SES came on, can it be something serious?

NorCal Lancer · Sep 29, 2009, 10:37 AM

I'm very busy with school and won't have time to take my car in until tomorrow, but I just wanted to know if anyone might have a clue on why my SERVICE ENGINE SOON light came on. My car is a 2004, I'lm the only owner, mods are Injen CAI and RRM UDP. My car only has 36k miles on it, the light just came on on my way to school this morning. This light has never came on, ever, so anything common that it could be? thanks for any help guys!

Spooky_Neo · Sep 29, 2009, 10:52 AM

Could be a lot of thing...we have the same mods (Injen and UDP) and my SES never came on...if you could go get an ODB2 reader, read the code and then post it back that would be much more useful. Return the reader after if you want...but without the code, it could be anything.

Is your car having trouble ? Is it behaving different than before ?

Thomar · Sep 29, 2009, 07:07 PM

yea wont know till you get the code read.

NorCal Lancer · Sep 29, 2009, 07:44 PM

wow, i just looked at the prices for those things, ranges from $50-90ish. Will the shop charge me to read it? or will they charge me a lot? this **** is stupid, now is not the time to have my car fuggin up. As for the performance, everything appears to run the same, but i'm afraid to push my car now...

soulesswarrior · Sep 29, 2009, 09:51 PM

some shops do it free some charge. mineki or whatever their called do it free. my ses comes on and off randomly says its running lean but comes and goes. ive noticed it with after market intakes. only happens when i have one on. could be the same for you.

NorCal Lancer · Sep 30, 2009, 01:24 AM

thanks soulesswarrior, I'm planning on hitting up Meineke tomorrow morning before my class. Hopefully its nothing serious

buchnerj · Sep 30, 2009, 01:35 AM

Yeah, Meineke, AutoZone, Advanced Auto or NAPA will usually pull the code for free. Some people will try and screw you and charge a fee, just call around and ask and im sure youll find someone to pull it for free.

Thomar · Sep 30, 2009, 10:55 PM

well u know, do the obvious.. check for leaks, check your oil levels, check your coolant, check the gas cap.. make sure it clicks. if the car feels the same, sounds the same, runs the same then it's probably a sensor or something else fracking up but doesnt really cause your car to break down.
just take it easy on it till you get the code read. then you'll know what the computer came up with.

soulesswarrior · Oct 1, 2009, 01:58 AM

Keep in mind all the local autozones in my area stopped pulling code where I live here in socal I'm not sure it that's nationwidor not though

NorCal Lancer · Oct 1, 2009, 05:29 PM

i went to jiffy lube, i tried to go to meineke but i couldnt find it, haha. The code was nothing serious i guess, i got an oil change and the cleaning of the fuel system thing or whatever. so its fine now, i was freaking out becuz i hated looking at that SES light. Thanks to everyone who had some input!

Raikiri · Oct 1, 2009, 05:31 PM

lol i picked up a very basic one off of amazon. its a little steep but at least you can clear the code anytime you get one instead of having to pay the dealership to clear it which is like basically the price of the code reader. autozone will check the code but they wont clear it unless you buy something from them to fix the "problem" cause of some laws or something like that but thats what i've been told but i could've just been given wrong information so i'd buy something from them

LancerEVA06 · Oct 1, 2009, 05:38 PM

If the MIL/SES light is on and not blinking... it's normally nothing serious. If it's blinking, STOP DRIVING!

AutoZone and Advance Auto Parts will both pull the codes for free. They will not erase them however. (Unless laws aren't in place in your state.)

FYI... To clear the codes in a 02-06 Lancer/Evo... in the fuse box under your hood, there's 2 fuses surrounded by a yellow clip. Pull that clip wait 30 seconds, push the clip back in.... codes cleared.

Raikiri · Oct 1, 2009, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LancerEVA06

FYI... To clear the codes in a 02-06 Lancer/Evo... in the fuse box under your hood, there's 2 fuses surrounded by a yellow clip. Pull that clip wait 30 seconds, push the clip back in.... codes cleared.

That is assuming he already knows the code. If he gets his own code reader he would save himself a trip to autozone/advance auto everytime a code comes up. BUT I have never known about this method. Exactly what fuses are you pulling when you do this method? Hoping it doesnt screw with the computers of the car.

LancerEVA06 · Oct 1, 2009, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raikiri

That is assuming he already knows the code. If he gets his own code reader he would save himself a trip to autozone/advance auto everytime a code comes up. BUT I have never known about this method. Exactly what fuses are you pulling when you do this method? Hoping it doesnt screw with the computers of the car.

It's the IOD fuse. Bascially it's the fuse for you ECU and Radio. When you put the car into storage you pull the IOD fuse so there is no current drain. The engineers put it in there so you dont have to disconnect the battery when you store the car.