check engine light

Check Engine Light

When a car's check engine light comes on, it is a mystery to most

drivers. It instills panic in many for good reason. There are times

when that light can mean drastic problems in a car's engine system or

other operating parts. There are also times when it simply means you

changed your brand of gasoline and the car needs to adjust to the new

mix. For that reason there is a tendency to ignore that little light

and hope the problem will go away.

Should You Worry About Your Check Engine Light?

How do you know if the check engine light is trying to tell you there

is a serious problem or if it is nothing to worry about? One way is to

take the time out of your busy schedule, drive to the mechanic and pay

a hefty fee to have them hook up their machine to your car's OBDII

system and then tell you to tighten your gas cap as a result. Or you

can get your own OBD diagnostic tool that will give you all the

information you need right at your fingertips.

Onboard Diagnostic System

These simple devices attach to your automobile's OBDII (onboard

diagnostic system) right under the dash just like the big machine at

the mechanic shop does and it will give you the exact same readouts

plus provide easy to understand graphs and explanations of those

confusing codes your mechanic gives you to keep you in the dark as to

what is really going on.

Simply take the OBD diagnostic system for a short ride with you when

your check engine light comes on and then take it in the house to your

personal computer and download the data. The website provided to you

with your OBD diagnostic system will decipher the information and give

you all the information you need to determine if the problem is

serious or not at fractions of the cost of a mechanic's garage. The

readout will also give you simple solutions to the easier fixes if

they are available plus if you do need to take the car to your

mechanic, you can go in well-armed with the knowledge you need to keep

from being overcharged for their services.

The OBD system will also alert you to potentially damaging driving

habits you may have acquired over time even when your check engine

light is not blinking. Things like hard braking and excessive

acceleration so that you can correct problems before they affect your

car's mechanisms.

Benefits of OBD

There are even more benefits to your own OBD diagnostic system. Never

get stuck with a lemon again by taking it on all of your test drives.

With your own diagnostic system, you will be able to find out for

yourself if your potential new or used car is in good operating order

before you drive off the lot. You can even find out why the check

engine light is on. You can also take all the worry out of vacations

when you hook it up before a road trip.

Andre Zayas is a professionally syndicated author.