So I went out today, super nice day and I was bored. I was doing a little bit of spirited driving, nothing to crazy, go get gas, pretty normal drive actually. I get onto the highway to head back home, notice my SES light is on. I remember reading that as soon as you see that check and make sure everything is normal, and if not pull over. So i check my oil, battery, rpm is fine, shifts fine, accels fine, everything was good. Not sure what the problem is here. Any ideas?

I DID try searching but I couldn't find any topics that discussed the possible things to check. Thanks.

 

how are we supposed to guess hombre? we can't see it.

go to your local auto parts store and get a free code-scan and let us know what the code is. it will take a matter of minutes

 

Well basically the tl;dr is any common things to look at before I pay someone to look at what I already could have?

 

Make sure your gas cap is tight. The only way to know for sure is to pull the code from the ECU, it will tell you the reason why the SES light is on. Otherwise you're really just guessing.

 

did you miss the part where I mentioned having an auto part store hook up their code scanner is free? not sure about in Canada, but I don't see why not.. takes just a minute or two..

and yes you'd be surprised how many people don't tighten down their gas caps a few clicks and then get a check engine light. you could always disconnect your battery and see if it comes back on .. but its not wise if you don't know what you f'ed up on.

 

I shall check my gas cap now...

 

If you stop to get gas and the light comes on after that, one of two things. 1) gas cap not tight. 2) really bad gas and the engine is running like crap, mis-firing, pinging, etc.

 

Hm well I just went and undid the gas cap, made sure it clicked about 10 times, light still on. I got some gas from Petro - Canada (canadian, go figure, probably never heard of it) and put in 94. Don't think that its crappy gas but what do I know lol.

EDIT: And if it was mis-firing it would be running like doo-doo correct?

 

Yes, if you had bad gas, you could tell that by the way it was running.

Unfortunately, tightening the cap will not make the light go back out immediately. you either have to reset the ECU to clear the light or drive it around for a few days until you complete a "drive cycle". If you drive it around and the ECU doesn't see the problem anymore, then it will clear the light automatically.

 

Ok so as long as everything is running good, nothing abnormal happens I should be good to go? My last fills have been with 91, and it might sound stupid but it feels better with the 94.

Should I disconnect my battery and see if that does anything?

 

You can disconnect the battery then step on the brake or leave it disconnected overnight to reset the ECU. Obviously, if you start driving it and the light comes back on, then you've got a real problem.

 

Maybe i'll just let the gas run through... And if anything pops up thats how i'll find out somethings wrong...

I went for a drive tonight and everything was good though...

 

got a ses light on after my shop installed my stage 2 clutch.they gave me the car back with a (intake camshaft)code. should i fix this ASAP and is it safe to drive it?

 

+1. Reset your ECU and run the car for the ECU to re-run all of its monitors. If the light stays off, it was just the gas cap .

 

Buy an OBD II scanner OP. Ebay for like 10$ hook up to your laptop so you can pull codes without hastle.

Or... you can pay 200$ at canadian tire for one.

Either way, peace of mind.

 

Jesus dude it takes 45 seconds to use a 10mm wrench to untighten your negative battery terminal, pop it off, and put it back on and tighten it. Do it now instead of putting it off saying "Oh, I'll do this first and then..." everytime. It's an idiot-proof process. It'll probably fix your problem now instead of later.

 

Well I took off the neg cable, pressed brake and everything, re connected it, and sure enough, light still on. I also smelled, like, gas when I started it...

 

If you disconnected the battery correctly the light will turn off. Leave it disconnected overnight / for a few hours. Also, how strong a smell? From the vents? Try my method honestly and then tell us the code.

 

It was just a quick smell, haven't smelt it since, but it was strong enough to make me go . I Took of the neg cable and pressed down on the break, and the car did nothing afterwards, all lights stayed off. I only had it off around 5 minutes though.

My friend has an OBD2 scanner, i'm getting him to let me borrow it tomorrow, but will it read the SES light? I thought they only worked for CE lights.

EDIT: Also, I am starting to think its my front pads. They have starting squeaking lately, but seeing as I got it from the dealership ~3 weeks ago, I didn't think this would be it. After reading through some topics it is pointing me down that road.

 

If it doesn't come again I probably wouldn't worry about it (regarding the smell). It will read the SES code, depending on his model, it may even give you the diagnostic... for instance I throw a P0430 every couple weeks (catalyic threshold on O2 sensor bank below efficiency) because of my HFC, I have the one that hook up to my laptop so I just plug her in, confirm it's that code and then clear it (reset ecu).

Squeaking probably means nothing but an accumulation of dust, happens to me everyone once and a while and everyone pretty much, pop off the wheel though and get a micrometer check your rotors and your pads to make sure they have plenty of life left, shouldn't be an issue if you just bought the car from a dealership though.

I doubt it's your pads/rotors though, you'd be hearing a grinding if it was anything serious.

But make sure you record the code before you clear it and post it here.