Engine Light :'(

[GoodDayForADrive]

Why is this happening to me, my car is falling apart.. lol...

Anyways, the check engine light came on yesterday, and hasn't gone off yet, and I've driven it around a little.. I can 't figure out what the problem is..

The ONLY difference I notice when driving is that sometimes the car idles high, about 200 RPMs above normal idle, but then it slowly drifts back to normal idle if I let it sit for a few seconds. Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I want to take it to get the thing read or whatever, but it's sunday, and I won't coming back home till next sunday, and so everything is closed and I can't take it anywhere for two weeks so I wanna get some ideas. Thanks for any help

[GoodDayForADrive]

bump, any ideas?

[burn_your_money]

Does it idle high only when you first start the car up, or when you are sitting at a stop light or something?

[GoodDayForADrive]

Does it idle high only when you first start the car up, or when you are sitting at a stop light or something?

Does that mostly when I just started the car, but it happens every now and then at stop lights, etc.

[Mr_Diesel]

Check these things:

1. EGR and emission control
2. Idle control valve
3. Spark plugs
4. Sensors... Namely the O2 sensor.


Go to autozone and pull the code off there and tell us what it is.

[speedbump]

My 96 Jetta Trek 2.0, the CEL comes on quite often, once it stayed on for 70k miles, and often a scanner would show nothing wrong, or faulty CEL, but usally showed misfires. One thing I found is that the OE plug wires often "leak" and this will turn on the CEL, If you haven't yet, I'd suggest larger wires. To see if your plug wires are "leaking", go out when it's dark, open the hood, start the engine and use a spray bottle to mist the plug wires with water. If you see blue arcing (sometimes very faint so no lights on) replace the wires.
Another thing to check is the MAF, they are known to get an oily film on them, and sometimes need to be carefully cleaned (2.0s).
Best thing to do is get it scanned, that takes the guess work out of it. Auto Zone will scan it free of charge.
Mr. Diesel mentioned the OXS, another good thing to check out. They should be replaced every 30k - 35k, and I'm sure we all do that. :roll: ........ Not at $80+ each.

Also, I know that on my Blazer, leaving the gas cap off or loose or a leak in the evap system will turn on the CEL, I'm not sure if VWs do this.

[GoodDayForADrive]

hmm... engine light randomly went off today, ,not sure if that's good or bad...

[TougeSpecialist]

It could be that your ecu is getting OLD. Last year, the "check engine" light on my 97 Honda came on. I checked the knob within the gasoline cover and checked the oil, but the light wouldnt go away, so I had it checked at a local dealer. Turns out that the ecu, according to the mechanic, was "old", so they replaced it with a new one. After that, it was it's normal self again :D .

[jettadude]

O2 sensor, im almost sure of it.

[GoodDayForADrive]

Ok, my light came back on, so I took it to autozone.. here are the codes I got:

P0171
The PCM has determined that during testing, the fuel system for bank 1 was too lean. (Bank 1 identifies the location of cylinder #1, while bank 2 identifies the cylinders on the opposite bank)

P1476
Fan Relay (High) Circuit Malfunction


So yea... help me.. lol

[GoodDayForADrive]

bump, any ideas on this running lean? I was thinking o2 sensor, maybe plugs, cause I know my intake is fine..

[Getta8v]

could be the MAF but i dont think thats the code for that. replace the o2 sensor, replace plugs if its been a while and plug wires while you are at it.

[Matty-O]

could be the MAF but i dont think thats the code for that. replace the o2 sensor, replace plugs if its been a while and plug wires while you are at it.

Bump, I agree with the o2 and MAF censors highly...my 2.0 engine light went nuts on me and it was bc of BOTH of them...

[GoodDayForADrive]

could be the MAF but i dont think thats the code for that. replace the o2 sensor, replace plugs if its been a while and plug wires while you are at it.

I'm guessing I get the o2 sensor at teh dealer?

and as far as when the plugs were replaced last, I have no idea, since I've never replaced them, only owned the car for around 6k miles.

[GoodDayForADrive]

So I took it to a shop finally, and found out that it's definitely the o2 sensor. So now I wanna fix it myself instead of paying them around 125 he said to fix it. I now need your help to figure out where I can get one, and where exactly it is in the car so I can replace it. Thanks

[2002maniac]

Your car has two oxygen sensors! which one is bad? THey are both located in the downpipe.

[GoodDayForADrive]

Your car has two oxygen sensors! which one is bad? THey are both located in the downpipe.

Um... I don't know... crap...

[Getta8v]

www.autosportsunlimited.com sells oem vw/audi parts they are local to me. www.parts4vws.com might sell them too