Dodge Check Engine Light

How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not accurately tightened to a more serious failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it good to get the proper code reading and diagnosis. The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is typically between $88 and $111. The good news, Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver offers entirely complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help determine the cause of your check engine light.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a Dodge?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as simple as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Still, the check engine light could again be a warning of an essential problem that could cause serious damage to your engine and come with a hefty and costly repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A steady and continuous glow usually means something less serious but a flashing check engine light indicates that your vehicle’s engine is in significant trouble and useful service is required immediately. If your check engine light is flashing in your Dodge, we immensely suggest not to drive the vehicle and schedule Dodge service today. Below is a list of the most common reasons your check engine light can come on:

• Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or other item can wreak extreme havoc on your Dodge if it’s not installed properly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound familiar, bring your to Dodge and have our team of skilled certified mechanics assure that your aftermarket items were installed accurately and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, particularly aftermarket parts and accessories, or utilizing OEM parts first place might cost a little bit more but could help you save substantially from having to get poor work and damage caused by poor installation work corrected.
• Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be replaced. The mass airflow sensor in your Dodge is what determines how much fuel is required to run your engine efficiently by measuring the amount of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to certain changes, like altitude. If your Dodge is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a sudden rapid change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a essential sign of a damaged mass airflow sensor.
• Your Dodge has a vacuum leak. Every Dodge has a vacuum system that performs a wide variety of functions. The vacuum system also helps lower unhealthy emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can dry out and crack, particularly if they’re exposed to intense heat or extreme cold.
• Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your Dodge ’s exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is normally caused by regularly neglected maintenance, which is why Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver offers a free multi-point examination with every Dodge service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your Dodge will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your vehicle may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause other perilous problems from overheating.
• New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are required for your Dodge. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of your vehicle. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run smooth. The spark plug wires deliver the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are bad or old, you will experience a evident poor performance and decreased power. In some extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause clogged catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, leading to more costly repairs.
• One of the most common and frequent cause is that your Dodge gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your Dodge serves multiple purposes. It prevents unpredictable gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What happens if you have a damaged fuel cap? If your gas cap is old or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump and be more pricey. Luckily, to replace a gas cap isn't costly. If your check engine light turns on rapidly after you put gas in your Dodge, first thing you should check is to make sure the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.
• Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, known as the O2 sensor, measures the amount of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns more expeditiously and your vehicle will be less efficient when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I don’t replace your O2 sensor? A damaged sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause meaningful damage to your catalytic converter and your Dodge 's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to determine the absolutely correct mixture of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A damaged O2 sensor can also cause a vehicle to fail an emissions test.
• The battery is low or dead. The battery in your Dodge is every vital. Without a vehicle battery, your vehicle won’t start, light up the road in front, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s vehicle batteries last much longer than they did a few decades ago, and they don't absolutely require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Dodge you drive, but check our current service coupons and specials.

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly. Since each check engine code has its own level of severity, it is ordinarily difficult to predict how many miles you can be safe in driving with the warning light on. If you check engine light is flashing, we endorse that you pull over and contact Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver to help determine if your car is safe to drive in or if we endorse a tow truck.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your Dodge will frequently shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is fixed. For instance, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will promptly turn itself off. Also, if your catalytic converter is working correctly, and you did a lot of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your Dodge light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

Dodge Check Engine Light

If the check engine light in your Dodge starts flashing, that means that the problem needs attention immediately and your Dodge should be brought in quickly. A flashing light indicates that the problem is exceptionally serious and if not taken care of immediately may result in major and significant damage to the vehicle. This blinking light usually reveals a severe engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be dumped into the exhaust system. There it can immediately raise the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is likely, requiring an costly and considerable repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can explicitly be the cause. A faulty, old or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If the problem is completely ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a tremendously expensive repair. If your check engine light is consistently flashing, please contact our team of automotive experts at Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver expeditiously by calling 7207343858.

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most commonly misunderstood lights or indicators in your Dodge is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the important onboard diagnostics system, and displays in an assortment of different ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your car. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored car performance since the 80s and do an assortment of things for your Dodge. Some of these essential duties include ignition timing, shifting automatic transmissions controlling engine speed, and implementing cohesion control, just to name a few. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a wide range of different things. It can be as simple as your gas cap being loose or as perilous as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your Dodge, contact Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver. Contact Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver today! Our Dodge service department can help you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or diagnose why your check engine light is flashing.

Dodge Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are countless potential causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are many common causes including something as simple as a loose gas cap. Other generally common reasons for a Check Engine Light are faulty emissions control part, defective head gasket, dirty mass airflow sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, damaged oxygen sensor, or defective spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Dodge Certified Mechanics and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and utterly repair it as needed to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Dodge issue was entirely fixed.

Every Dodge was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the vehicle on its critical systems. The fast sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending crucial data to the electronic control unit. If the electronic control unit detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light illuminates telling you that there is a problem. Nonetheless, unfortunately that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what definitely is wrong nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Exceptionally Qualified Service professional.

Check Engine Light Service Dodge

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Dodge and suddenly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Dodge owners, your heart sinks drastically because you may have definitely idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the cost of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep, tranquil breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t mean you have to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your Dodge checked promptly. Ignoring that warning could end up causing major, considerable damage to pricey engine parts.

When your Dodge 's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it can’t correct, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is generally labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that can expeditiously identify the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic scan tool that is used by our Dodge auto repair mechanics at Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver. There are also a number of comparatively inexpensive code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you pick that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced professional to determine the explicitly correct issue and repair it.

Dodge Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating, exceptionally to see that little light on your vehicle’s dashboard suddenly illuminate, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear right away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just another name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, likewise known as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your. There are hundreds of different codes that your check engine light can correctly represent. While that sounds daunting, with a little patience, tackling basic diagnostics will give you helpful knowledge about your vehicle and will likewise allow that critical Check Engine Light to do what it is really supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, evident and useful vehicle symptoms do not constantly accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of imaginable OBD codes, there are likewise hundreds of imaginable reasons for the light, including:

• Old Battery
• Computer output circuit issues
• Transmission issues
• O2 Sensor
• Emissions controls issues
• Ignition system faults
• Bad Spark Plugs
• Fuel and air metering systems problems
• Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap

This is why it is important for someone who does not have a lot of prevailing automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. If the engine light comes on due to a serious concern, you risk damaging your car further by not repairing the issue right away. Call Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver at 7207343858 today or schedule your check engine light service online today! When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out quickly by a proficient certified Dodge mechanic.

Is it safe to drive your Dodge with the check engine light on?

This question is not exceedingly simple because it all depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be safe to drive. This is typically indicated by a steady glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the car, it could be an indication of a more serious problem. If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a serious issue and it is advised to service your Dodge immediately. Call the experts at Larry H. Miller Chrysler Dodge Ram FIAT Denver by dialing 7207343858 so you can describe the issues. Or lessen your speed and bring your Dodge to our certified mechanics as soon as imaginable.