chi for Arthritis & Fall Prevention last yea ...& Celbrex before I crawl out of bed is my oil can.
Lynne
And now my 1997 has gotten the check engine light too. She's off to my local shop here in Long Beach to get a check up. Is it something in the air?
And now my 1997 has gotten the check engine light too. She's off to my local shop here in Long Beach to get a check up. Is it something in the air?
Humm ... v e r y peculiar indeed! At least one solution to this growing epidemic is to not turn on the engine. From my experience, that works every time. ;)
And now my 1997 has gotten the check engine light too. She's off to my local shop here in Long Beach to get a check up. Is it something in the air?
Gee, I hope not. Actually mine had been in storage for six weeks when it came on when I hooked up my tow car...
Mine suddenly went from 60% to Change Engine Oil Now!
All I did to it was put a new battery in. . . .
In the quest for Artificial Intelligence, we seem to have found Artificial Dull Normal. ::)
We too have been looking at a Check Engine light for several weeks recently on some short trips. I have the UltraGuage installed in my 98MB which should give me the code but I have not read how to set that up yet mostly because I have a friend with a scanner. I will now after reading here on all of the issues the late 90 LDs have been having. Additionally if you have the check engine light on for something simple you know about and something new occurs, you will not know because the light is already on. Also the codes are not always specific as to what is going on which is the case for our situation. We had two codes indicating engine lean due to a vacuum leak and possibly the MAF sensor error. We temporally replaced the MAF with a one from a comparable vehicle and found the vacuum leak but this did not solve the issue. Maybe switching the MAF was wrong idea? Now we get a engine running lean code. I now have just changed the MAF sensor with a new one for about $100. Started the engine and we still have the check engine light on. We will use the scanner tonight to check the code and reset it if necessary. Otherwise the engine sounds like it is running better after 15 minutes test drive, previously at idle the engine's RPMs would hunt and I would have to put it in neutral when stopped to help with this issue. We should take care of the little issues which in themselves don't seem to be much trouble but left unattended can add up to something catastrophic!
Karen~Liam
98 ~ MB
Most OBD II systems require 50 starts and run to clear the codes without an manual reset. The errors are carried in volitle memory until the 50th start, then the error is moved to the non volitle memory and turns on the Check engine light unless the computer has corrected the system and the problem has been eliminated. Non volitile codes must be manually reset to clear.
Once reset they require a "calibration run" and/ or about 50 starts and warm ups to be ready for a smog test, if that is applicable to you. Because of the 50 start rule, it took me 4 months to smog a "P0441?, Small Emission leak" on a car once. OBD I seems to work the same way with less data to solve the problem.
My OBD I rig had a lean code with rich code in the non volitale memory. it had to be cleared manually to make things normalize.
And now my 1997 has gotten the check engine light too. She's off to my local shop here in Long Beach to get a check up. Is it something in the air?
Just an update, my check engine light turned out to be the result of a bad ignition coil, which was causing a misfire (this also explains the rough idle I'd been having). My mechanic told me that if that sort thing is left too long it can damage the catalytic converter so I'm glad I took it in. Might as well replace all the other old coils while they're at it.