- It's May 1st. It was 32ºF when I left to drop the kids off at school. Where's my Global Warming, Mr. Gore?
- Filled up the Ram this morning. Fucking ouch. $73 and it was only down to ¼ tank. Tell me again how we went to "War For Oil"? Fucktards.
- Got the Cub Scout Fishing Derby & Rocket Launch coming up next Friday. I spent a good chunk of my pre-teen and teenaged years positively fascinated by rockets and model rocketry (how many teenaged boys d'ya think know who Robert Goddard even is, let alone idolize him as much as Larry Bird?) Needless to say, I am seriously stoked. Also needless to say is that Daddy will be entering his own custom-built rocket. Heh.
- Got a question for the other motorheads out there: On Sunday the "Check Engine" idiot light came on in my truck. Now, it wasn't running rough or anything out of the ordinary, and there's several thousand reasons for the light to come on, so I just shrugged it off and called the dealership for an appointment to check it out. Monday night after work, I start the truck up and the light's off. Hasn't come back on since. Anyone ever heard of a "Check Engine" light going out on its own?
That's about all for now...
19 comments:
Fishing Derby and Rocket Launch. . . that brings some interesting images to mind. . .
- Do the rockets go off when you get a bite?
- Is the line tied to the rocket and how much fish can a rocket lift?
- How about rocket propelled fish or maybe fishing lures? I supposed if you had one you would need the other to catch them. . . Can the lure be shoulder launched?
- is a shoulder launched RPFL legal here?
- heck, save time and just drop in a ziploc with some black powder and an igniter and net what floats up to the surface (may take some of the fun out of it but then again big booms are fun too)
- Why do I keep thinking "you may be a redneck if. . . .You mix fishing and black powder"
Yes, my mind is in a weird place today. . .
Larry Bird? How many kids today even remember him? You might as well be talking about Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain!'
As for the "Check Engine" light coming on and then mysteriously going off. I vote for your gas cap being loose. In my truck (as was explained to me), every 10 starts, the truck pressurizes the gas tank to see if the pressure holds. If it doesn't, that means that there is either 1.) a hole in the tank or (more likely) 2.) the gas cap is loose. The light doesn't reset until the next pressurization.
My "Check Engine" light comes on with surprising regularity after my wife fills the truck.
JD,
I s'pose I should have mentioned that the two events are consecutive, not concurrent... *G*
andrew,
That makes a lot of sense, actually. Except that the light came on while the truck was running, not at start-up.
Wonder if it somehow lost pressurization?
We went to war for the oil companies, not for oil itself. The price of crude in early `03 was a quarter of what it is today.
ExxonMobil's net profit for the first quarter of `08 is $10.9 billion dollars.
I call mission accomplished!
ExxonMobil's net profit for the first quarter of `08 is $10.9 billion dollars.
Second largest earnings period in their history and they were still "disappointed" because it fell below their forecast.
If we can perhaps rattle the sabres a little harder towards Iran maybe we can get regular up to about $5.50 per gallon.
Supply and demand and all of that being what it is.......
Jay,
With a loose gas cap, the light won't go on 'till you're about 10 miles down the road.
The computer has a dampening circuit in the process, in order to not register transient anomolies until it's sure that the tank's not holding pressure.
It's the same circuit that keeps the bobbin' & splashin' in the tank from making your fuel gauge do St. Vitus' dance in your instrument panel.
Smooths things out, as it were, see?
Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Mine went on for 2 days and then off last week.
Idiot light is right. Its a scam between the auto makers and EPA to get you to bring your car in for unecessary service.
Jim,
Now that's a possibility. Of course, a couple of times I've forgotten to put the damn gas cap back on before starting the truck (I looooove remote start!) and not gotten a light, so...
BTW, happy belated birthday you old fart! :) All the cool people are born in April...
