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Check engine light came yesterday morning

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Icepick

Diamond Member
My check engine light came on yesterday morning. I used my reader to determine the code and it turns out that a misfire in cylinder 3 caused it. (four cylinder Outback (2001)). I was hoping to trade it in towards a purchase of a new car on Saturday. Will a dealer take a trade in with the check engine light on?

Will this type of alert self-clear?

Thanks...
 
Sure the dealer will take it with a check engine light, he might give you a lot less since it would have a known problem with the light on. Usually a misfire is plugs or wires, for $40 you could likely fix the problem, I'm not familiar enough with your vehicle to say for certain that is the problem though. Or you can clear the code by removing the battery cables for a few minutes or reset it with a code scanner and hope that you don't trigger the CEL on the way to the dealership to trade it in.
 
CEL are very weird. The fault will not clear but the light might not be on.

I would clear the fault to see it currently misfiring. If its not i would drive it to the dealership and trade it in. Most i dont think check to see if the CEL/ABS light is on or not. They mainly look at body and mileage.
 
If it's consistently misfiring, it's going to sound/feel like crap. If the engine seems to be running fine now, just clear the code and the CEL shouldn't come back.

Why did the CEL light come on to begin with? And might it come back eventually? Those are deeper questions that you should let the dealer figure (after you trade it in).
 
Icepick said:
My check engine light came on yesterday morning. I used my reader to determine the code and it turns out that a misfire in cylinder 3 caused it. (four cylinder Outback (2001)). I was hoping to trade it in towards a purchase of a new car on Saturday. Will a dealer take a trade in with the check engine light on?

Will this type of alert self-clear?

Thanks...
Click to expand...

If the CEL is blinking, then it's a serious issue. If the light is steady then it's not a constant issue, just that it was out of whack long enough to trigger a fault.

The light might shut off if the issue is gone, but the code will be stored until you use a scanner to clear it.

It isn't likely, but when you clear the code it will also reset your fuel trims. If the dealer is smart enough to scan it there is a chance they could see that it had just been reset and this could possibly raise suspicion. An unlikely scenario, but just a heads up.
 
halik said:
vatozone will scan it for you for free
Click to expand...

Glad I'm not the only one who calls it that. Place is always full of wife beater tees and the smell of Bud Lite. I can't ever pick up a can of brake cleaner without waiting in line for half an hour because one guy at the counter who can barely converse legibly is being a micro goomba clinging to the poor sales guy trying to decide which of two batteries he need so he can try to save $1 on a $80 purchase, then wants the guy to go out to the car and make sure it fits right then and there, damn the 10 other customers in line...

I hate going to part store chains... also why can't anyone just get me an 8 rib belt 76.1" long, why do they need to know the make model year, first of all it won't be in your system because its not a standard part for that vehicle line, and second that's not the stock size anyway... just go back there to your belts and get me one that says 80761. *blank stare*

/offtopicrant
 
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