Repost - sorry, trying to attract as many opinions as possible. Not trying to get the moderators going!

- okay this one has me stumped. While driving home today, the "check engine" light came on. Car seems to be running fine, and the speedo display says "no malfunction". I have stopped and restarted the car once, no change. Seems to be running fine. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Chris

 

Check gas tank cap, if you have the capability, get the code it is throwing and post it here, many people on this forum can help troubleshoot the issue. Easiest way...get the code!

 

I hear ya there, and yes I did check the gas cap, lol. My Durango did the same thing once, and it WAS the stinkin cap being loose.

So, how do I extract the code? It says "no malfunction".

 

There are a few ways....find someone who has obd2 code reader and hook up to the car or use eBay and purchase a code reader....best money you will ever spend and fairly inexpensive. Search bay...a lot of options but I am certainly no expert...anyone can certainly chime in. All I can do is share my experience and a code reader will pay for itself after a few issues...for instance....my cel came on the other day and hooked the code reader to it...crankshaft position sensor is bad. Dealer quoted roughly $350+....parts.com for part $55 and this forum has diy for everything! Needless to say....part is on order and will do it myself...code reader paid for!

 

Yeah, no code reader here. I wish there was a way of tricking it. On older GM cars, just ground one pin of the ALDL and count the number of times the light flashes...

 

Could be a lot of things, problem is knowing the code is only part of the issue, knowing how to fix it is priceless...

 

I gotcha, thanks. I was hoping there was a way to get the speedo display to spit out the code without a scantool.

 

Sack5000....+1000....if you have the knowledge you don't have to spend a fortune in the process. To the op, good luck with the cel and if you track down a way to retrieve the code...post here!

 

Yeah thanks guys! Once I know what the code is, I can hopefully address it myself. I am pretty well versed on cars, just not this one, yet.

Sucks I have owned it less than a week and the damn light came on. So far 900 miles of driving pleasure.

 

Go to a local autozone and they will scan it for free.

 

Update - code 0128 - low coolant temp?

 

I use one of the BT ALDL connectors with my Android phone and the Torque application to read and clear codes. Cheap solution, plus it has logging.

Clear the code. Follow up if it comes back.

 

If your in a cold climate this code may come on after several short trips where the motor never reaches full operating temp. Happened to me twice this winter, the circumstances were the same each time, several short trips. If this is the case the light will go out after a few full temp start stop cycles. Hope this helps.

 

I got the code to come up once this winter also but the outside temps were under 15.If it keeps coming back with the same code,you have a stuck open thermostat.

 

What Vette71 said...if it keeps coming back then either your T-stat is stuck open or the coolant temp sensor is bad.

 

Is the way to go. If you want one of your own(always a good idea with these cars), you could always pm me an offer for the one I have for sale and I mail that to you first thing Monday morning.
Either way, post up the codes and we can better inform

 

Thanks again guys! The only code was 0128, low coolant temp. The light went off the very next day and hasn't reappeared...good.

Dropped by the dealer, he quoted me $375 to do the thermostat and replace the overflow/recovery bottle which the tech maintained was cracked or leaking (I have not seen a drop...) How hard is it to do a stat on one of these? 2.5 hours seems a bit much, and $95 for the stat itself also seemed a little much too. The bottle was only $54 which I could live with, if it's actually bad. I may attempt this one myself.

I also had all 4 wheels rebalanced because it had a vibration around 75 that I didn't like, problem solved. Interestingly enough, the rims have no marks on them but he told me two of them were slightly bent, which may add to the vibrations, this was quite surprising. He said it's common, and it's $175 each to straighten them on their special machine. I decided to pass for now.

I was able to obtain full service records on the car, and it appears to have been very well maintained since day one. That was nice to see!

How much for the scantool?

 

Wow - also a codereader for the phone? That's cool- I have a Blackberry, I wonder if they make one for it, and how much it is.

 

You have PM

 

Does anyone know how long it takes to replace a coolant temp sensor on a 05 c230 Kompressor? Any guidance on how to do it?

 

Thanks to all for the advice. Had the same CEL issue that I caused by disconnecting the cam shaft position sensor during an oil change. Started the car without connecting it and bingo.
Went to the local car part store and hooked up OBD computer. Showed what was expected and cleared the fault. Cost was 0.