Don’t Ignore Your Car’s Check Engine Light

It will cost you more in the long run.

You’re driving along and it happens, your check engine light goes on. But nothing seems to have changed with the way your car is running. It’s OK to let it go for a bit, right? Bad idea. The light is an indicator that there’s something wrong with your vehicle. It could mean anything from a loose gas cap to major engine problems.

“A check engine light cannot be ignored,” says Brayan Salazar, an auto repair expert with Bridgewater Motroworks.  “The system is telling you that something has failed and will cause damage to your vehicle that will be costly to repair if ignored. ”

Ignoring your check engine light could result in immediate car problems or deterioration over time. These codes are annoying, but they can be serious enough to leave you on the side of the road.  

What causes a  check engine light to go on ?

You may not be seeing any immediate issues with your car, because your car’s computer systems may have the ability to override the cause, Salazar says. “ But it’s not running as well as it should be. Over time and distance, this problem can become a much bigger problem and affect other sensors and systems,” 

Continuing to ignore an activated check engine light  can also hide other issues, he notes. Because one light indicates so many different possible failures, other items can fail and be hidden behind the first failure. That can become an issue when the vehicle is looked at to fix the problem.The mechanic may get a list of codes telling them what systems or sensors have an issue, Salazar says. There’s a specific order of diagnosis, because one sensor or system failure can cause another to system to fail. “The tech needs to fix one item first, then diagnose the vehicle to see if the other issues were fixed,” he says. To avoid that and keep your vehicle in the best shape possible. 

So why did your check engine light go on in the first place? Here are some common reasons::

1. Lost or missing gas cap
2. Bad oxygen sensor
3. Emission problems
4. Engine problems

What you need to do when a check engine light comes on 

The best thing to do is to get your car looked at by a reputable mechanic. We do do not recommend stopping by your parts store and getting a free code scan. They commonly use a very cheap and simple scan tool that can only scan for simple codes and will give you a false sense of satisfaction. What ever you do ! Do not clear the codes. This can make it more expensive to get the car repaired properly. This in the long run can cost you much, much more to get the problem fixed correctly. We see this all the time.  There is a reason that professional code scanners are very expensive and hand scanners are so cheap. I hope this gives you and idea about check engine lights. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call us at Bridgewater Motorworks at 908.218.9100 or bwmotorworks.com