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Eclipse: "Service Engine Soon" story

Naturally, this all happened as soon as the car (2001 4 cyl. Eclipse) went out of warranty.

First the right headlamp goes out. I take it to Pep Boys, expecting a simple bulb replacement, but they say no, it's electrical, better take it to the dealer. So I do, and on Friday they fix whatever was wrong; both headlamps work fine. There are no problems driving the car Saturday and Sunday.

Monday morning I go to start the car: nothing. It is very cold out. Thinking the battery might need a charge, I use my jumper cables, but to no avail. Now I think I must have a dead battery. I call AAA to bring out a new battery. They come out, but they are able to jump-start the car! Still suspicious, and noting the "Service Engine Soon" light now illuminated and staying on, I take the car to a local service station to check the starter, alternator and battery. They all check out OK. The car runs fine, but the "Service Engine Soon" light is still staring at me. The radio/CD player is also on the fritz, and turning it on simply gives the display "CODE" on the monitor read-out. Is there something going on here, I do I just need to run the car up to the dealer for a re-set?

Thanks in advance to any wiser minds than mine who know the answer and post a reply.

---- Kurt Straub

Reply to
Kurt Straub
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The "code" is the factory anti-theft device. You left the battery dead for more than 20 minutes and need to re-enter the code. As for the CEL, go to AutoZone or Advance auto. One of those place reads the code for free.

Reply to
Robert Honea

I finally did reach the service desk at the dealer; he said the same thing you did here.

The dealer offered to run a diagnostic on the Service Engine Soon light, but for over a hundred bucks! On the other hand, he also said it might just go away in a couple of days. Apparently it will not go away just because I have re-set the anti-theft code using the radio pre-set buttons. Well, I get the car out of the body shop tomorrow, we will see what happens. Thanks for the reply.

---- Kurt

Reply to
Kurt Straub

No, those codes do not go away after a couple of days. Some codes will clear, but not ones that last for more than a few minutes. If you have one on for days, you have some emission related issue. You could pull battery power to the car for about 10 seconds (capacitors in ECU) and clear it, but it may come right back. In addition, the ECU would be reset to factory defaults. Also, your car may run like crap for a hour of so until it "re-learns" the condition of your car.

The fact is you have a 3G. You can't do a lot of mods to that car. If you had a 1 or 2G turbo'd car, another story and a lot more variables. Since it's a 3G, you could maybe have done an exhaust and intake (and gained 2 HP-wow!). That isn't going to cause a problem. Find out what the code is, and deal with it. My bet is that you have either a fuel trim (bad O2 sensor, EGR valve, or random misfire). You probably just need to change out the plug wires....

Reply to
Robert Honea

Adding to the mystery of all this, the "Service Engine Soon" light blazed away from about thirty minutes of driving after I entered the anti-theft codes, and then went black----- and has not been seen since!

Go figure.

--- Kurt Straub

Reply to
Kurt Straub

Hi Just read your message "service engine soon story". I recently bought a second hand Mitsubishi Eclipse. It shows the same warning of "service engine soon".

Please let me know what was wrong in your case and how did you fix it.

Reply to
Sunny_Sharma

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