Check Engine Light On

[kenny2001vette]

My check engine light come on .It may stay like that for a day.Then it goes off and will come on again.It is a steady light and does not blink.What could be the cause of this? Could it be that my gas cap is going bad.

Thanks,Kenny Shaw

[carboman]

Kenny,

It can be a whole host of things. I doubt it's a bad gas cap on an 01. You can view and reset codes on a C5 without the use of a scan tool by pressing the correct sequence of entries on the DIC. I don't know the sequence but I'm sure a search of the C5 tech section on the corvette forum will yield the correct info.

I have a scan tool that allows the reading and resetting of codes in all OBDII equipped cars which includes all C5 and C6 Corvettes. I'd be happy hook it up to your car if you like. I'll be around tomorrow. Just PM me and I'll give you some contact info.

Best regards
Mark

[Glennm27]

How to check DTC codes:
1) Turn on the ignition, but don't start the engine.
2) Press "Reset" button in order to clear any IPC display warning messages.
3) Press and hold "Options" and press "Fuel" 4 times within a 10 second period.
4) The computer will now scroll through all the modules, showing the error codes. Once it is done it will display "No More Codes"
At any time you can scroll up and down to see each code by using the "Trip" and the "Options" buttons. Scroll to the component that has the code and press the "Gauges" button to view the code(s) numbers. To scroll through these code
numbers, use the "Trip" and "Options" button again. Hold "Reset" to clear any codes. You can delete one code at time or
all codes in any component.
5) Press the "E/M" button or shut off ignition key to end session

To optionally reset the codes once in manual mode
1) Press and hold RESET until it displays "NO CODES".
2) Press OPTIONS to go to the next module.
Repeat the steps in this paragraph until you have reset the codes in all the computer modules.

NOTE!! Only reset the codes IF you want to - it is NOT necessary to do this.

Click for codes listing =====> C5 DTC Codes List (http://www.stengel.net/diccodes.htm)

[kenny2001vette]

Thanks for the info.Will you be at the meeting on March 12? I will be there.

[Glennm27]

I will be there..

[Frank Gonzalez]

My check engine light come on .It may stay like that for a day.Then it goes off and will come on again.It is a steady light and does not blink.What could be the cause of this? Could it be that my gas cap is going bad.

Thanks,Kenny Shaw

Kenny, please note that the "Check Engine" light (CEL) is badly misnamed. It should be named "There is Something Wrong With This Car" light. In other words, any malfunction detected by the OBD system will result in lighting CEL.

The only way you can tell what's wrong is by reading the codes that illuminated the light. As already pointed out, if you have a C5, the codes can be read by pushing the right combination of buttons on the dash. If you have a C6, you are SOL ("Simply" Out of Luck) and must use a scanner to get the codes out. Once you have the codes, a quick check on the code listing will tell you what the car is complaining about. Sometimes it's something simple, sometimes not...

Frank Gonzalez

[kenny2001vette]

Thanks Frank.