Cheap Place In Canada To Read "Check Engine" Code?

I don't think we have Autozone up here, so does anyone know of a cheap place to get an error code read?

Chris

Reply to
Guncho
Loading thread data ...

Get this, Toronto Hyundai tried to tell me that the Check Engine Light will never go off on it's own??!?!?!

Chris

Reply to
Guncho

I filled up the car last Tuesday and the Check Engine light came on, on Wednesday. I was thinking it was just the fuel cap so I tightened it but it hasn't gone off yet.

Will the Check Engine light go off on it's own if the problem is fixed?

Would it be a good idea to disconnect the battery to reset the light and see if it comes back on?

Also, recently if you'll recall I left the dash lights on and subsequently somone who was helping me, reversed a battery cable and blew my alternator and radio fuses which were recently repaired if that might have anything to do with it.

I'm just trying to avoid paying $50 to be told to tighten the gas cap or something.

Chris

Reply to
Guncho

After a certain number of "drive cycles" with no problems the light will go out. You can disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes to reset the computer as well. Just remember to turn off all stuff like fans, radio, etc. for the first 10 minutes or so when you first start the car again so the computer can relearn the basics again. If you were closer to Trenton I'd say just swing by my place and I'll hook my laptop up for you and flick the switch. There are a couple of local garages that will do this as well. I don't know of any shops off the top of my head in Toronto though.

Cheers, Lawrence

Reply to
Lawrence

As the light hasn't gone out since Wednesday, I'm thinking it's not the gas cap and I should take it in with the light on.

How's Trenton? My father is from there. We had a cottage in Brighton.

Chris

Reply to
Guncho

Is there any laptop interface and software that you can recommend?

Reply to
accent

I have only used one type myself. I got it from here

formatting link
I bought the Ford specific model a few years back and last fall I bought my wife a

2006 Kia Sportage so I needed a new interface so I ordered the triple combo model. My sons' Hyundai Scoupe is a 95 so it doesn't have the OBDII interface so I can't use it on that but it works great for the others. I have also used it for friends (Mazda B4000, Mazda Protege 5, Saturn, and so on). The thing I like about this particular interface is that you can use it with any computer from a 386 on up. For a while I was using mine with a 40mhz NEC Versa 486 laptop, then with a 486DX4-75 NEC Versa 2000D laptop, and now I use it with an IBM Thinkpad 600. I picked up a simple 75Watt inverter so I can plug the laptop power cord into that and then I can drive around town or whatever and record all the data from the OBDII into a file on the hard drive. When I get home I can copy that file to my desktop and replay the data back on the "digital dashboard" and print out any part of it I want for a hard copy record of performance. The software for this interface is updated usually once a month so you just need to go to the web site and you can download the update for free. I'm not sure of how the price of this unit compares to others but it has worked flawlessly for me and with my local Ford dealer wanting to charge $67 (Canadian) just to read the codes (this was before a few free places showed up in this area) the stuff I have done with my interface has already paid for itself twice over.

Cheers, Lawrence

Reply to
Lawrence

To confirm you still have a problem you could always disconnect the battery to reset the computer and then see if the light comes back on once you start driving again. I just realized too that you didn't happen to mention what year the vehicle is so I might have jumped the gun by automatically thinking OBDII when you might have meant OBDI or something. Trenton probably isn't much different from what your Dad could tell you. We just had the big Walleye/Pike fishing derby this past weekend so it was a bit lively out on the water. I didn't catch anything worth while but I had to work for part of the weekend (I'm a civilian tech on the Hercules flight simulator on the base here) so I didn't get a chance to fish much.

Cheers, Lawrence

Reply to
Lawrence

It's a '99 Accent GSI. Actually the check engine light went off just as I got to work so I don't need to take it in anymore!

Yeah!

My grandfather was an airplane mechanic on the Trenton airbase. Did you grow up there or move there for work?

Chris

Reply to
Guncho

here's some info that might be useful

formatting link

Reply to
news

From what I gather, the hardware I will need is the ISO interface for my Hyundai Accent 2001. It comes with the 16 pin male connector for the car, 9 pin female rs232 connector for the computer and a RJ45 cable in between. All this and the software will cost $122 USD.

Too bad the USB option is not supported for ISO, my computer does not have a serial port.

Thank you for the info.

Reply to
accent

That was one of the reasons why I was using older 486 laptops at first. You can get one on eBay for a dirt cheap price. With an older laptop like that I didn't really care if I got it a bit dirty (I wrapped a layer of saran wrap around my keyboard so I wouldn't drip anything in between the keys). Once I was done my work I just transferred the saved data file to my main system at home.

Cheers, Lawrence

Reply to
Lawrence

Thanks for that link. Looks like some interesting reading there.

Cheers, Lawrence

Reply to
Lawrence

Sounds like you had enough drive cycles to get the thing to reset itself. Some people assume that just starting the vehicle a bunch of times in a row will clear the light but it needs a certain amount of time and driving conditions to reset. I don't know what the specs are on all that though. I moved to Trenton back in 1979 when my Dad got posted here. Finished my high school, did

2 years of college (electronics engineering tech), couldn't get a job since I didn't have any work experience in the field so I joined the military myself. Just happened my first posting was Trenton where I worked on the electronics for the C130 Hercules and Boeing 707 for a few years and then got on the computers for the flight simulators. In 1994 that got contracted out so I got out of the military to keep doing the same job I had been doing except as a civilian now working for CAE who holds the contract for the sims. So basically I've been here since 1979 except for a 3 year period from 1991-94 when I was working on the Aurora simulator in Greenwood, Nova Scotia.

Cheers, Lawrence

Reply to
Lawrence

My new laptop does not have a serial port as well. (no legacy support)

the cool thing about the software, is you can get yourself an older, cheap laptop. (50-100 bucks from craigslist, eekbay, friend, etc... then run it with the inverter if the battery doesnt hold a charge...) Like Lawrence mentioned, is to DL the info then replay the info in the "digital dashboard" at home.

I dont like the feeling of my new gateway widescreen riding shutgun :))

Reply to
news

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.