H, I was driving car. Suddenly check engine light turned on. Car runs fine. Light is not blinking. Should I continue driving the car?
I googled about this and the following article appeared. Can you please tell what should I do?
https://www.autocornerd.com/check-engine-light-on-but-car-runs-fine/
My "usual" rule of thumb on check engine lights are as follows:
Usually, when a check engine light comes on and it doesn't change how its running, it usually means the OBDII system has picked up a fault which is emissions related. These types of faults will not hurt the vehicle in the short term. Obviously you'd want to get the codes looked at as soon as possible, then get the issue fixed.
If the engine changes how it is running, then there is something definitely wrong beyond emissions. You'd want to get it taken care of as soon as possible or you run the risk of damaging your vehicle further.
I agree with Paulster2's general advice.
It is not difficult to ask the cars computer what it is complaining about. Some cars have the ability to display the problem, aka the On Board Diagnostic II (OBD2) code, on the dashboard. Check the owners manual for this capability.
I like to use a phone based OBD2 scanner. Most modern cars are equipped with an OBD2 port.
https://www.plxdevices.com/obdii-compliant-vehicles-s/153.htm
Usually the port to connect to is below the dashboard on the drivers side.
Although I have a couple of these, I have good luck with this VeePeak scanner:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073XKQQQW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use OBD Fusion on my iPhone. I find it easy to use, easy to read and clear codes and has gauges and more advanced diagnostics such as looking at the freeze frame data when the code was set.
https://www.obdsoftware.net/software/obdfusion
Some cars with set the Check Engine light on something simple, like low washer fluid.
I think this question and answer is helpful:
What possible causes for the "check engine" light can I check for myself?
