Check engine light or OBD2 reader eraser

Jul 07, 2006 6 Replies

Hi All,



How do I turn off the check engine light? The car won't pass inspection with it on. I tried disconnecting the battery but nothing happened. I found some check engine code readers/erasers on EBay here

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Has anyone tried similar one?



Thanks,



In most, if not all states that require emissions inspection, turning the CEL off won't help you. The reason is that the moment you do that, something called a 'monitor' in the computer changes status to 'not ready'. It becomes 'ready' again when the vehicle has been through a driving cycle, which requires a mix of city and highway driving etc. Assuming that the problem which caused the CEL to turn on in the first place did not somehow miraculously cure itself, by the time the monitor is ready, the CEL will be on again. Sorry to rain on your parade -- you really need to fix the vehicle. And when you do, please pat yourself on the shoulder for doing your part to keep this earth green.

The problem with your statement "fix your vehicle" is that very often the vehicle meets emissions criteria with the check engine light on. I have had this happen to me on two different vehicles--a '97 V8 Explorer and a 2000 Avalon. Using the car's computer to give the answer instead of doing a true emissions test is bad politics.

Go to either AutoZone or Advance Auto and ask them to do a free read on your vehicle.( I always tip the guy something) Then ask for the code and problem, post it here and someone smarter than myself can help! /Richard

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