Less than 500 miles and check engine light turned on.

[fpage77]

I called the dealer and the sales man said it isn't anything to worry about which I thought was odd. I would think if there wasn't a problem the light wouldn't have lite. I've had the car two weeks and just earlier while I was out the check engine light came on solid and isn't going away. I'm afraid my engine is going to fall out from under the car or some other major disaster. I've had many many new cars in last 7 years and never have seen check engine light (not even on my used cars I had before the series of new cars). I've had my gas gauge not read full when full and on way to appointment for it start working after a topoff after not reading right for days. I'm wondering what's next is the brakes going to fail. I love the car but these issues/failures are a bit of concern. I don't understand how the dealer could say it isn't a problem and if it doesn't go away a few days to call. I think that is complete horse stuff as light is on for a reason and alerting to a problem with engine. What should I do guys.

[tblackley]

Yup, I had 1500 on my 09 when my light came on. Mine was the secondary air injector and they are getting the part for it. It appears there has been a bad batch of these that have caused the check engine light to come on. On the good side, I've really only heard of very small things like this going wrong on the smart.

[fpage77]

Originally Posted by tblackley

Yup, I had 1500 on my 09 when my light came on. Mine was the secondary air injector and they are getting the part for it. It appears there has been a bad batch of these that have caused the check engine light to come on. On the good side, I've really only heard of very small things like this going wrong on the smart.

I guess I'll make a appointment then even though the darn sales guy said it probably would just go away (hmm kinda like saying my house is on fire and it will just go away on it's own).

[SuperGeek]

Originally Posted by fpage77

I guess I'll make a appointment then even though the darn sales guy said it probably would just go away (hmm kinda like saying my house is on fire and it will just go away on it's own).

The sales guy is not the mechanic responsible for fixing the car, nor the general manager responsible for what happens if the light is something serious. Sure, if the light's on and the car still runs, it's probably a sensor reporting a bad connection or emissions problem. But those still need to be addressed.

Take it into the dealer to have it looked at. If they don't even look at it, and tell you it's fine, start going through supervisors and managers until someone actually hooks it up to a computer to read the codes. Nobody can tell it's not serious until they look at the code. If you're far from the dealer you can use a Scangauge or go to Autozone/Pep Boys/etc to have them read the code, but you'll still have to call the dealer service to determine what it means.

Bottom line: If the light's on, the computer says something's wrong. Fix it.

[kwagar]

The two primary reasons for the check engine light in 08 and 09 models so far are a loose gas cap or a bad secondary air injector. Air injector replacement assuming your dealer has one is a 10 minute repair and under warrenty. Loose gas cap I assume you can check yourself.

[JPaul]

One detail about the loose gas flap: 'fpage77' has an '09 and therefor a dedicated "idiot" light...
So it must be something else?

[fpage77]

Originally Posted by kwagar

The two primary reasons for the check engine light in 08 and 09 models so far are a loose gas cap or a bad secondary air injector. Air injector replacement assuming your dealer has one is a 10 minute repair and under warrenty. Loose gas cap I assume you can check yourself.

I'll go check the gas cap but I screwed it on and it clicked and did two more clicks to make sure it wasn't loose when I filled up on Friday. The lite thing started this afternoon so I'm not sure if it's a gas cap issue. I went just now and took off my gas cap and put it on till clicked. The loose gas cap indicator is not on in my 09 and wasn't before either but the check engine light is still lite solid.

[Fuse 11]

Originally Posted by JPaul

One detail about the loose gas flap: 'fpage77' has an '09 and therefor a dedicated "idiot" light...
So it must be something else?

Not necessarily.
I've an '09 and had a CEL that went away after re-securing my gas cap, then driving for half an hour or so. The "gas cap" warning light did not come on.

-Rusty

[SuperGeek]

fpage, did you top off when you filled up last? 500 miles means you've probably only had one fillup, and that's typically the one where someone will top off and overflow gas into the vapor canister without knowing it. Fill till the first click, and then let it go. If you did top off, drive around for 20 miles or so - get a mocha or something - and check in the morning after the engine's cooled off. It's Sunday so it's not like the dealer's open to look at it anyway. O'Reilly and Autozone can still check codes tomorrow.

[fpage77]

Originally Posted by SuperGeek

fpage, did you top off when you filled up last? 500 miles means you've probably only had one fillup, and that's typically the one where someone will top off and overflow gas into the vapor canister without knowing it. Fill till the first click, and then let it go. If you did top off, drive around for 20 miles or so - get a mocha or something - and check in the morning after the engine's cooled off. It's Sunday so it's not like the dealer's open to look at it anyway. O'Reilly and Autozone can still check codes tomorrow.

I filled up on Friday around 1 PM until pump turned off automatically. I had driven the car all the rest of the day Friday and today Saturday when light came on. I think if this vapor whatsamabober was soaked the light would have come on then not over 24+ hours later like it did to me around 4 PM.