The infamous check engine light... Something we all dread but most of us have probably dealt with throughout the years. I have just recently gone through a battle with the CEL in my car coming on an off, something I wished would never happen, but for now the war is over!
How it all started
It all started back in August just before my car was going to hit 82k miles. I was driving to my now College to take care of some paperwork and all of a sudden I look down and BAM! I had an ugly yellow light telling me to service the engine soon.
I quickly pulled over and did a once over to make sure everything was fine. I then continued on my way and when I got home I brought it to Advance Auto Parts and had them scan it for free! The code came back as a faulty o2 sensor so the kind employee suggested I start with a can of Sea-Foam to clean everything out. So I got a can of Sea-Foam and added it to my fuel when I filled up and it worked! After about 100 miles of driving my CEL went off and I was one happy camper!
when it came back
The light was off and the problem seemed to have been fixed until about 4k miles later in November and it came back to haunt me! Knowing it was probably the same issue I got another bottle of Sea-Foam and added it to my fuel. Yay 3 days later the light was off and I was happy once again!
The war wasn't over
Unfortunately that o2 sensor was done and had it with the temporary fixes. Only about a month later at 87k miles the CEL came back on. Just to make sure it was the same issue I had Advance Auto scan my car again and I finally spent the $114 on a new Bosch o2 sensor.
Since this was of course the toughest o2 sensor to replace I enlisted the help of a buddy of mine. We worked for about 2 hours squeezing our hands in the small engine bay to replace the little bugger and eventually took the wheel off to make it easier.
Out with the old
In with the new
The end of the war
Now with the new sensor in place it was just a waiting game. I was driving the car pretty regularly so I figured it wouldn't take long for the CEL to turn off. A whopping 270 miles later I turned the car on and NO MORE LIGHT! The war was over and I could be happy again.
I should probably replace all of my sensors soon but I figured I would start with this one and replace the others in the near future. I hope you guys enjoyed my little story and have a great day!
Ps check out my friends awesome 2003 Nissan Frontier:
Comments (25)
My dads truck is like that... O2 sensor is bad of course the plug wrench started striping out ...so its running with the engine light on
My Engine light came on once when I started the car. It ran rough for a few seconds and then it was completely fine. An hour of highway driving later and a restart and no engine light anymore. No clue what caused the rough start, but I’m positive that that’s the reason why the light came on
Hmm... that is weird but I guess it's just one of those flukes that just happens with no explanation.
I wouldve replaced it right away
You're right I should've but I was being a cheap college student and didn't want to spend the $114 at the same time I was paying for my tuition and books.
I definitely enjoyed the story, and being a perfectionist like you that would've definitely bothered me, but that's why I got a scanner, especially since I can clear codes with it. :blush:
Thanks! Oh yes, people kept asking me why I was bothering with it since I don't have to emissions in South Carolina but the light was just driving me crazy! I should probably buy a scanner soon but for now the use of Advance Auto Parts for free scanning is working just fine.
Reply to: vette1999
Anytime and ya I feel ya on that lol!! Yea you should, is really nice to have, especially when you don't have time to wait on the nearest Auto parts store :sweat_smile:
Haha i've driven 2k miles with mine on lol its an evap leak
I had to do it on my truck because it went into open loop and ran like crap. I stripped the threads out and it all went downhill from there.
Aww man. You've got to be really careful not to strip the threads. Luckily my friend and I were pretty careful in putting it in and taking the old one out so hopefully nothing should have been stripped.