I think my garage disconnected my engine light

[Outdoorsy]

Before I brought my jeep into the garage this morning the check engine light was on, and has been on constantly for weeks now, codes p 0158 and 0159. I brought it in for him to have a look at it. Then when they called me to come pick it up, he said nothing was wrong with it, and the engine light was no longer there. But when I did the key dance, I saw that the codes were still there. Is it possible he disconnected my check engine light? Why would the codes show up with no engine light?

 

[profdlp]

It would be a lot of trouble to get at it. Plus, why would a garage who stood to make money off a repair go to a lot of work to essentially send a customer packing before they had thoroughly shaken him down?

Here in my county in Ohio we have a (basically useless) thing called an e-Check. If your system shows no codes you pass. In the early days they just glanced in at the dash and if the light was off that was good enough. Word got around fast that if you disconnected the battery for five minutes the light would go out for just long enough to get through the idiotic test*. (I know this for a fact because I did it once with my old Tracker.) It was hilarious to see people sitting just outside the testing station with their hood up, looking at their watch to make sure it was safe to reconnect the battery and go get tested.

Is it possible they disconnected your battery for some reason? If so, within a few miles your light should come back on.

*I have nothing against clean air, but it makes more sense to stick a sensor wand in your tailpipe like they do in other states than it does to do a pass/fail based on a light or a code. Isn't what's going into the air what really matters?

 

[uss2defiant]

you could do a cluster test.
Press and hold the cluster shaft then turn the key to the accessory on position.
Once you let go you'll see the self test being done.

 

[Outdoorsy]

Why would the codes come up but the engine light not be on? Is it even possible?

 

[turblediesel]

Why would the codes come up but the engine light not be on? Is it even possible?

My scangauge gives the option of deleting codes. Maybe just looking at them clears the check engine light. I always clear them so I wouldn't know.

 

[tjkj2002]

Why would the codes come up but the engine light not be on? Is it even possible?

Yes.

Some codes require 2 failed trips to turn on the MIL,some only require 1 failed trip.Then there are about 2000 codes that will never turn on the MIL because they don't effect emissions at all.

To the OP.................

Turn key to run,the MIL should light up,if not then there is a issue with the MIL lamp in the cluster.

 

[JasonJ]

*I have nothing against clean air, but it makes more sense to stick a sensor wand in your tailpipe like they do in other states than it does to do a pass/fail based on a light or a code. Isn't what's going into the air what really matters?

Yes, that is what matters. On the other hand, if the vehicle is operating normally, whatever is coming out of the tailpipe is likely to be as clean as it's ever going to be. Some vehicles run cleaner than others.. it wouldn't be fair to compare the exhaust gas of a 10-15 year old Jeep to a PZEV Subaru Outback made in 2016.

Some cars and trucks are just going to exhaust more pollutants... that's as good as they're ever going to be, by design. So testing by making sure that the vehicle is operating as designed (even if it's to a lower standard or higher exhaust emissions level than newer vehicles) is perfectly sound reasoning too.

 

[dude1116]

Your garage should have been smart enough to check the codes anyway. Those I believe are O2 sensor codes, no?

 

[Outdoorsy]

Your garage should have been smart enough to check the codes anyway. Those I believe are O2 sensor codes, no?

I won't be going back to them, too much uncertain behaviour. They don't want to fix problems just take money and get rid of me asap.

I said engine light is off so no more problems, meanwhile codes still appear.

 

[Conundrum2006]

Yes, that is what matters. On the other hand, if the vehicle is operating normally, whatever is coming out of the tailpipe is likely to be as clean as it's ever going to be. Some vehicles run cleaner than others.. it wouldn't be fair to compare the exhaust gas of a 10-15 year old Jeep to a PZEV Subaru Outback made in 2016.



Some cars and trucks are just going to exhaust more pollutants... that's as good as they're ever going to be, by design. So testing by making sure that the vehicle is operating as designed (even if it's to a lower standard or higher exhaust emissions level than newer vehicles) is perfectly sound reasoning too.

Also the 10-15 year old jeep is more friendly to the environment regardless of emissions. All the energy and resources to make a 2016 Subaru is the bigger foot print environmentally.
But that's just my excuse to keep all my old jeeps going.


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[Conundrum2006]

Does the CEL come on with the first turn of the key? That should indicate if it's working or not.

I don't think jeeps do this but some cars can turn off the CEL if the issue goes away. Hyundai does this.

I wonder if they erased the codes on accident trying to read them. Might have done it to test if it really was failing. I've got a code for emissions that just started to appear erase the code the light will not come on for months.

Other than that it sounds like they didn't want to bother with the jeep. Hard to trust most shops these days.
IMO first step is to check if the CEL is operational.


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[Outdoorsy]

The light does in fact come on. Upon starting it. He must've scanned the codes.

 

[MTKross]

you could do a cluster test.
Press and hold the cluster shaft then turn the key to the accessory on position.
Once you let go you'll see the self test being done.

I just want to say thank you.....I've been looking for how to do the cluster test for some time now and just stumbled across your answer when lurking haha


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[Outdoorsy]

Light is on permanently again. So my suspicion is they scanned the codes, hence why the light went away when I started it after they took a look at it. I guess they just didn't care to fix it. Not gonna worry, it's nothing major at least.

 

[uss2defiant]

isn't o2 sensors a pretty major issue though?

 

[JasonJ]

isn't o2 sensors a pretty major issue though?

They certainly can be.

OP will likely start new thread shortly on that once the vehicle starts running poorly.

The MIL doesn't come on just for the fun of the color orange... there's a problem and it needs to be fixed, major or not. So just be sure not to ignore it.

 

[tjkj2002]

isn't o2 sensors a pretty major issue though?

They certainly can be.

OP will likely start new thread shortly on that once the vehicle starts running poorly.

The MIL doesn't come on just for the fun of the color orange... there's a problem and it needs to be fixed, major or not. So just be sure not to ignore it.

The PCM turns on the MIL when the emissions will exceed 1.5 allowed limits(for model year) or cause drastic drivability issues.The MIL will flash when damage to the catalyst is being done.

So yeah a steady on MIL is a major issue.