Check Engine Light
 

I have 424 miles on my brand new '04 WRX, and all of a sudden the Check Engine Light has come on. It happened tonight while driving home in the rain. Any ideas what could be causing this? I filled up with 93 octane about 150 miles ago, so I don't think it is related to the gas I used.

Go back to your dealer and get it checked. Could be anything, or nothing at all.

go to AutoZone! Free Check engines...

The dealership is free too, he is still under warranty.

Gas cap not on all the way?

I had the same thing on my 04wrx. They tryed to tell me it was teh gass cap... for me it was the rear o2 sensor.... took them a hour to fix it...the exhaust has to cool down.... no big deal.

In CA Autozone isn't allowed to do free CEL checks anymore... ;*(**

but i see you're not CA so it dunt matter! but just fyi for other people =P


You should go to the dealership since your under warranty, so not only will you know what is wrong, they will fix it for you too..

HI Chris THE SENDING UNIT IN THE ENGINE BLOCK MITE BE BAD
I HAVE SEEN THIS WITH OTHER CARS WE FIXED IT BY CHANGING
THE ANTIFREEZE YOUR ADDITIVE PACKAGE IS GONE WHEN THAT HAPPENS IT WILL EAT AWAY AT THE SENDING UNIT HAVE IT CHECK OUT MOST MANCANIC DON'T KNOW THIS.. AND REPLACE IT
HAVE YOUR COOLANT CHECK OUT! GOOD LUCK

Thanks for all the responses guys. I called Subaru this morning and got the gas cap routine. I already checked the tightness of the cap last night, and it seemed to not be clicked on all the way. I opened it and tightned it back up. The guy at Subaru told me to wait 48 hours and see if the light goes away. If not, he said to bring the car by on Monday and they will fix it for me. I'd imagine they would be able to diagnose the problem by viewing an error code of some sort. Am I correct?

Just out of curiosity, is there anyway to force the CEL to turn off? Say by unhooking the battery, etc?

If the problem that caused the CEL to turn on is corrected the light will go out on its own after a few driving cycles. It is also possible to force a reset by disconnecting the battery but this isn't a good idea because it clears the code from memory so it can't be read anymore, and disconnecting the power also clears the learned fuel and spark tables and resets them to zero so the ECU has to begin learning all over again.
Just drive the car around over the weekend and if it was just the gas cap the light should go off. If it doesn't, and even if it does, a trip to the dealer to get the code read will shed light on the cause.

Mulder, thanks for the informative response. I drove the car around a bit tonight. If the CEL isn't out by Monday, I'll bring it by the dealer so they can read the error code. I definitely won't be unhooking the battery. I was just curious if unhooking the battery would actually cause the light to go out and clear the code (which you said it does). If I remember correctly, on my old SE-R, only the dealer had the ability to get rid of the CEL. I never had mine come on in the four years that I owned it, however. Thanks again. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mulder [/i]
[B]If the problem that caused the CEL to turn on is corrected the light will go out on its own after a few driving cycles. It is also possible to force a reset by disconnecting the battery but this isn't a good idea because it clears the code from memory so it can't be read anymore, and disconnecting the power also clears the learned fuel and spark tables and resets them to zero so the ECU has to begin learning all over again.
Just drive the car around over the weekend and if it was just the gas cap the light should go off. If it doesn't, and even if it does, a trip to the dealer to get the code read will shed light on the cause. [/B][/QUOTE]

CEL Off
 

The CEL went off on its own today when I started the car. It hasn't come back on since. It must have been a loose gas cap.

The code will still be in memory even though the light is out. It would be a good idea to get the code read to be sure it was just the gas cap and not something else. Have the dealer scan it if that isn't a problem for you, otherwise there are several fellow owners in NJ with scanners who can do it if you post in Tri-State here and/or on NASIOC.

If the CEL comes back on, I will bring it to the dealer right away since that would indicate a recurring problem. I am almost 100% positive it was due to the gas cap being loose. I tightened it, drove the car around once, and the following day the light went off. Thanks a lot for your help, Mulder.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Mulder [/i]
[B]The code will still be in memory even though the light is out. It would be a good idea to get the code read to be sure it was just the gas cap and not something else. Have the dealer scan it if that isn't a problem for you, otherwise there are several fellow owners in NJ with scanners who can do it if you post in Tri-State here and/or on NASIOC. [/B][/QUOTE]

Well, the CEL came back on once again tonight. To the dealer it goes tomorrow. :mad: