What the heck did I do to my car?

[Liska]

I've got a stock 2003 explorer Sport.

Tonight, I basically drove my car to the grocery store (5 minutes away) went to pull in a parking spot, and right before i parked I heard a dull thud from the front end of my car, and my check engine light came on (solid).

I've now got something in my front end seriously hissing at me- which i'm assuming is either a vacuum or an air leak.

I plan on taking my car into the shop first thing tomorrow morning, but i guess my biggest question at the moment is- is it OK to drive it in or do I need to have it towed? The shop's about 20 minutes away. The CEL is still solid, not blinking, and though it's idling a bit rougher than normal, it drove OK from the store back to the house.

I'd like to go in at least a bit pre-prepared, especially on pricing or what it could be... could anyone possibly give some guidance?

 

[Lube]

Don't take chances, tow it.

 

[alohamonte]

get a flashlight, pop the hood, idle the vehicle and see if you can track down the noise. if it's a vac leak hissing you'll find it in a second and either tape it up or reconnect whatever went pop.

 

[sport97]

Agreed. It could be a hose or something popped off. With the engine on see if you can locate the hiss and fix it yourself.

 

[Liska]

Thanks everyone... i've decided to take it to a shop that's roughly 5 minutes away, vs the 20 minutes. Depending on what things look like UTH, i'll either tow it or drive it in.

I'm also going to look under the hood before I drive it anywhere to see if it's anything I can obviously fix, but alas i'm not equipped- or experienced- enough to be doing any huge maintenance on it, and that's why I am now being overly paranoid! I fixed my back windshield wiper, and that so far is about as far as i've gone.