Golden Girl has been slightly sluggish the last week, and I wondered if I had taken too long for the last oil change. It just turned 50,000, so I imagine that problems will happen but I’d hoped they wouldn’t happen just now. Tonight, however, when I was driving to the park to walk, the “Check Engine Light” came on. Well, a light in the dashboard came on, but since I had lost my owner manual over a year ago, I wasn’t sure what it meant.
I pulled over immediately and did like I’d seen countless men of my acquaintance do in the past: I opened the hood and stood there, hands on my hips, looking down at the engine and waiting for enlightenment. Sure enough, enlightenment came. I shut the hood, walked to the back of the car, opened the trunk, pulled back the trunk carpet, and there on top of the spare tire was the owner’s manual.
(Later when I was telling my roommate the story, he didn’t bat an eye when I told him the manual was under the carpet in the trunk, lying on top of the spare tire. When I asked him why, he replied, “Well, I was married to you for almost twenty years.”)
According to the manual, the “Check Engine Light” doesn’t necessarily mean a serious problem: it could be caused by water in the gas, poor gas quality, and even a gas cap not shut tightly enough. As long as the light isn’t blinking, there’s no harm in driving the car for a time and the manual recommended driving the car through three complete fuel cycles. If it’s still on, then take it into the mechanic.
When I got home, I searched for information related to a 2002 Ford Focus and the “Check Engine Light” and in most cases, poor quality fuel was the cause. A couple of people had problems with a “EGR valve”, which I guess is also called the “O2 sensor”. A couple of others had some problems with the fuel intake system, but I didn’t have any of the other symptoms to match the problems they experienced.
One person in a car forum suggested unplugging the battery and then plugging it back in. In response, another reader wrote:
Last year sometime I had the same thing happen with the engine light, except when I unplugged the battery and then hooked it back up it still stayed on. When I took it into the dealer they said that a vacuum hose had caught fire and melted.
I agreed with the third person who replied, well that’s not healthy.
I searched some more and found a paper that explained how the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system works. The paper is for a Chrysler, but the architecture is consistent with most late model cars. I then found another site that discusses how to use diagnostic tools to determine the problem. Did you know that when a light is signaled in your dash, a code is recorded in software indicating the origin of the problem? When the mechanics hook up the gadgets, what they’re basically doing is downloading this code. (And we thought that mechanics would just listen to your car and know, magically, what the problem is.)
During my search, I remembered that my last trip out I had to fill up my gas tank at a little no-name gas station in the back woods. And my car had been in for a tune-up not that long ago and other than two of my tires getting mighty worn, the car came through with flying colors. Ipso facto: bad gas.
Of course if after three fuel cycles the light doesn’t go away, I’ll take it in. Or park it until I can afford to take it in. Until then, there’s nothing I can do about the light so I’m not going to worry about it.
Problem. Enlightenment and the Search. Acceptance. I have become, in effect, a self-taught mechanic.
Let’s consider a reevaluation of the situation in which we assume that the stuckness now occurring, the zero of consciousness, isn’t the worst of all possible situations, but the best possible situation you could be in. After all, it’s exactly this stuckness that Zen Buddhists go to so much trouble to induce; through koans, deep breathing, sitting still and the like. Your mind is empty, you have a “hollow-flexible” attitude of “beginner’s mind.” You’re right at the front end of the train of knowledge, at the track of reality itself. Consider, for a change, that this is a moment to be not feared but cultivated. If your mind is truly, profoundly stuck, then you may be much better off than when it was loaded with ideas.
…
Stuckness shouldn’t be avoided. It’s the psychic predecessor of all real understanding. An egoless acceptance of stuckness is a key to an understanding of all Quality, in mechanical work as in other endeavors. It’s this understanding of Quality as revealed by stuckness which so often makes self-taught mechanics so superior to institute-trained men who have learned how to handle everything except a new situation.Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Pirsig
I used to work in automotive electronics and yes, there is a ton of information recorded by each module in the system. The poor check engine light is a catch-all trouble indicator for a whole host of problems.
Depending on your model (and the exact error) you may need to get that code cleared even if the problem has gone away.
My recently-sold Malibu had it’s check engine light come on 3 times in the 5.5 years I owned it.
Every single time I checked my gas cap, and found it was loose. 3 cycles? Maybe because I didn’t drive it much it was far less for me. But yes, it was about 2 weeks each time before the light went out.
The first time it happened I remember driving around with a lack of confidence, wondering if I’d have to spend a few hours dealing with a broken down car. The last two times I felt like an old hand at these sorts of things.
Too bad though…. over Memorial Day weekend, when my car REALLY did have a problem that was fuel related and caused me to be stranded 140 miles away from home in another state…. towed to a car dealer where they couldn’t find anything wrong and, um, after paying for a rental to get out to retrieve it and then have it die again on my way home….
That damn check engine light never went on!
They know all: Car Chip
Shelley, good stuff… coincidently I am just at that chapter in re-reading Zen during my vacation. It is good to remember that stuckness is where we want to be and not avoid.
Good luck!
My check engine light comes on a couple times a year. I have a Ford Ranger. I don’t have any idea how similar the technology is to the Focus. Each time it has gone out when I get the next fill-up.
In my Geo Tracker the check engine light came on just as we rounded 50K miles. Exactly. I had it checked out and nothing was needed. It’s an old car and the local Chevy dealer hasn’t bothered to reset it. If you haven’t had the 50K scheduled maintenance, it may simply and indicator that now is the time.
The light has been on in my ’02 Explorer for six months. The truck runs just fine and we probably put in excess of 2k a week in miles on it. My solution was a small piece of black tape over it.
If a light goes on and you can’t see it, is it really on?
Shelley, I have a 2001 Focus, and my check engine light came on after someone borrowed my car and gassed it up without turning off the engine! That turned out to be all it was. I imagine a gas cap replaced loosely might do the same thing.
The 50K miles suggests that it is the O2 sensor, which is supposed to be replaced every 50K. The sensor itself may be fine, but the system is “helpfully” reminding you to change it.
Though I don’t know if I’ll tape black tape over the indicator just yet, I am reassured by the accounts of this light on and nothing bad happening. We’ll keep fingers crossed and hope this is just such a case. Joe, I checked and supposedly the Focus 02 sensor should be good for a while longer. Hard to say–I’ll drive it for a while, see if the gas milage takes a dive.
As for a 50k service, the Focus doesn’t have one. I had one at 40 and don’t need another extensive work up until 60k. Knock on wood.
Dave, ouch! Luckily I do have AAA, in case something goes wrong. But no trips at the moment into the Ozarks.
Jerry, you know of all the fun gadgets. Your house must practically buzz with the electronics.
PS Sheila, they kept the car running?
Yup, it was hot and he didn’t want to turn off the air conditioning.
That poor light is made to stand in for far too much. Someday, car makers will get a clue and send an error code to an LED display instead. Then the driver can just look up the freaking error code in the manual. That way they’d know if it’s something that requires the immediate attention of a $120/hr mechanic or not.
A reset button in the fuse box would be nice, too.