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Is that "check engine"
light burning brightly on your instrument panel?
Do you ignore it, thinking it must be something minor,
like you forgot to tighten the gas cap a few fill-ups ago and you don't want to
go to the dealer and pay to have them turn it off? Do you worry
about whether it means there's something seriously amiss in the engine, and expensive
parts are grinding themselves into dust? Do you immediately
stop driving the car and call a tow truck? Or do you wonder
why there's no way for you to know what the heck the darn light means?
Most of you probably ask the latter
question, and usually the only way you can find
out what's wrong is to take the car to the dealer
or a repair shop, where you may be charged $50
to $100 just for a diagnostic test. Then you're
left to wonder if you're being told the truth
about whether the check engine light means a no-cost
fix, something covered by the car's emissions
warranty or a $1,000 valve repair.
Until
recently, that was the only option, but there's emerging technology that may give
drivers some much needed information at an affordable price.
A Connecticut company, Environmental
Systems Products, has started putting a kiosk-style
diagnostic bay at gas stations that allows a driver
to pull up, plug into the car's on-board diagnostic
port and get a plain English explanation of what
the check engine light is trying to tell you.
Cost is just $15, which is far below what many
mechanics would charge for the same information.
All
cars dating from 1996 have the on-board diagnostic port (OBD II), which is usually
located below the steering wheel. The port was mandated by government regulations
to monitor the health of the car's emissions system, but as cars have added computer
controls for almost everything the OBD II port gives a mechanic access to information
across a broad range of systems. The problem for consumers
is that each manufacturer has a proprietary set of codes and they charge mechanics
for access to up-to-date translations of what those codes mean. And until recently
the machines needed just to read those codes cost thousands of dollars -- and
often one machine might not be programmed to interact with all cars. In
addition to the rollout of Environmental Systems Products' SAM units -- an acronym
for Smart Automotive Management -- some companies are offering small, hand-held
code readers that everyday people can operate. Priced from
about $90 to more than $300, these units can identify the problems codes and tell
you what's wrong. Most require online updates for which there may be a fee.
While that's not cheap, consider
the average cost at a repair shop to clear a trouble
code and turn off the check engine light -- not
even fixing the problem -- is abut $85. If you
own an older vehicle, it would only take two or
three illuminations of the "check engine"
light to make the purchase of a code reader affordable.
An
added benefit is that you can then go to your mechanic knowing exactly what's
wrong, which could save hundreds of dollars.
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