Engine Tune up

To best understand whether or not this is a serious problem we need to look at why the computer control system is turning on the check engine light or the service engine soon light. Most late model vehicles have several computers that control all of the functions of your vehicle. There are BCM’s (Body Control Modules), BSCM’s (Brake System Control Modules), ECM’s (Engine Control Modules), GEM’s (General Electronic Modules), PCM’s (Power Control Modules), TCM’s (Transmission Control Modules) to name a few. These modules are monitoring sensors and controlling solenoids and switches all over your vehicle, to make our (air conditioned phone booths) vehicles run efficiently. All of these computers are constantly sharing information with each other to fine tune the operation of all of the systems in the vehicle.

Whenever any of the computers see a value coming from any of those sensors it is monitoring that is out of the range it is expecting to see or it gets some information from one of the other computers that tell it the other computer has seen a value that is out of range. It will set a code in the computer and continue to monitor that sensor or other computer. If it sees that the sensor or other computer doesn’t coming back into specifications it will turn on the check engine light or service engine soon light.

The reason that light comes on in most cases is not a serious problem at that immediate moment. It is generally speaking just saying that it cannot control emissions properly and you need to get it in for service or repairs to eliminate the problem. But while the check engine light is on the systems effected are running in a fail safe mode, in other words, the computer is making sure that you can get home or to the repairs facility to have those repairs completed. While your vehicle is running in a failsafe or limp-in mode it is not functioning the way it was designed to function. All fail safe modes are designed that way, so you don’t end up stranded somewhere because an electronic sensor fails.

Sois it a serious problem and should you ignore the light, since it is just an emission control problem? The answer to that question is, no you should not ignore it, because while the vehicle is running in a fail safe mode many of the systems are affected. And it could lead to much more expensive problems by not taking care of the issue that caused the check engine light or service engine soon light to come on in the first place. So you should schedule an appointment with your trusted mechanic as soon as possible, where they can evaluate the codes and give you an estimate for the required repairs, as well as let you know how serious the problem is now or could be in the future.