AlexTank21

Hi all, new to the forums and i thought id start off by asking about my Check Engine Light problem. Car has 98k on the stock 1.6 5 spd, i was driving the other day and it popped on and stayed on. Since i didnt have an ODB 2 scanner at my disposal i attempted to loop my ecu into displaying the problem by flashing the CEL. Since i am a pro at muscle cars ( little to no onboard electronics) and a rookie in the ricer section, i unplugged the ecu from the car and the CEL went off altogether and no loop was performed for me.
My question is, will i be able to figure out what the problem was if i hook a scanner up to the car ( CEL has not popped back on yet ) and get a code that way or what should i do? Any help would be appreciated!

ezone

Unplugging the PCM most likely erased whatever data it had saved. You will have to wait until the light comes back on before you can get any info now.

DangerZone and other parts stores can read the codes for you, can't they? Get the actual code numbers, not just their descriptions and their list of parts to sell for that code.

HTH

AlexTank21

Thanks for the reply, so there's nothing I can do If it was a big problem the light would come back on soonish right?

ezone

Depends.

You define "soonish", and I'll define "depends".

Some faults turn on the light immediately, some other faults may take a couple of drive cycles and very specific conditions (test enable criteria) to run the monitors.