safe to ignore my CEL for now?

[nealric]

My p5 is at 73k miles.

I have intake/headers/exhaust which have been on for 20k miles now.

Driving home from work on the freeway my CEL came on (pissed)
Car is running fine- no noticeble difference.

The only thing I have done to it recently is change the oil + filter 1000 miles ago (but only 4 days)

Already checked the oil level and the gas cap.

Problem is that it is 15 degrees out right now and the parking lot is completely covered in snow- and there is no prospect for it warming any time soon- more snow this weekend.

Is it safe to just drive on it for another week or two or could I be seriously messing things up?

[Speed_Racer]

at one point I almost took the dash apart just take the bulb out of the cel.

My cel came on after 4 months of having the car and stayed on for at least 2 years.

So unless the light is flashing, I honestly believe you'll be alright for a few days.

[Peter5]

at one point I almost took the dash apart just take the bulb out of the cel.

My cel came on after 4 months of having the car and stayed on for at least 2 years.

So unless the light is flashing, I honestly believe you'll be alright for a few days.
carefull some time on some cars (i know fords truck for sure ) when u remove the light it may start beeping
yeah and aslong as the cel is not flashing its not a that big of a probleme ... its not major .... only like a evap leak or o2 fault

[Speed_Racer]

oh, i wasn't really serious. just over emphasizing a point.

[Mr. Win]

Our cars do not beep. Several of the early turbo guys took the light out but I highly advise against that.

What you need to do is head over to Autozone or something and have the code read. Once you have the code the severity of the problem can determine if you should be driving.

[RatLabGuy]

^^ X2 on above.
Hit an Advance Auto, AutoZone, mayeb even NAPA. They have the OBDII readerss, will plug it in and read the code for free. Once you know the code, then go from there. Maybe even post back here and be sure.
I personally would not advise letting it go too long w/o checking first.
The general rule of thumb is:
Orange lights - NOTICE, there's a problem. Check it out when you get a chance.
Red lights - WARNING, something serious is wrong, better pull over ASAP and addres it immediately.

[Peter5]

or what u need is to be a mecanic and have acces to all of those scan tools :) and all the rest :)

[Mr. Win]

or what u need is to be a mecanic and have acces to all of those scan tools :) and all the rest :)

Perhaps even an English class.

[Peter5]

Perhaps even an English class.
im french and im trying the best i can ... as long as u can understand ...

[Mr. Win]

French? Ah the irony is that much sweeter.

[Peter5]

meh i dont get it ... ill just smile and nod(yes) (canada)

[nealric]

Sounds like the EVAP code


What does that entail?

[orng1]

Why don't you guys that have a CEL on get a scanner? You can get one new for around $80 bucks, reads codes and reset them if it's an O2 or evap code.

[mzdalvr]

What does that entail?

EVAP is for emissions, the usual cause for the CEL. It involves the gas cap, vac lines, solinoid, canister, yadda yadda. You can find the entire system here: http://protege5.ugly.net/01-16.PDF.

To be exactly sure you should get the code to confirm its the EVAP system and not something more serious.

[aMaff]

This is one of those 'it depends' situations. Without knowing the code, there's no way to know if it's 'ok' or not. Get it read, then we can give you a better idea.

[Raven Hawk]

My p5 is at 73k miles.

I have intake/headers/exhaust which have been on for 20k miles now.

Driving home from work on the freeway my CEL came on (pissed)
Car is running fine- no noticeble difference.

The only thing I have done to it recently is change the oil + filter 1000 miles ago (but only 4 days)

Already checked the oil level and the gas cap.

Problem is that it is 15 degrees out right now and the parking lot is completely covered in snow- and there is no prospect for it warming any time soon- more snow this weekend.

Is it safe to just drive on it for another week or two or could I be seriously messing things up?

Nealric,

I had the exact same thing happen to me today. I've got just over 70km and about 1000m on a new oil/filter change. Oddly my intake, header and exhaust have been on for about the same time as yours . . .

I'm going to have the CEL read at lunch today at Advanced Auto. I'll post what I find here.

[Raven Hawk]

My CEL code came off as:

P0300
Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected

Any ideas on what might cause this?

