Check Engine light came on (any ideas)

[itsdennislol]

The other day my check engine light came on just as I pulled into a drive thru to get some food. I pulled over after getting food down the street at my work and parked the car. I checked all the fluids and everything was good. The car sounded normal, everything seemed fine. The intake (K&N cone filter) howls fairly loud when it's really hot outside breathing in air but that's the only thing it was doing. It was doing it like normal since it was hot that day. Anyway I started the truck back up about 6 hours later (dark outside at this point) and hoped the engine light wouldn't be on still but it was. I drove it home and it did fine, ac still working and everything else. Drove it far to work the last few days had to put about 500 miles on the car over the weekend commuting to work and it still seems perfectly fine. Yet the check engine light still shines my face bright at night when I'm driving down a dark highway. I just wanted to know what it could be, why it could be on, could it have been triggered by something small and something I shouldn't worry about? Should I really go spend $50-100 bucks just for a diagnostic to be ran? My buddy says to unplug the battery to reset the check engine light and unless it comes on again after that to not worry about it. Agree?

Help

thanks in advance.

 

[98Explorer4x4]

Yeah try that, if its still on then I'd get it checked. My opinion.

 

[project92]

go to auto zone pepboys they will read the code for you for free mine was gas cap (wife left it off for 10 miles)

 

[aldive]

I would have it scanned for trouble codes asap.

Good luck.

 

[itsdennislol]

is it really free at pep boys?
if not there
where else and how much would I pay to get the code checked?
I did the battery idea and it's off and has been off all day
so hopefully it stays off

 

[project92]

baterry is a quick temp fix (I used to do it on my t-case problem) next time it come on have it checked but here auto zone pepboys o-reily's and advanced auto parts do it for free.....

 

[BuffaloXplorer]

The howling problem is likely your IAC (IdleAirControl) Valve - it can be temporarily fixed by cleaning it. Do a search for this process. The CEL may not be related to the howling at all. Stop by any of the above-mentioned autopart stores and have the codes pulled (and cleared). Do some research here and if the code comes back, fix the problem. Don't buy anything that the parts store suggests just yet. Wait for the light to come back.

 

[bwatson283]

Your computer needs a little TLC sometimes.

 

[cvlaxfb8844]

yea, u just need to check the electrics, my 92 had the same problem. Ther's proably a bad wire somewhere.

 

[Glacier991]

Dennis is CA and I don't think they do it here. Dennis when you ask "what could it be" the answer is any one of a list of hundreds of things, but the nice thing is if you scan it, it will tell you the EXACT one, so you don;t have to guess. (The light more or less means there is a diagnostic trouble code (DTC)stored in the computer memory - when you do the battery thing you erase that code, so the light is off until it shows up again. Me, if my car was smart enough to tell me something was sensed as amiss by my onboard computer I'd want to know WHAT, rather than just erase it. In 96 FORD had over a hundred DTC's that the vehicle could set). When it comes on again PM me and I can scan it for you. (I'm in Sacramento too.) Not every DTC means a "driveability" problem or even anything serious that needs IMMEDIATE attention, but it's best to know what it's trying to tell you.