[ale] OT: check light diagnostic tool

Wed Jun 12 13:52:00 EDT 2013

Dodge likes them, the check gauges lights, that is.  They used them on
their vans for some time. It comes on when any gauge hits a warning point
(oil, temp, rpm, but not fuel which has its own light). The light will
flicker when something is teetering on warning level, too.

When oil is low, it will appear on hard turns and hard stops. It'll also
come on during an overheat condition as I have found. :-(
On Jun 12, 2013 1:47 PM, "Greg Clifton" <gccfof5 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have not seen a "check gauge" light, but for a vehicle of that age, I
> would suspect a failing sensor. However, it would be a good idea to clean
> your battery terminals if you haven't done that in a while. All manner of
> spurious computer codes can be generated when the power level (generally
> due to marginal ground connections since US cars are pretty much all
> NEGATIVE ground systems).
>
> If that is of no help, sensors that might be suspect would be Coolant
> Temp, MAF or AMP and Intake Air Temp sensor depending on what type of air
> metering system your vehicle has. It could also be an oil pressure sensor,
> on some cars a failure of this sensor will kill the spark and cause
> driveability  issues.  One more that just occurred to me is the possibility
> of a faulty fuel pressure sensor (often part of the fuel pump assembly in
> the tank, which could also be failing with this age vehicle, depending on
> the mileage). I wouldn't suspect the knock sensors, however a look at the
> plugs and the spark wires (assuming you don't have coil on plug) might be
> in order.
>
> Has you MPG changed since the light has started coming on? In my
> experience the most common causes of check engine lights being illuminated
> are loose gas cap, other vacuum leak, clogged EGR pipe/valve and O2 sensor
> [heater] failure (roughly but not absolutely in that order). But none of
> these are "gauged" sensors so I don't see how they could be involved in
> your case.
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 12:55 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) <
> atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:
>
>> From other comments, it sounds like the check gauge light (never heard of
>> that) is different from check engine, so this may not be relevant to you.
>>  For what it's worth, I had an intermittent check engine light on a 2002
>> toyota camry that I ultimately traded.  It went on and off for years with
>> sometimes months between cycles.  We managed to read a scan code on it
>> while it was on once and the mechanic said the catalytic converter was on
>> the verge of failure.  It would do slightly better or worse depending on
>> drive time, ambient conditions, and fuel characteristics (I assume).  I
>> managed to get the light to go off a couple of times with a fuel additive.
>>  O2 sensors and mass air flow sensors can also cause problems like this.
>>  You probably already know it, but you cannot pass an emissions test if
>> such a light is on.  If I remember correctly, and what people may not know,
>> is that an emission test result is valid for up to 1 year.  So, you can get
>> the emissions tested when the li!
>>  ght is off, and then go use that months later to buy your tag.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>
>> Geoffrey Myers <lists at serioustechnology.com> wrote:
>>
>> >Yes, it is for a 1999 Mazda pickup. Really would like immediate
>> >results, so don't want to wait for over night shipping. Took it by
>> >autozone a while back, but did not show anything. Also, it doesn't stay
>> >on. Has been blinking on and off for a couple of months. Just recently
>> >it has been coming on more regularly, hence the inquiry. I'll check my
>> >local auto parts stores.
>> >
>> >--
>> >From my iPhone
>> >Geoffrey Myers
>> >
>> >On Jun 12, 2013, at 11:49 AM, neal <neal at mnopltd.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> If you need immediate results, as noted Autozone will do for free.
>> >>
>> >> Note that stock ODBC readers will NOT find all manufacturer data, at
>> >least for Toyota and Mercedes there is a wealth of data ODBC cannot
>> >access - only dealer computers can.     In many cases the DTC code is
>> >only an approximation of what is really going on.  You can experiment
>> >with crowd-sourcing your DTC code against what others have done to fix,
>> >but, unless it's cheap to try, you might be better off getting the
>> >dealer to read the real codes.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Sent from Samsung tablet
>> >>
>> >> Phil Turmel <philip at turmel.org> wrote:
>> >> On 06/12/2013 09:48 AM, Geoffrey Myers wrote:
>> >> > Looking for recommendations. Can one be purchased locally?
>> >>
>> >> I've been extremely happy with a simple "ELM-327" bluetooth dongle
>> >and
>> >> "Torque Pro" on my android phone.
>> >>
>> >> Phil
>> >>
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>> >
>> >------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
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>>
>> --
>>
>> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9
>> Mail.
>> Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen.
>>
>> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
>> call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
>> mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very
>> quickly.)
>>
>> Ron Frazier
>> 770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
>> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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>>
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>
>
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