Talk > Automotive Social > Ban the Check Engine Light

Ban the Check Engine Light

said by JASON TORCHINSKY via Jalopnik :

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It's pretty easy to dismiss the "check engine" light as just stupid, because, well, it is. I suppose if you thought that the cause of smoke coming from under your hood had something to do with the floor mats, then, sure, the "check engine" light is handy, but beyond that, it's useless. But that's not the real problem. The real problem is that the "check engine" light is a tool for the propagation of consumer ignorance about their cars. Which is why it needs to die. Now.

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• Mystery benefits the repair lobby, so they will oppose it.
• Improved readouts would mean engineering expense, so manufacturers would oppose it.
• Consumers are apathetic and will not support it.
• The actual codes are often cryptic or misleading. For the average Joe, "random misfire" is as helpful as "Check engine."

Thanks for the link. Fun article to read and I agree with the author's points, but the initiative is going about as far as an Italian cruise ship.

oh i know it won't go anywhere. but it's worth a shot. the biggest benefit of this would be the consumer who goes to a shady machanic and the mechanic tries saying they need a new discombobulator as well as a flush and refill of the widgetmathingy fluid. the consumer would at least have the ability to say that the warning was just for a loose gas cap. and hopefully the consumer wouldn't get raked over the coals.

i especially like the italian cruise ship reference.

reply to thegeek
The "Check Engine" light serves a very useful purpose.

It tells me it's time to plug in my OBDII scan tool and find out what's bothering my ECU.

C'mon people, it's not rocket science. If it were, the light would say ""Main Bus B Undervolt".

reply to thegeek
cmon, we all know that the check engine light comes on when you need a new flux capacitor and replacement blinker fluid >_>

reply to thegeek
Sorry consumer is stupid, giving them anymore info will *not* help.

It is bad enough when they pull the codes and it says "cat efficiency low" and they think... O I need a cat, when 90% of the time it is a bad o2 sensor...

The CEL is a mostly emissions light, however that covers like 90% of the sensor in the vehicle.

I really love jackasses like the guy who wrote this article that act like the cars computer tells you EXACTLY wtf is wrong. It does nothing of the sort, it just points you to the FAULT and then you have around 100000 things it could be.

What use is it going to be telling the consumer, "Small evap leak detected" or "Large evap leak detected"

I can still tell them ANYTHING and get away with it.

This idiot says we need the codes displayed for people who can not plug something into the obd2 port... somehow they are going to understand what the car tells them? ROFL.

Anyone want the list on my "special scanner" for a evap leak small on my car?
Even if you now gave the consumer information that is paid for from experience from repairing these fault codes...

Anyone with out googling, what and where is the "roll over valve".

The link in the article does not even show error codes but PIDs ROFL.

»www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/

What is telling someone THAT going to do?

reply to thegeek

reply to No_Strings

said by No_Strings:

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• Mystery benefits the repair lobby, so they will oppose it.

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quote:

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• Improved readouts would mean engineering expense, so manufacturers would oppose it.

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quote:

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• Consumers are apathetic and will not support it.

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quote:

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• The actual codes are often cryptic or misleading. For the average Joe, "random misfire" is as helpful as "Check engine."

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Ha, you would be shocked, at what people do and do not know. Next question will be "what is a misfire" rofl.

And misfire that code still does nothing, cause now at most, the consumer knows the car/truck is misfiring.

A shop can still charge a HUGE bill... you did not answer the BIG question... *why* a shop can say the motor has a blown head gasket, bad plugs, wires, coil packs, rings, etc. Anyone can be correct, anyone can be lied about, so really, this extra information solved what?

Consumer can still be screwed... just now they think they know what they are talking about, making it so they will be screwed over by themselves as well telling a shop what to do and being wrong.

Look at all the posts in the tech forum "code scanner said X I replaced X, I still have problem Y"

reply to matt5
matt5 , it's not that a system that gives you the codes on the dash with a small explanation is going to let a consumer automatically know what is wrong. the point is the consumer could use this information and google it and find information on what the problem could possibly be. it's not about the consumer will magically be able to fix the problem. it's about providing a simple way for a consumer to protect themselves from immoral mechanics. the current system is such that 99% of people are completely reliant on the mechanic to provide truthful information.

most mechanics are honest people. you can't run a business for very long by being dishonest. especially one that relies on word of mouth for a lot of its business. but there are a lot of dishonest mechanics out there as well.

reply to thegeek
An online petition? Well, now the manufacturers will really have to listen to us!

reply to thegeek
what is needed is to take things like the gas cap off the CEL. if that is not tight it does not mean the engine is going to get harmed.. in that case maybe make the information center found on most cars simply display "Check Gas Cap"...

Outside of NJ and Oregon id imagine most people know what their gas cap is.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports

reply to thegeek
So buy a $50 code reader... problem solved. You want car makers to spend how much for something you could buy for $50.

$50 code reader will pull odb2 codes... and give you as much info as anything you want indash + then you can google.

Or am I missing something? Kinda seems lazy to me... spend $500 $1000 for it in the dash vs $50 for those who care.

lol @ gas cap.

First off, as said the CEL is an emissions light, and the "check gas cap" is a "evap leak small" or "evap leak large" the cars computer has no way to know the cap is causing the issue
50 other things can cause either evap leak, so you get a CEL, go to the mechanic... and they find the issue (you know current situation) any GOOD place will charge you very little for checking the cap and send you off...

Just because the first thing is checking the gas cap... does not mean the computer KNOWS. This is the whole point, too much information is bad.

When people come in with 5-6 quarts too much oil in the car... you really think this in dash code crap is going to help? and no I aint making it up...

but buying a $50 code reader requires the consumer to know that they are even available, then figure out where to plug it in, and then figure out how to operate the code reader. vehicles already come with the necessary hardware required to display the codes on the dash. it wouldn't take much programming to make it work. it's not like an entirely new lcd display would be needed for this.

reply to thegeek
With the computers that cars have nowadays they could easily tie in the OBD2 port and atleast offer an option to review the codes

I wouldn't kill the light but just offer something so if you see it you could just turn to the built in console

the last time I got a CEL it was after idling for awhile while I made use of the brake booster for easier brake bleeding, and later when I started it up again I had a code for lean fuel mix, cleared it to test if it was due to the long idle and it was

but that required me to get my tool out to read the code and then google the code, with whats in cars now they could atleast have a diag menu on the console to display the code

with what is in cars now the fucking satnav voice should read you the contents of a web search for the code while simultaneously posting about your issue on facebook for you.

No don't post on Facebook post here

Or better yet have it monitor when your warrenty will run out and if its not run out yet have it text your chosen dealer that you need code xyz fixed on your car and to set a time for you to be there

and if the warrenty is out then have it text your favorite shop, or just display a message to get you to trade in.

now there is a fucking brilliant idea. have it notify not only the consumer, but also the dealership of the issue. then the dealership could contact you to arrange for warranty service. i'd actually like that if i got a warning that a widget was loose and then a few minutes later a gal with a sexy voice from the dealership called to ask when a convenient time would be for me to drop by.

Better yet have a gal with a hot body show up in person where ever you are to talk about when you can be there.

reply to matt5