No matter the cause of the check engine warning, The Shop Tire and Service Center recommends you stop driving your car, truck, C/SUV, or van. Oftentimes, the check engine light is your only clue to a silent problem going on in your vehicle’s engine. If you continue to drive your automobile, you risk damaging it or possibly causing harm to yourself and your passengers. The reasons why check engine lights come on help explain this further.
Catalytic Converter
If your catalytic converter is going bad, the check engine warning will come on. How this makes it dangerous to you is simple. The catalytic converter converts carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide, and if it is not doing that, you might end up with carbon monoxide in your interior.
Exhaust System
The same holds true with exhaust system problems. Sometimes, the exhaust system can be clogged and this will push vehicle exhaust into the passenger cabin. Your exhaust system might also have a leak or other problems that are affecting your vehicle’s emissions.
Fuel Cap Seal
The only reason why a check engine light comes on that really isn’t something to worry about is if you didn’t screw on your gas cap tightly after you visited the service station. This will cause a check engine warning because fuel is evaporating out of your gas tank.
Fuel System
Another fuel system problem that will generate a check engine light warning is a rich air and fuel mixture. This mixture has more fuel than air in it, and it will cause excess carbon emissions in your vehicle’s exhaust. This will naturally send an error code to the engine control module.
Mass Airflow (MAF) Sensor
The mass airflow sensor helps with the air and fuel mixture balance. If the MAF is going bad, the check engine light will come on because the mixture in the combustion chamber will either have too much air in it and not enough gasoline or vice versa.
Oxygen (O2) Sensor
The oxygen sensor measures the amount of oxygen that is being released in the vehicle’s exhaust through the tailpipe. This, too, can malfunction, and a malfunctioning O2 sensor is a very common reason why a check engine light comes on.
Spark Plugs
Once the air and fuel are distributed into the cylinders by the fuel injectors, the spark plugs ignite it. This is called engine detonation, and if there is a problem with how the spark plugs are firing, or if the plug wires are worn, your check engine light will come on.
Vacuum
Finally, a vacuum leak will turn on the check engine light because the leak will add air into the engine. As discussed above, when there is an imbalance between the air and gasoline, your check engine light will come on because your engine is not operating efficiently.
We can help here at The Shop Tire and Service Center in Elk River, MN, if your check engine light keeps coming on. Give us a call today to set up an appointment.
