Sunday morning, you’re at the diner having breakfast. Two men at the counter are having a loud discussion about “Check Engine lights.”

“The only reason for ‘em is to make you spend money. The light in my Taurus has been on for two years. I put a piece of tape over it. Car runs fine.”

“Yeah, it’s just another case of computers trying to take over the country.”

Well, maybe, maybe not. The fact is that today’s cars and trucks are pretty smart and a Check Engine light usually means something is not working properly or has failed. Your vehicle may run and operate fine, or it may not. The problem with ignoring that light is that a simple fix could turn into a major and costly repair down the road. (A $150 ignition coil today could be a $1500 catalytic converter next month.)

Have that light checked out.

Autoworks Tech Staff