Of course it comes on now...

[sinanju]

The Malufnction Indicator Light (aka the Check Engine icon) on our new (well, 2004) car. It's Memorial Day weekend. The service departments at the dealership and various other Hyundai locations are closed. I know because I called around. Not that I thought the car needed service "now, dammit now! Now!"

I don't.

The manual says that the MIL may come on when "there is a malfunction of an exhaust gas related component, and the system is not functioning properly so that the exhaust gas regulation values are not satisfied." In other words, it sounds like the Big Brother emissions sensors aren't happy. In which case, tough nubbies. It can wait.

But since my lovely and talented wife will be taking a long trip on Wednesday to see Harry Connick Jr. perform, I wanted to be sure that it wasn't an actual performance issue. So I called a couple of Ron Tonkin locations and finally talked to someone who assured me that it meant that some part of the emissions system (a sensor or a scrubber, I think) had reached the end of its useful life and needed to be replaced but that it was nothing that would cause problems (other than an unnoticeable drop in fuel efficiency) while driving.

ETA: They did suggest checking that the gas cap was tightly sealed, since as ilcyclic mentioned in a comment, that can trigger the "check engine" light. I did, but that didn't solve the problem, which is when the guy said it was probably the emissions sensor/scrubber/whatever needing to be replaced.

So I won't worry about it this holiday weekend. snippy should be okay to go see Harry, and I'll see about getting the car in for service sometime toward the end of next week.

Speaking of snippy, she'll be getting back from San Francisco Sunday night, and boy will I be happy to see her again. While I enjoy my time alone, I also miss my lovely and talented wife. It'll be good to have a couple of days off work (we get the holiday Monday and both took Tuesday off as well) to spend with her.

Comments

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Make sure your gas cap is on tight. Many recent vintage cars will trigger a malfunction code if fuel system vaccuum leak is detected. (Which is, indeed, part of the emissions system.)

Often times, the light will reset itself if the cap is tightened.

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the suggestion. The first guy I talked to suggested trying that too, in case that's all it was. I tried it but the MIL stayed on, so I called the second Hyundai shop and got the response I mentioned after I told him I'd tried the easy fix. So it'll need to be attended to eventually, but in the mean time my lovely and talented wife can go see Harry Connick, Jr. with no worries.

[slrose.livejournal.com]

It may take awhile for the light to go off even if that is the problem.

[snippy]

I'm really glad you checked it out, so I won't have to worry!