check engine light

[kkferlito]

just had my 2002 hd smog checked. check engine light came on after about 20 miles. suggestions?

[CGAZ Paul]

The Check Engine light can come on very easily I have discovered. Once on, it has to be reset and will not clear itself. There may be something that wasn't hooked up or connected from that Smog Test. My Check Engine light has come on three different times so far. A bit annoying but nice to get the heads up.


The first time was because the electric fan circuit for the radiator cooling was not working properly. The second event was due to a cracked charcoal cannister for the fuel system. The driver seat and floor had to be opened for that fix and the cannister was only available from Germany but all was fixed in a few days. The third event just weeks ago was claimed to have been the gas cap perhaps not screwed on properly or tight enough? I hope that was it. I hate when that light comes on but I am not one of these people that will leave it that way. You never know what could be wrong.


I also had the Selector Lever indicator system go out on me. When I moved the shift lever, the display on the dash remained in D (drive) regardless of the lever position. Because of this the computer did not want to let me start the rig. If you try enough times, it overrides the system and lets you drive to service. This malfunction also disables the Cruise Control feature. Got it all fixed; happy camper!

[bbaskett]

Take it to Autozone, they check your codes for free and tell you what is indicated i.e. 0xygen Sensor, Mass Air Sensor, Vacuum leak etc..

[RoadRebecca]

kkferlito said:just had my 2002 hd smog checked. check engine light came on after about 20 miles. suggestions?

We had our Check Engine light come on, too.


Good news: In all 50 states EXCEPT CALIFORNIA you can take it to Auto Zone (or Pep Boys, etc.) and they will do a free diagnostic for you. Bad news: if you're in California like we were when this happened, you need a special On Board Diagnostics (OBD2) tool. It cost $45. On our 1997 Rialta, the OBD2 port is behind a small black plastic panel with the engine icon on it, located immediately to the right of the steering wheel on the dash. Just pull that little plastic cover off and the connector port is right there. Your OBD2 plugs into it, and follow the directions that came with your tool, and it will read and display the error codes.


We had two codes come up; one was for an O2 sensor (which cost us $450 and a day in the shop) and the other was an emissions issue. After we replaced the O2 sensor, we immediately got much better gas mileage, because the O2 sensor controls the mix of oxygen in your fuel line. Prior to replacing the sensor, we were getting 12 mpg; afterwards, we were averaging 16 (driving through mountains and the midwest at an avg speed of 75 mph.)


Overall, I'm glad I bought the OBD2 sensor. Since we have a 1997 Rialta, we expect things to go wrong, and with the help of forums like these, you can diagnose and sometimes even fix these problems yourself.

[mloganusda]

The best tool you can get is to purchase a Scan Gauge 2 that plugs into you OBD post and gives you readouts of how your engine is performing. It also will read codes for your check engine light and also you can clear them.

[xiled sailor]

Mine has been on 3 times now. First it was a bunch of vacuum leak, then it was the mass air flow sensor and now it is evap control problem.