YACT: stupid car design question.

[gotsmack]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: gotsmack
if its something small like the o2 sensor went I might say "I'll ride it out for a few weeks before I take it in" but if it was serious I'd take the car to get fixed immediately.

And that right there is EXACTLY why they don't do it. Because people who know nothing about cars would make decisions about what's serious and what's not, and they'd make the wrong decision.

A failed O2 sensor will throw the engine into cold-start mode and will potentially damage the catalytic converter(s), which is (are) highly sensitive to the mixture being correct. Also, since the mixture is richer, it will cause excess blow-by that will dilute the oil, the rich mixture will also foul spark plugs.

ZV

yup. I said I don't know much about cars, I'm sure if there was a readout someone would publish something online that would tell me how serious the problem is.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

my jeep TRIES to do this. the message center beeps and scrolls "coolant sensor bad" every now and again even though theres nothing wrong with it. it also causes my right directional to blink faster than my left.

 

[Sukhoi]

it also causes my right directional to blink faster than my left.

That usually happens when one of the right turn signals is burned out.

 

[jcuadrado]

my wife's old corolla had the check engine light on and off for 4 years....I sold it with it on too..

it's a scam to get you to spend $

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
On my old Dodge Neon you could cycle the ingition on/off five times and it would flash the check engine light to give you a two diget error code. I often got things like cylinder misfire, oil pressure sensor error, etc.

I've heard of that before, anyone know if such a trick exists for a Honda Civic or Acura TSX?

Civics have a light in the footwell on the passengr side. Let me know the year/engine of your civic and i can alldata the procedure on monday

Not sure about the TSX but i did it ot a civic once because i couldnt find the right freaking plug.

03 1.7L

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: gotsmack

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: gotsmack
if its something small like the o2 sensor went I might say "I'll ride it out for a few weeks before I take it in" but if it was serious I'd take the car to get fixed immediately.

And that right there is EXACTLY why they don't do it. Because people who know nothing about cars would make decisions about what's serious and what's not, and they'd make the wrong decision.

A failed O2 sensor will throw the engine into cold-start mode and will potentially damage the catalytic converter(s), which is (are) highly sensitive to the mixture being correct. Also, since the mixture is richer, it will cause excess blow-by that will dilute the oil, the rich mixture will also foul spark plugs.

ZV

yup. I said I don't know much about cars, I'm sure if there was a readout someone would publish something online that would tell me how serious the problem is.

It isn't that simple though since it's only displaying the symptom or what it thinks is the symptom, not the problem itself, so you have multiple possibilities ranging from minor to serious. What you may have interpreted to be a minor issue just because it's the most common problem may have actually been something more serious.

You can already get the information, Pep Boys, Autozone, etc will read your code for free and tell you what is wrong, Checkers even gives you a detailed print out.

 

[OS]

Why don;t they just dispaly what is wrong with the car instead of "service engine"

They already do if you buy a $50 OBD2 scanner.