Hi so today i started my car up and a check engine light came on. I took it to my local auto parts store and they read the code for me. It said that there were no engine codes and that it is a maintenance required code. I just changed the oil about 500 miles ago. Im just curious at might what need changed. Ive never seen a check engine light for maintenance. any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Josh

 

By the way my car is a 1997 civic dx d16y7 motor.

 

Can't tell you anything without that code. Next time the CEL comes on pull to the side of the road and jump the service connector. Check the FAQs for the procedure.

 

I think the auto parts store is trying to tell you that there was no check engine light in the first place.

There are two different lights; a "check engine light", and a "maintenance required" light.

The maintenance required light doesn't produce a code at all. It needs to be reset manually every time you get an oil change.

 

As far as check engine lights go, I honestly think everybody with an OBD2 car should have an ELM 327 in their glove box. You can get it on eBay for less than $10. It connects wirelessly via Bluetooth to your smartphone and allows you to do so many things. Among those things: checking and clearing check engine lights.

 

That's if everyone has a smartphone that is compatible. I'm not sure BlackBerry is.

 

A Blackberry is hardly a smartphone

Okay, well a Z10 and up, and a Q10 and up are decent phones. But as far as software goes, nothing beats Android or iOS.

I'm an I.T. guy. Technology is my life. That said, you don't need to be a tech nerd like me to be able to use a smartphone and a Bluetooth OBD2 adaptor. Afterall, iPhones are designed for people who are scared of technology. Steve Jobs made sure of it so that his products had a larger market

 

grumblemarc Ill get the code number tomorrow when i have more time on my hands. And andoxviii its def the check engine light as i know that my maintenance required light is red as i do not know how to reset it. Ill look into that elm 327 as i do have a samsung s5.

 

There's a small slot on your cluster that looks like you can press it with a key. Press it. The "Maintenance required" thing isn't actually a light, it's just a little thing that switches between a red piece of plastic and a green piece of plastic.

 

thanks notaracist I just reset it.

 

Okay, I just wanted to make sure that you knew they were two totally different things.

Afterall, you made the thread title "CEL for maintenance" which technically is inaccurate.

And yes, I highly recommend buying the Bluetooth OBD2 adaptor. Cheaper and more powerful alternative to buying a conventional OBD2 scanner.

 

alright so i went down to my local auotparts store to get the code and today they said that there are two engine codes now. The codes are p1381 which is stated to be cranshaft position sensor. And the other code is p0705 which is the transmission range. When the code was displayed on the screen of the reader for the crankshaft position sensor it said crankshaft position sensor noise. I did not understand whaat that meant.