Hey Fellow Mustangers -
At approx 129,900 miles my "check engine" light came on and stayed on. Is this programmed into the computer to happen for all 96 Mustangs? Or... is there the possibility of something serious wrong with my engine? Either way I do plan on taking it in to the shop; I just want to know how urgent it is.
Not an easy question to answer.
First stop is autozone or retail parts shop. Get a codes readout/printout.
I had several cars growing up where after 100k miles the check engine light came on while no obvious problems were visible. Got a printout and a dealer evaluation only to find absolutley nothing. Sometimes they just flicker on and persist to annoy you.
Holly
No, it's not programmed in.. it saw a fault. May or may not be serious...
When you get the codes read out at autozone, wherever... bring them, not the definitions, here... or alt.autos.ford
Helps keep the shops honest
IMHO if all the fluids are at proper levels, gauges read normal, and it seems to be running/shifting fine I wouldn't get too wound up about getting it in asap. I'd bring it in when it was convenient.
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Meaning ... within a few hundred miles and NO LONG TRIPS before.
I'm betting this is something you can fix yourself if you've ever handled tools... but we wont know until you bring the codes.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating starting out on a cross country trip with the check engine light on. I'm just saying that it's probably not necessary to drop everything going on in your life this instant to get it in. You could drive it to work for a few days without any problem and bring it in when you have an opening in your schedule.
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