Hey my check engine light came on a week ago in my 1997 Protege LX. Does not seem like anything is wrong.... any suggestions?

 

is your gas cap on nice and tight?... no joke, it needs to be on tight for the fuel system to have the correct preessures in it.

 

all fixed... it was gas cap. i had to tighten gas cap more and reset the light by d/c the negative end and pumping the brakes 4 times

 

I had the same problem on my 97 LX. I tried to tighten the gas cap but that didn't fix the light. At one point it even began flashing after ignition (usually it's solid) -- that happened just once. The light went out after a stop at the gas station. I know it could have been the "empty tank" warning but it's impossible for my vehicle to run about a week on an "empty tank".

 

how exactly would you go about fixing that

 

next time you get the light, get the error code.

if its obdii-0419 or 0420, check things in this sequence: gas cap, bad gas, air intake temp sensor connector, mass airflow sensor connector, o2 sensor before manifold, o2 sensor after manifold, catylitic convertor.

thats the order i did mine in back in september, eventually i got to the 2nd o2 sensor which had white powder residue stuck to it. i suspect it happened when i left the country all of august and the car sat in the dirty garage. it can also happen if you idle a lot (park and sleep for an hour with the engine running) i hear.

anyway, the error codes seem to be very popular with 2nd gens, they are both error codes about 'catylist systemfailure to warm up to spec'

murrays has a decent obd2 computer you can borrow as a loaner tool. it resets and reads out codes, thats about it, but thats all you need to diagnose this problem.

this error code is very tricky. it can go away for weeks at a time then come back suddenly while your driving. you'll know its tank pressure related if you get it after you fill up with gas (within first 30 miles or so)

hope some of that helps.

 

Samus where did you get that front end fascia.... it looks sweet. I REALLY want one

 

Arrgh, mine came on again! Since I have a rough idle while the engine is cold, I decided to check my distributor cap, rotor... then my sparkplugs and the wires. Everything seemed ok and there were no obvious signs of wear. I was hoping that the problem would be in one of the above-mentioned. Unfortunately it isn't and I do not want to go to the service if the problem can be easily fixed. Can you guys help me out, please?

 

How do I find out the code? I don't have a "computer", you know?

 

One thing to add... I just read a post regarding a K&N air-filter change causing the "check engine" light to come on. I changed my stock filter to a K&N one, but that was actually AFTER the first time this light turned on, so I guess that's not the problem either...

 

oookkk... thank you...