The last thing that most car owners want to see is the check engine light glowing on the dashboard. Young Automotive knows that is a scary thing to see, but we have some tips for you if you happen to see your car’s check engine light.
Don’t Ignore the Check Engine Light
The first instinct for many car owners when the check engine light shows up is to go right into denial. This is the wrong reaction, though, because the problem could be an incredibly simple one. There are a variety of issues that fall under the “check engine” light, simply because there isn’t enough space for all of those specific lights. So the check engine light is a warning that something is wrong.
Look for Any Obvious Issues
What you need to do next is to pay attention to what else is happening. Are there other dashboard lights showing on the dashboard? Those can give you a bigger clue as to what is going on. If there aren’t any other lights, what else do you notice? Is the car overheating, losing power, or experiencing any other issues? You might not have noticeable issues.
Tighten Your Gas Cap
As soon as you can, stop and pop open the gas flap. Remove your gas cap and put it back on. Twist it carefully until it clicks a few times. This might solve your problem, particularly if you didn’t notice anything else unusual going on with your car. If the gas cap isn’t fully tightened down, there is a risk of gas getting out and water or other substances getting in, so this is a priority issue for your car even though it seems small enough.
Don’t Spend Too Long Troubleshooting on Your Own
If tightening the gas cap down fully didn’t resolve the check engine warning, there is something else going on. It’s important that you don’t waste time trying to troubleshoot too much on your own. There are a lot of different issues that could be causing issues in your car’s engine, and some of them cannot wait.
Contact us at Young Automotive in Sturgeon Bay, WI right away and set up an appointment if your check engine light is on. We use state-of-the-art diagnostic tools to drill down to the exact issue that’s causing problems for your car and we can get you back on the road quickly.