[nealric]

So this morning, I just decided I would reset the ECU and see if it comes back on.

I drove the 10 miles to work and no CEL. However, the brake light is now on and will not come off- it came on while driving on the freeway. Maybe its a coincidence but I am beginning to think there is some sort of electrical problem with those lights.

Anybody know what the circut is like for the brake light? Is it a simple contact circuit wired directly to the dash lights or is it run through somehow with those other lights?

[Diehonda]

My CEL code came off as:

P0300
Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected

Any ideas on what might cause this?

How old are your plugs?

If rather new, within the last 30K if not iridium, take your ignition coils out and switch them adn reset the ecu. If the CEL comes back adn the code reads a certain cylinder misfire than switch them againa dn see if it moves. Someitmes both will go out causing a multiple cylinder misfire code. There can also be bigger more expensive issues dealing with misfires but I like to start cheap adn see fi that fixes it.

You can also search on here for that code and see what threads pop up. I know there is a thread in the 3rd Gen Protege section.



Nealric:

Check your brake fluid levels in the reservoir. When they are low the light will come on.

What CEL code are you running?

[Mr. Win]

Nealric: Have you ever flushed your brakes?

[thrasher]

My misfires started around 90,000 km, which is about 70,000 miles, sort of...

It was my coilpacks. replaced them for $15 each. no more random misfires.

[Raven Hawk]

Thanks for tips, guys!

Edit: My Sparkies are pretty new, put them in about 8k miles ago. So I'll check out the coil packs.

[nealric]

Nealric:

Check your brake fluid levels in the reservoir. When they are low the light will come on.

What CEL code are you running?



I have plenty of brake fluid (did the big brakes just a few thousand miles ago).

However, I did notice that cooland was very low. Could that be the issue?

Cant check the CEL code since I cleared it and it hasnt come back on in 20 miles now.

[Tengo]

ive been ignoring my CEL for a dead speed sensor in the tranny for like half a year now. no biggy aslong as i know what it is. not if something else acts fishy then i'll have that looken at.

[aMaff]

So basically, if there WAS a problem, you may not know until something actually happnes. Next time, get the code read before you clear the light. I hope for your sake it wasn't anything major...

[RatLabGuy]

ive been ignoring my CEL for a dead speed sensor in the tranny for like half a year now. no biggy aslong as i know what it is. not if something else acts fishy then i'll have that looken at.

Keep in mind that the other downsside to just ignoring the light is that if something else fails and throw a new code, you won't know it 'cuase the ligbht is already on.

[Tengo]

Keep in mind that the other downsside to just ignoring the light is that if something else fails and throw a new code, you won't know it 'cuase the ligbht is already on.
yeah i know. hopefully i'll be ble to tell if something else happens and that would cause a light, i plan on fixing it soon anyway.

[Thieu]

my check engine light came on tonight too.

I have an 02.5 w/ 65k miles. I still haven't done my 60k checkup but the car is running great. I will be changing the plugs soon and wires look great.

Anywho... I immidiately drove over to Autozone and checked the code.

P0037

downstream 02 sensor. I went ahead and bought a universal one ($67... ouch).

I also went ahead and reset the code. I'll wait and see if the enigne light comes back on, otherwise I'll go ahead and replace it.

Car feels and runs fine, but gas mileage may suffer.

[roddster67]

Hey everybody, newbie here. My wife has been driving the P5 with the CEL on for at least a year now. It now has 72,000 on it. Although I have religiously changed the oil every 3000 miles, I just now got around to changing the spark plugs. They each had well over .050 gap!

Anyway, borrowed a friends code reader and got the P0037. I guess I'll be installing an O2 sensor this weekend.

[roddster67]

Hey everybody, newbie here. My wife has been driving the P5 with the CEL on for at least a year now. It now has 72,000 on it. Although I have religiously changed the oil every 3000 miles, I just now got around to changing the spark plugs. They each had well over .050 gap!

Anyway, borrowed a friends code reader and got the P0037. I guess I'll be installing an O2 sensor this weekend.

[roddster67]

Oh great, a double post. Sorry