knoppe01

Was wondering if there is an easy way to clear the CEL on my own - Long story but battery(ies) completely drained (hazards left on for 4 hrs). Car required a jump, afterwards CEL came on.Still present a day and half later after 75 miles of driving multiple ignition starts and a gas fill.

Thanks

ua549

The check engine light means the diagnostics system has detected an issue (fault code). If the light is flashing the fault is serious. Take you car for service.

knoppe01

Thanks - not flashing and clearly related to battery discharge

ua549

In order to view and/or clear fault codes and reset the CEL you need an OBD2 scanner device. They come in all types with varying capabilities such as stand alone, WiFi and Bluetooth. They are not inexpensive.

knoppe01

Update went to the car this afternoon and cel was cleared

Cao Black

Some codes are self clearing. When the "fault" that caused the CEL in the first place is corrected, the system resets the light after one of more "no-fault" cycles of the condition that turned the light on. Best example is loose (or forgotten) gas cap.. If the light stays on you need to scan (or have scanned) for trouble codes.

cetialpha5

With a check engine light, you can either just go to an auto parts store and have the code read for free or you can just buy a cheap OBDII scanner and clear the code yourself. The BAFX bluetooth ELM327 is popular on Amazon, works with Android. I believe for iphone you need to find a wi-fi one. Or you can pick up an icarsoft MB system, those are about $150 on Amazon and will read MB specific codes that a basic OBDII scanner will not.