Countertop,
At least they're putting gauges back in cars. The term "idiot light" came into being in the '70s and '80s when the only two gauges in the car were the speedometer and the gas gauge. Engine temp, oil pressure, etc. were left to the one "idiot light", which could pretty much go on for any reason up to and including a bird taking a crap on the hood...
"Check Engine": Did you, per chance, fill said Ram whist engine running? Computer thingy looks for gas tank vapor leaks while truck is "on" i.e. running. Same goes for not tightening filler cap when done "feeding". One of the many code violations that can be here one moment and gone the next I'm sure our friends can think up a few more harmless violations based on this theme, water in fuel etc.
Steve M.
Sorry, should have read all the other postings said basically the same thing... Dooh
My Buddy from work is off the Global Warming Kool-Aide.
I love seeing the Algorians convert!
Misfit: Wouldn't it therefore follow that the real movers behind all this are the Norwegian Government, who have all that state owned oil propping up their entire economy? And every other nation on earth that produces oil, since as far as I know, they all have state oil monopolies or other cushy deals?
And that completely disregards the fact that worldwide demand for fuel, with China and India and Indonesia becoming richer and thus consuming more fuel, is what's really driving oil prices up, not some nebulous connection to Iraq (which wasn't pumping much more oil before the war than it is now, or indeed, than it was for most of the time after the immediate start of the war - but that requires looking at actual output data, which throws a crimp in such theories).
"They made a profit therefore the war was for them" doesn't pass basic logic requirements. Unless you have some evidence for actual machinations on their part or on the part of Congress with that end?
Christ, what'll it be next? The "Afghan oil pipeline" bit?
Jay: "Check engine" means "Computer thinks you have an emissions problem"; can be, as mentioned, as simple as the gas cap not being completely tight. And if the cause goes away, the light will eventually (how long it takes depends on the car and the cause) go out all by itself.
If she's running smooth, it's nothing too important. (I've had it coincide with not running smooth, but that was when the aiflow meter on my Toyota died... at the start of a 3000 mile road trip. Good times.)
I'm going with Sigivald's diagnosis- I had a Neon when I was in grad school (00')(I think I was the only hetero ever to have one of those, but man was I broke), and the idiot light came on when my plugs fouled- the O2 sensor didn't like what it read in the emissions.
For what it's worth, the first time I ran on Ethanol vs. MTBE, the idiot light went off on my Ram, too, but off again after 5 days.
In 1998-to oh-something, the engines needed like 20 hours of run time to reset the light automatically with emission problems- I think that that may have changed.
Dynamite + fishing= good times.
Why waste time trying to catch them one at a time?
jay,
Check for a ram forum and find out how to pull the computer codes. For my Jeep it's something like hold the milage reset in while turning the key from the acc to the on position. The dash should flash a few times then it will throw out some numbers or codes on the od. You should be able to find out what the codes are on the ram forums.
Don't think this clears them from the computer so if you still bring it in for service at the dealership they should still be able to pull the same codes.
Jay-
If you're worried about the light, head to an Autozone (or maybe pepboys) and they will run the codes for you for free. If the computer's memory did store a code, you can then plug that into Google to see whats up. It will only cost you the gas to drive to and from Autozone.
Check engine light can come on and back off for a number of reasons. Your truck could for example misfire, triggering the light. If the condition does not repeat itself for certain amount of time or miles, the light will turn off. I would definitely NOT go to check it out yet. However, it is possible that the light will come on again at some point in the future (and maybe off again, too)
If you have Autozone out in Massa.. Mussa... er... where you live, they will scan the trouble codes for free in a few minutes. If you don't, call other auto parts stores to see if they might do it...
Check your gas-cap. Often they'll light up if the cap isn't all-the-way tight. Dealer told me to "crank it till it chatters like you're ripping it off."
DD
PS: read after typing / before posting, still joining the chorus...
Well, it's been over three weeks and the Check Engine Light hasn't come back on, so I'm chalking it up to entropy... ;)
Thanks for the advice everyone!
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