I have a '98 Coupe, and it has a stuck "Check Engine" light. The woman I bought it from said she took it to a shop and they said they would fix it, but it was unnecessary. I haven't really thought of it, but my gauges have been acting funky for the past 2 or 3 days now.
My engine temp gauge won't work, and my "Check Engine" light will go off. Right when the light goes back on, the temp. gauge works.
I don't know if that has an relevance...

But, I guess my question is: is there any way I can fix that problem?

 

It could be just a bad connection in the instrument panel, but you do need to have the computer scanned to see the real reason the light is on. You can easily destroy an engine by ignoring the check engine light.

 

How much do you think that'll cost me?

 

+1...always check the light....my brother's friend just bought an 02 Tacoma...the guy said the light was nothing big and he bought the truck....i pulled the codes and found out he needs a new ECM....

most shops charge one hour to diagnose it....we charge 79.99

 

if you just want the code most small autoparts stores such as autozone will do it for free.

 

very true....but for example..Lexus RX300...the lady brought it to autozone..they told her it was an air fuel sensor. she bought the part, we changed it, and the light came back on with the same code...with further diagnostics into alldata and identifix...we found out it was a bad circuit in the ECM...so she wasted more $$$ than she had to...

 

yea, i have heard of that happening to people before. so what you really need to do is check it then look up some info on what the code is exacly and a few things that normally will trigger it. then if your not sure or there are too many possiblities or they are too expinsive take it to a shop.

 

Thanks a lot for your help. I'm gunna swing by Autozone tomorrow and see if they'll do it for me.

Be back with an update

 

A code reader does not tell you to replace a specific component.

It points to a circuit that is not functioning correctly.

It is then up to the technician to trace that circuit.

 

Yah, Stu. We understand that. But, with the vast information in this forum alone, not to mention Google and the fact we have the whole world of the Internet that has every tidbit of information hidden in every crevice, it's not that hard to find out what could be wrong from a certain code, then going with the most reasonable, and moving from there.