Anyone know how to reset "Check Engine" lghit.

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====pull the neg battery cable for a few minutes.

Reply to
Scott M

Disconnecting the battery for a while will work, except that it won't fix whatever caused the CEL to turn on in the first place, and you will soon see it again. Do yourself a favor and have it properly diagnosed.

Reply to
Happy Traveler

The enunciator will go out, after twenty restarts, if the fault has been corrected.

mike hunt

Dorothy wrote:

Reply to
MelvinGibson

AutoZone stores offer free on board diagnostic checks. They can read the code that caused the light to come on in the first place, and reset it. They may not reset if if you are due to have an emissions test in the near term ( they will ask you about this). You want to know what caused the check engine light (CEL) to come on in the first place. Depending on the code, its very likely that it will come right back again after clearing, and will continue to do so until the problem it is trying to alert you about is corrected.

In my experience, there are very few "spurious" codes that will NEVER come back after a reset, other than a misfire code from driving through a huge puddle that wets down the spark plug wires!

AZ also sells a reasonably priced line of on board diagnostic Type II (OBD II) code readers that you can use to read and reset the trouble codes yourself at an interface plug located under the dash near the steering column. All makes of 1996 and later USA market passenger vehicles use this standard diagnostic code system, so you can use the reader on any such vehicle. You can recover the reader cost pretty quickly by charging all your friends who want to "borrow" it a few bucks each once they find out you have it!

In a 97 Ford product, some of the most likely codes you will see are P0420 and P0430, which indicate that your cat converter is wearing out. If those codes show, your driveabilty will not likely be affected, but will have to be dealt with prior to your next emissions inspection. Most states now use the information read at the OBDII interface as a the basis for pass/fail emissions testing on cars having that diagnostic system. If you have a CEL, you will fail. And the system is smart enough to flag if someone cleared the CEL with a reader within a certain number of driving cycles. That flag will not clear until all on board diagnostic tests pass on their own for several test cycles in a row after the reset, and if present during a state emissions test, will also be the basis for a failed test.

Bottom line - the CEL s trying to tell you something - pay attention to it!

Reply to
Chris Bowne

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