Service engine soon light

Jim Dolan · 28th May 2002, 00:50

Service light is on and the car was serviced two thousand miles ago and has only 11,800 miles on it. Surprised me..

Has it happened to you?

Thanks

AdAgent · 28th May 2002, 14:19

Jim,

It happened to me the other day while driving home. It since has turned off, turned on, turned off and finally back on as of yesterday. I have an appointment with my dealer this morning hopefully fix the problem. I'll keep you posted. Good luck

PS. Mine was serviced about 2k miles ago as well (9200 mi on her now).

Alex

brutus · 28th May 2002, 16:53

I recently had my "service engine soon" light go on, check the fuel cap and/or fill up with fuel and the light would go out after 1 ro 2 restarts. This happened 5 or 6 times before I called for a service appointment.

Turned out to be an Oxygen Sensor, looks like it's fixed it as I've gone through a tank of fuel without a repeat.

Brutus.

PhilSeastrand · 28th May 2002, 17:24

Keep in mind that the SES light is really only reporting emissions problems. It does not necessarily mean there is something wrong with the engine itself.

brad · 28th May 2002, 18:08

I just had my 2000 in for an oil change at 18K miles and the SES light was on. They replaced a bad O2 sensor and said that was the cause of the SES light.

-Brad

AdAgent · 28th May 2002, 19:22

I just got back from my dealership after they checked the SES light. Apparently it is a bad VANOS that needs to be replaced

. I know this is a common problem so hopefully the fix will go well tomorrow morning. I'll keep you all posted.

Alex

Silverstreak · 28th May 2002, 20:23

Mine is a 12/99. At 12k the SES light went on - dealer claimed they had to reprogram the computer - I was running to lean.

Aussie2U · 28th May 2002, 20:56

Jim,

Can you tell a difference in performance? When mine went on, you could instantly hear a different exhaust sound and there was lack of power in the upper end. The exhaust sound was like the car had nasal congestion. It would go off 3-4 days later and be back to normal for a week or so, then pop back on. (It's at the dealer now, so say hi to mine if yours is going in. )

The dealer always says check the gas cap for venting and call him back a week later, but I think I can count on one hand how many cases have actually turned out to be that.

Jim Dolan · 28th May 2002, 21:41

Called for an appointment this am and the dealer said to take off the gas cap and restart it a couple of times and give it a couple of days. Rick I saw no change like you discribe. I had just filled up the tank before I recall it coming on. Hopefully that is all it is.

JFB · 28th May 2002, 23:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Jim Dolan
Called for an appointment this am and the dealer said to take off the gas cap and restart it a couple of times and give it a couple of days. Rick I saw no change like you discribe. I had just filled up the tank before I recall it coming on. Hopefully that is all it is.

Jim
My SES came on at around 13K miles. Tightening the cap worked once, but the problem kept recurring. The light was intermittent, with no discernable pattern.

The dealership diagnosed a fuel (vapor recovery) system problem and replaced a breather valve. They had the car 3 days, because the part had to be shipped in, but that seems to have solved the problem.