tacchan

Hello,

I bought my car about a month ago from a small dealership and it has been 1 month since I bought it and today I noticed that the engine check light turned on.

What do you think is the problem? Does the oil need changing? What else triggers the engine check light?

How do I reset the engine check light?

kaiba

Your car is about to self destruct.

Pothole987

great post ^^

um most likely instead of guessing take it to a shop and get it scanned to see what the codes are for.
and you wont get a light on if your oil needs changing. you will get an oil light on though if you run out of oil

tacchan

Thanks. But doesnt the engine check light need to be reset every time the oil gets changed?

I will have to get it checked out I guess.

Pothole987

no the check engine light will not come on when an oil change is needed.

get it scanned

Belarus

It's a different light that needs to be reset after an oil change - it's called a service engine light.

Pothole987

i must ask, what year/model car is this? i have never heard of a service engine light AND a check engine light in one year, i know em2's have a maintence req'd light...

tacchan

The car is a 2000 Honda Civic Hatchback.

The engine check light came on I believe (there is a picture of an engine and the word "check" on top of it)

RotaryPWR

or just read this: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/how-pull-cel-d4-srs-abs-codes-code-lists-1901557/

...

it's pretty simple to do it yourself in a matter of minutes..

i'm not sure about the 5th gen civics, but as far as i know, the 6th gen (96-00) civics' check engine light will reset on its own once the problem is fixed.

RotaryPWR

somebody correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't believe you have a service light so don't worry about resetting anything after an oil change

ChokolAwt

iTrader: (1)

jump the service connector under the passenger side footwell with a paper clip and turn your key (power on, car off)

your check engine light will flash. first will be long flashes then a few short blinks. long flashes are the 1'st digit, short flashes will be the second. i.e. 3 long flashes and 2 short blinks would be a code 32. we can tell you what to do from there.


to reset the CEL (check engine light) you can pull the back-up fuse located under the hood or the ecu fuse. both will have a sticker on the cover telling you where it is.

Belarus

You may be right, I am not 100% sure about the wording, but I as far as I know there is a light that indicates the need for an oil change. It may be called "maintenance required".

96romaEK

Mine came on when I unplugged the air temp sensor while the car was running, and it wouldn't go away. I had to unplug the battery and let it sit over night.

tacchan

The car is under warranty right now, so I am going to try to get them to check it out and fix any problems if there are any.

So what is the engine check light for? I used to think it was for changing the oil and that it had to be reset everytime an oil change was performed.

ChokolAwt

iTrader: (1)

splendid!

the check engine light is used to inform the driver of what's happening with the car's internal systems. the "oil light" you're talking about is called the "maintenance required" light and honda's dont have one that pops on after a set amount of miles like other car companies. i know my 97 accord had a maint. req. light that would go off every 5k miles or so.

RotaryPWR

well i dont know..i've had plenty of check engine lights for many different reasons, and i've never had to reset it..i fixed the problem, and the light would go out not long afterwards..maybe it depends on the ecu?

RotaryPWR

Again, read this: https://honda-tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1901557

When the ECU (car's computer) detects something wrong with the engine, it will turn the Check Engine Light (CEL) on to notify you that there's a problem. When scanning the ECU, you can find out exactly what is causing the problem (look at the codes in that link...they tell you exactly what is making the CEL go on).

Then it is up to you to figure out how to fix the problem. Between using a helm's/hayne's manual, searching around honda-tech, and google, you can generally figure out how to fix any problem you've got..

Now I know it's on some sort of warranty, but it's always good to be a step ahead by scanning it yourself so that you know exactly what is going on..some mechanics don't always tell you all the details unless you know what questions to ask, and I believe that it's pretty important to know your car inside and out if you want to keep it running reliably..

sloassSi

AutoZone will check the code for free for you... and tell you what the code is... also there is a thread on here that explains it better... you can even post on here what code you got, and people will reply and let you know what the likely cause of you problem is....

NOFX

Yep, Autozone will check the code for free (they probably will not clear it though). The check that Autozone does will give a more specific code than jumping the connector on the passenger side would give you.

When they give you the code at Autozone the employee can go in and check the code on the computer ("ZNet"). This will give the description of the problem and the most common causes for that code to be throw.

It's all free.

And YES, there is an oil change/maintenance reminder on '96-'00 Civics. It's not really a light, but instead a colored strip that flips from green to red when it's time to do certain maintenance. It's purely based on miles since it was last reset. The indicator is at the bottom of the tachometer. You reset it by sticking your key in the slot near it.

Belarus

Okay, I have just double-checked it in my car - I do have a CEL AND a Mantenance Required light... It's a 2001 Honda Accord.

CivicDX89

Before you go spending money on taking it to a shop just check and possibly change the oil, trans, and brake fluid because any of them could be the problem.

NOFX

Changing the fluids probably won't help much. Don't shoot in the dark. Throwing money at a problem is a bad idea.

Just figure out what the code is and go from there.

I'd recommend the OP go to Autozone and get the code read first. Remember, it's free. They can tell you what the most likely causes are (if they don't, let me know what the code is and I'll figure it out if someone else doesn't).

Some of the more common reasons in general for CELs to come on is a lose or missing fuel cap or a bad oxygen sensor.

Just because those are common does NOT mean that's the OP's problem.

I would really suggest the OP get the code checked before he begins throwing money at the car.

Pothole987

how the hell will that help anybody? lol be like other idiots when their check engine light comes on and litterally pull over and check to make sure the engine is still there ...

[sarcasm]and while your at it change the blinker and vtec fluid too right?[/sarcasm]

720kev

Did they replace the timing belt? Mine came on a while after i did my timing belt because a wire for the crankshaft position sensor was rubbed through by a belt. I found this out, like others said, by taking it to autozone and having them pull the codes. Good luck.

civickid9