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| March 2008 Newsletter |
2008-03-24 |
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Motormouth here……
Before we get things started lets take a moment to share a group hug with all of the brand new Car Connection Club Members joining us for the very first time! Well, maybe just a “Moment” you can opt out of the “group hug thing” if you like ! Sounds way too mushy for me! Anyhow welcome aboard “newbie’s” our monthly news letter is not for the “mechanically squeamish” we get right into the gory details of vehicle maintenance and “Stuff”. Enough said let’s get rollin’ right into March!
First and foremost I would like to dedicate this Car Connection Business Network News Letter to our Web Master “Larry”. Allow me to explain, during a meeting recently with one of our recommended businesses Larry interrupted a perfectly good conversation I had going to state “ Motormouth write this idea down”, “ are you getting this” apparently there was a conversation going on that I was really unaware that I was included in regarding the dreaded “Service Engine Light” oooooh! Larry insisted that I discuss service engine lights as a topic for a future volume of our monthly Club news letter!
If you know Larry like I do he’s like a dog with a bone when he gets a great idea! So I proceeded to write down his idea right in front of him saying “Yeah that’s a great idea Larry I’ll do that” not realizing that there was a method to his madness.
Larry then proceeded to inform us that his service engine light on his own vehicle had recently turned on, like the day before! Hmmmmm I smell a motive here don’t you! Well that sparked a deep discussion regarding service engine lights and what their
function is on your automobile.
We quickly educated Larry to understand that service engine lights were not brought on by the vehicle manufacturers to increase our “ Stress Levels”. And that it didn’t mean that your vehicle was going to explode like in the movies leaving you completely stranded in the middle of nowheresville, where ever that is!
After we got Larry all calmed down and convinced him that he would not need to take out a second mortgage to take care of his service engine light issue, I got to thinking. Larry was right again (as he usually is when it comes to a really good idea!) Way to go Lar, Kudos!
Guess what folks! Let’s talk a bit about “the service engine light” shall we! There is a lot to talk about in regards to this topic so I am going to keep it very basic. Or we could be here all night and that would not be good because I forgot to bring my tooth brush and fuzzy slippers! (Not!)
The first things that you need to be made aware of, regarding diagnosing service engine lights, is that there is no machine known to man that you can just plug into the sick vehicle, and walk away. While you pour yourself a cup of “joe”, it magically works away and then, the national anthem starts to play, confetti,starts to spit out, oh, and I forgot to mention the flashing colored lights to let you know that it has arrived at the answer to the service engine light being on! Ta Da!
The other “thing” that you need to know (and this is very important), about service engine lights, is not all auto service centers have the right equipment, or experienced enough techs, or both, to be able to diagnose and repair the issues. It doesn’t take a lot of skill to swap out parts and hope that you will eventually change something that pertains to the light being on and it goes off and stays off! Those of us who are qualified to properly diagnose these issues refer to this type of approach as “the shotgun approach”, and it gets very expensive very quickly!
For those who have listened over the years, you will be aware of the fact that this is one of the most common concerns that people call in with. That is why I always stress that it is important that you deal with service centres/technicians that are up-to-date, and qualified to properly handle these situations. There are many reasons why the service engine light will come on, some of these are: loose gas cap, evap system failure (emission controls), rough running engine, oxygen sensor, etc. It takes someone with a lot of skill and knowledge to, follow the clues that the diagnostic equipment gives them, to get down to the root of the problem. A lot of times there is a chain reaction. When one thing fails, it sets of a series of monitored component failures that lead up to your service engine light coming on.
It’s a good thing that I thought this was a good topic for a newsletter or Larry would have to be the recipient of the Green Glazed donut. However, if you think that this was not a good topic let me know through the web site form and I will have to present to him (with pictures of course!!!) Drive safe, have fun and keep it under 100!
Motormouth
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