I left my gas cap off and someone told me this may have caused my check engine light to come on. Well I filled the tank and drove it a bit, but the light is still on. I drive a 99 chevy malibu. Is the light supposed to turn off or do I have to get it reset??
haha the exact same thing happened to me! i just went over to the local shop and they fixed me up. id also try the hardware store too.
Hi, I am an auto technician. If your check engine light was a result of the gas cap being off, the light will remain on until the code is cleared, or a minimum of 40 engine warm up cycles. Not to sound pessimistic, but there is a possibility that the new gas cap could be faulty, if it is not a quality one. There are a lot of variables, too. Assuming this is an Evap (fuel vapor control) problem, the outside temperature plays a role. If the temperature is too low, (roughly 40*f) the computer will not test the system, which could mean your light will go out, only to come back on in warmer weather, if the problem remains unfixed. Fuel level is important, too. The computer will not test the system if the fuel level is too low (under about 25%) or too high (over 80%). As for clearing the code. Disconnecting the battery is NOT recommended, because this erases a LOT of valuable information, including your radio, of course. The fuses aren't really a good choice, either. Your car probably has several going to the computer, so it's a guessing game. The light should be turned off with a scan tool. But first make sure you find out what codes are stored. If the problem is in another system, some of the information needed to fix the car will be lost when the codes are cleared. Some parts stores can do this for you, but they do not have access to all of the codes that may be stored in your computer. Your best bet, I must say, is to find a reputable shop that specializes in driveability and diagnostics, and have them diagnose it, and explain your options. I would be interested to hear the outcome, if you don't mind. Good luck.
The check engine light is the sign of a pollution control problem. A faulty or missing gas cap is a pollution control problem. It is my understanding if you remove the battery terminals for 30 minutes, the check engine light will reset. If everything is ok when you re-connect the battery, then you are ok. If the light comes back on, then it is something else. Recently, my 2001 Ranger had this happen, so I disconnected the battery, but the check engine light came back on the same day. This required a major tune-up in order to get the truck's computer to say everything was ok.
Nothing to do with fluids. Flashing means you are misfiring and that's something that may be serious. A scan of the code at this point will just tell you what cylinder is misfiring and I bet there's more than one. Did you put lower grade gas? That and the heat could cause this. It could also be a bad fuel filter, bad spark plugs or bad injectors. Happens a lot as the weather starts to get hot out. I would go have the car checked out because there are many possible causes and it could get costly replacing parts that may not fix the problem. You might get lucky but it's best to have it taken care of and stop driving if it continues as misfiring can damage the engine easily.
