Carthage Auto Repair

Check Engine Light why does it come on? This is a question we hear a lot. Your vehicle’s engine light comes on for a lot of reasons. The main reason it comes on is for emission related faults. You can go to a parts store and get your car hooked to a Check Engine Light Reader and get the codes read. They can give you the code and sell you the parts that may or may not fix the problem. We have high end Scan tools and OEM Software so we can fix your “Check Engine Light” correctly. If your vehicle is exhibiting a “Check Engine Light Flashing” you want to stop driving the vehicle as soon as you can safely do so. When the Check Engine Light Is Flashing that is an indication of an Engine Misfire and if you keep driving it will damage your catalytic convertor. It is always best to get the Check Engine Light on your vehicle fixed as soon as possible. If your vehicle has a “Check Engine Light” on give us a call and we will diagnose it for you and let you ... read more

Why Does My Check Engine Light Keep Coming On. This is a question we get asked about frequently. The Check Engine Light is supposed to come on when the vehicles emission levels increase 1.5% above EPA emissions standards. The vehicles onboard computer is monitoring the sensors and the oxygen content in the exhaust. The PCM can correct for small problems such as engine wear and fuel quality to a certain extent. If a sensor sends back a reading that is higher than the emission standards the Check Engine Light comes on. When you take your vehicle to a shop to get checked out, they hook a scan tool to your vehicle. This helps to get the codes and a diagnostic starting point. One of the misconceptions that is out there is the scan tool tells you what part to replace and then your Check Engine Light will go off. While this may happen once in a great while the truth is that a lot of parts get replaced that don’t need to be and ends up costing you, the consumer a lot more money than ... read more

What Causes My Check Engine Light To Flash? There are quite a few reasons why your vehicle may have a Flashing Check Engine Light.  Something as simple as a bad Spark Plug could cause a Flashing Check Engine Light and your vehicle to have a What Causes My Car To Vibrate At An Idle. Even Though your Check Engine Light may be on or flashing and it has a code P0300 which comes on when the Engine Control Module detects a misfire. If it’s bad enough it will set another cylinder specific code, you still must diagnose why the Engine Is Misfiring. Depending on what is causing the Check Engine Light To Flash it can take very sophisticated test equipment to find the root cause of the problem. The best way to find the root cause of the problem is to use a lab scope with pressure transducers in the cylinder, intake, and exhaust. This is the only way to find sticking valves and lifters that intermittently collapse. If your vehicle has a Flashing Check Engine light or the Check Engine Lig ... read more

Why Does My Check Engine Light Flash? When your Check Engine Light Flashes this is an indication of a serious issue with your engine. While sometimes it can be as simple as changing out the Spark Plugs and Wires or Coils depending on what the vehicle has. On the other hand, it can be more serious and take dedicated equipment to find the issue. One of the first things we do is hook a scan tool to the diagnostic port of the vehicle to look for clues. Depending on what we find we may have to hook our lab scope to the wires at the sensors or the ECM to check signal integrity. If all that looks good, we use pressure sensors in the cylinder, intake manifold and exhaust pipe to find the mechanical issues in the engine. This equipment can find burnt valves, bad timing belts and broken piston rings as well as a lot of other mechanical issues with out a lot of time spent taking the engine apart. If your Check Engine Light is Flashing or on give us a call and we would be more than happy to help y ... read more

Why does my Check Engine Light come on? The check engine light comes on when there is a fault in the engine emissions system. There are many reasons why it could come on. When your Check Engine Light is on your car is telling you something is wrong with it. It is best to get your Check Engine Light checked out as soon as possible. If your Check Engine Light is flashing that means the Catalytic Convertor in your car is going to damaged if you keep driving your vehicle. When your Check Engine Light is on an OEM level scan tool, or the OEM scan tool will need to be hooked to your car’s diagnostic port to retrieve the Check Engine Light codes. We retrieve the codes from your vehicle and look up the testing process in Service Information. The testing procedure needs to be followed step by step to reach the proper analysis and that could be anything from a sensor that has failed and sending the wrong information to the engine ECM to a broken wire. Sometimes it may be as simple as perfo ... read more