Is your CHECK ENGINE light on?
The most common check engine light is the old "forgot to tighten the gas cap" signal. Either you did not replace the gas cap after fueling or you did not give it 5 clicks needed to reseal the pressurized fuel system. A small tip I can offer you would be is if your Check Engine light appears, pull over, and check your gas cap before you continue your journey.
The check engine light, often referred to in literature as the MIL for "malfunction indicator
light", comes on when there is something going on with the vehicle that would keep it from passing
an emission test. As a matter of fact, it is actually the computer in your car that does the
emissions test. When you go for your state test the test facility plugs their computer into
ours to confirm that all of the systems that are tested have indeed been tested and that the
computer has not been tampered with.
There are many things that will cause the check engine light
to come on but it doesn't exactly mean that there is something wrong with the engine. For example,
running the engine low on oil does not turn the check engine light on until the low oil level causes
some other malfunction such as a valve timing solenoid (that is operated by oil pressure) to
malfunction. Letting the engine oil level get this low is very bad for the engine and is either an
indication that it has been too long between oil changes or there is an issue, such as a leak, causing the engine to use oil. Some more examples that
turn the check engine light could be one of many reasons: the light appearing could be as simple as a temperature sending unit, an electric fan switch, or the more costly codes for the catalytic converter. The bottom line is that in these situations, although it
is usually okay to drive the car, the check engine light should not be ignored and we suggest you set up a time to come in as soon as possible. If the check engine light is
flashing it means that one or more of the engine's cylinders are
misfiring. It should be obvious to the operator that something is wrong with the car and when
this is happening the car should not be driven any further than necessary or damage to the catalytic
converter will occur. Intermittent misfire codes can be one of the most difficult diagnostic challenges
to solve. The first lesson in auto-engine 101 is that an engine needs properly synchronized fuel,
spark and compression to run. The misfire occurs when one or more of these three things doesn't
happen when it is supposed to.
When the check engine light does come on the cruise control light will blink indicating that the cruise control has been disabled and the vehicle's dynamic stability control light will come on indicating that it also has been disabled.
There is no reason to panic just call the Exeter Subaru Service Department and we will work you right into our schedule.
603-778-0300
