Meeocky

I have a stock 2004 WRX and last night the Check Engine light came on when I started my car. I checked under the hood and I see nothing wrong, or any fluids low. The service departments at the few Subaru dealerships in Louisiana are closed on the weekend. I'm afraid of driving it this weekend and messing something up, but it drives fine. Any idea what could it be? Thanks.

MO REX

iTrader: (2)

If it happend after refueling you may have not put the gas cap on tight enough. If that is the case it should go off after awhile.

Meeocky

ok, nevermind. I think I have bad gas in the tank because yesterday when I was passing someone up, it kinda sputterd. I'm thinking something just detonated the light. So I disconnected the battery for like 3 minutes and reconnected it and the light went off. WHEW! I thought something was wrong for a second.

Wrxneffect

iTrader: (7)

you could also try going to an Auto Zone, don't know if they have those out in Louisianna, and get the code pulled so you know why the CEL came on.


Jason

RussB

iTrader: (2)

something IS wrong, that's why the light came on. bad gas can do bad things to your car. get the code checked and figure out what the problem is. odds are, it will come back on soon if you don't.

MO REX

iTrader: (2)

Im not saying what you said is wrong, but could you please explain how you know something is wrong. My cel came on after I filled it with fuel and after a little driveing it went out and has been off for over 25k. If the sputter is the reason you think something is wrong, couldnt it be the ecu going into limp mode because of the cel. Like I said Im not saying your wrong (Im sure your right) I would just like to understand since I dont know much about how the ecu works.

Thanks.

Mulder

There are over a hundred different things that can set trouble codes and turn on the CEL. All you know when the light goes on is that one of them has been detected. There is no way to determine for certain what the cause is other than doing a scan and reading the code. Even if you think you know what it is (loose gas cap etc) it is always best to get the code read to be sure. Doing a reset by disconnecting the battery is not a good idea, all this does is erase the code without correcting the problem. Chances are that unless it was a transitory condition such as the gas cap, the light will come back on anyway.

BrianH

post in your reginal forum over on nasioc and see if someone local can come and pull the code for you with an obd2 scanner.

RussB

iTrader: (2)

i hear what you're saying. i have no idea that something bad is wrong, or even anything at all is wrong. what i'm saying is that the computer thinks something is wrong, and it should get checked out. turning off lights is just a bandaid, it needs to be diagnosed and fixed so it won't come back.

Littleboyblue

Whether something is wrong or not, it cant hurt to have it looked at. Its under warranty!

namakemono

iTrader: (3)

if you are completely stock then it definately won't hurt to get it checked out by the dealership when you can.

i had my CEL come on after filling up a gas station, and thought it was just the gas cap. When i took my car in, i found out that there was a fracture in my spark plug. It came on again later that week and i had to get my ECU replaced. My car is probably the only one in a million, but sh*t happens.

Meeocky

It's been a week since I reset the ECU and the light hasn't came back on since. I guess it was just a fluke. Some random thing made it go off that one time.

RoadSpike

If you had water in your gas you can either buy water remover, or even more cheaply a bottle of rubbing alcohol and pour a good portion of it into a full tank of gas.