That light on your dash is flashing, but what do check engine warning lights mean? Our automotive technicians at Mountain View Automotive in Thornton are here to tell you.
When your check engine light goes on, it will either blink or remain solid. It’s a warning that your vehicle has a problem that can affect your car’s emissions systems. Either way, bring it to our technicians to have it checked out and the issue addressed before it turns into a bigger, more expensive problem.
If the warning light is solid, then the problem isn’t an emergency. However, if you get a blinking light that usually means there is a serious engine problem that is allowing unburned fuel to be dumped into your vehicle’s exhaust system. This is a problem because it can raise the temperature of the catalytic converter and cause massive damage to your engine.
If you get the blinking light and your other indicators show low oil pressure or overheating, pull your car over and turn it off as soon as it’s safe. Sometimes all you have to do is tighten your gas cap. If that’s all it is, consider yourself lucky. If you notice a loss power, reduce your speed and if you can, reduce the load on your engine. Unhitch the trailer if you are towing one.
Once you bring your car to Mountain View Automotive, our technicians will read and interpret the codes, which will tell us which system or circuit to test to try and pinpoint the problem. The way this works is each number code has a matching test procedure. The test must then be performed in sequence, not skipping any steps, because the test results will give you voltage, temperature, resistance, or time specification and we need those to be exact to get the right results.
Our Mountain View Automotive technicians in Thornton know that some people confuse the maintenance service light for the check engine light. But the maintenance service indicator lights up when only routine service, such as an oil change, is needed. Of course, you don’t want to ignore the maintenance service light, but it is not signaling a potentially very severe problem like the check engine light.
If your check engine light comes on, either solid or blinking, bring your car or truck into Mountain View Automotive in Thornton, so you don’t have to wonder what do check engine warning lights mean. We can tell you. We can also help you fix it before more damage occurs and you have a more expensive problem on your hands.