Threw a code!

[TFBuckeye]

I need some help. I picked my car (2005 GP 19k miles) up from the dealer on Saturday. Today getting on interstate under acceleration it throws a check engine light. Any ideas on what it could be? How can I clear it?

I'm going to take it back to the dealer and tell them to fix it. They promised a 3 month 3k warranty.

TF

 

[MTXGTP]

well with out knowing the code i cant tell you what is wrong the only thing i can tell you is check the gas cap to see if it is loose other than that without a code number no one can really help.

 

[Deezul_AwT]

Without know what it is, I'm going to guess because that's more fun. It's a bad catalytic converter. How do I know? MAGIC.

 

[Zef_66]

I am going to say you have a bad knuter valve.

The car should still be under warranty. Take it back and let them deal with it.

 

[TFBuckeye]

I dropped the car off at the dealer last night. They called at 7:25 this morning and asked what was wrong with it. I told them it had a CEL, they said they'd get on it right away. They called about 8:15 and said it was done. Bad thermostat was the issue. Interesting.......

 

[MTXGTP]

yep if it takes the motor to long to heat up the pcm recognizes it and sets a code.

 

[Deezul_AwT]

I dropped the car off at the dealer last night. They called at 7:25 this morning and asked what was wrong with it. I told them it had a CEL, they said they'd get on it right away. They called about 8:15 and said it was done. Bad thermostat was the issue. Interesting.......

Glad to hear it's working. As you can tell by the time it took them, they probably charged you 1 hour of labor and $20 for the thermostat, close to $100. Not to rain on your parade, but for less than that, you could have bought a ODCII code reader, posted a message with the code here, and we could have told you what was wrong. I got a 180* thermo and gasket for under $10. And then you'd STILL have a reader you could use in the future. If you've got several cars and want to save yourself a few bucks, get a reader!

 

[Hca-Bronco]

Just to rain alittle harder on you but you could hae taken it to any Advance auto parts and had then read your codes and print them for free..

 

[TFBuckeye]

Glad to hear it's working. As you can tell by the time it took them, they probably charged you 1 hour of labor and $20 for the thermostat, close to $100. Not to rain on your parade, but for less than that, you could have bought a ODCII code reader, posted a message with the code here, and we could have told you what was wrong. I got a 180* thermo and gasket for under $10. And then you'd STILL have a reader you could use in the future. If you've got several cars and want to save yourself a few bucks, get a reader!

I didn't pay a dime for them to fix it. I picked it up on Saturday, this was the next Friday! They added on 3 months 3k for additional warranty as part of the sale.

 

[Deezul_AwT]

I didn't pay a dime for them to fix it. I picked it up on Saturday, this was the next Friday! They added on 3 months 3k for additional warranty as part of the sale.

Fair enough. Juts saying a code reader is a good purchase if you plan on keeping cars past warranty periods. The problem with Advanced Auto is all they will tell you in most cases is the code. They won't diagnose the problem because if they are wrong, someone might sue them. But they are still helpful for reading the code number.

 

[TFBuckeye]

If a code reader is that inexpensive I'll probably own one. Hopefully I won't need it.
My 94 GP had a SES on for about 80k miles, I put some tape over it and kept driving it. This car's remote start won't work if there's a CEL.

 

[Deezul_AwT]

If a code reader is that inexpensive I'll probably own one. Hopefully I won't need it.
My 94 GP had a SES on for about 80k miles, I put some tape over it and kept driving it. This car's remote start won't work if there's a CEL.

You can find really basic ones that just give you the code for $50. I got one at Wal-Mart for $100 that also gives the official report of the code so I don't have to look it up in a book. It also gives a brief engine report on what was happening when the codes was thrown. There's a connection for a laptop as well to save it there. It is NOT a Powertuner or anything like that; the only thing I can change on my PCM is clearing the code. But if you do the work yourself, like replacing a thermo because of a code or cleaning the MAF, it means no 30 minutes of labor for a shop to do it!