WHY DID YOUR “CHECK ENGINE” LIGHT JUST COME ON?

The light just popped up on your dash: the dreaded one, the one that looks like an engine. But your car seems to be running fine. So why did it come on? Well, it could be a lot of things – but the most common reason is your oxygen sensor.

Your what?

You may ask, “What does that do anyway?” Well, it senses what kind of fuel/air mixture is flowing through your exhaust system and sends a signal back to your car’s computer so that it can adjust the mix. Too much fuel going through your exhaust uncorrected will result in the ruination of your VERY expensive catalytic converter. Plus, your car will be sucking more gas than it needs – and that costs you at the pump.

So when the light comes on, it will usually store a code that tells you that the sensor is going bad. Don’t ignore it! Replacing an oxygen sensor is only around a couple hundred bucks, but a new catalytic converter is more like a thousand bucks. Yikes.

When your “check engine” light comes on, just remember to Take it 2 the House!