ENGINE LIGHT BLINKING

[Lileminem]

Hey guys I have an issue here. My engine light started blinking and I noticed my car losing power. Also it stutters roughly when it's idling. I noticed something wrong so I left it at metro near my place. I maybe drove for about 10 minutes with the light blinking. What does this issue sound like? And is it usually expensive to replace whatever I need replaced. Thanks for any help

[loki]

Thought the engine light will blink when there is a danger to the catalytic convertors

[Cab0oze]

Thought the engine light will blink when there is a danger to the catalytic convertors
Not sure about that, but engine light blinking generally means shut off the engine right away and find out what's wrong or you may cause permanent damage. Driving for 10 minutes with this condition was not wise.
Solid engine light just means something is a little off.


And is it usually expensive to replace whatever I need replaced. LOL
Well lets see... if you've wrecked your engine, then yes.
If you're lucky and it was just a bad spark plug and no permanent damage was done to anything, then no.

[silverstarmazda]

no way to know whats wrong unless you get the light scanned and checked. considering that the light is blinking, i would either have a buddy bring a code scanner and get the car towed (if it cant be fixed on the spot)

[loki]

well on the speed3 it meant there was misfire which could damage the cats

my engine light blinked one time when I had a hose pop off so the car was running super rich and the fuel could not ignite

[Jackal]

no way to know whats wrong unless you get the light scanned and checked. considering that the light is blinking, i would either have a buddy bring a code scanner and get the car towed (if it cant be fixed on the spot)

This is what I would recommend. If you bring it to the dealership you'll have to pay for it to be scanned. Or bring it to a mechanic who'll scan at no charge and fix for a fee.

[staax]

Not sure about that, but engine light blinking generally means shut off the engine right away and find out what's wrong or you may cause permanent damage. Driving for 10 minutes with this condition was not wise.
Solid engine light just means something is a little off.



This. Whenever you see your CEL blinking pull over IMMEDIATELY and shut it down.

Like everyone else has said, get it scanned before you think about trying to fire it up again.

Also, provide your year, engine, mileage, auto or manual...

[Dave_The_BMXER]

My engine light blinked with a misfire on my GT. It wasn't 10 min solid of blinking but any time it misfired it blinked (blunk?) I just needed new plugs.

[Ps3alltheway]

Last year I drove for 4 hours on the highway with a blinking check engine and power loss. I know it doesn't sound smart but It was my g/f 1997 civic with 300 000 k on it, so I didn't care if It broke down on me I rather get closer to home possible .

Ended up being the distributor cap was full of rust, replaced it for 20 $ and everything was fine.
Don't do like I did tho, but check your distributor cap :P

[greyseason]

Last year I drove for 4 hours on the highway with a blinking check engine and power loss. I know it doesn't sound smart but It was my g/f 1997 civic with 300 000 k on it, so I didn't care if It broke down on me I rather get closer to home possible .

Ended up being the distributor cap was full of rust, replaced it for 20 $ and everything was fine.
Don't do like I did tho, but check your distributor cap :P

lol distributor cap

[staax]

Our cars use coils, not a distributor.

[Ps3alltheway]

hmm true haha. distributors are kind of old lol

[TheMAN]

get the car towed to the dealer or shop and have them figure out what it is
a blinking "CEL" means it's a catalyst damaging misfire... the cost for tow is far less than a new cat!

[Lileminem]

thanks for everyones help. Really appreciated it. Happened to only be spark plugs though. One of them blew

[Jackal]

My engine light blinked with a misfire on my GT. It wasn't 10 min solid of blinking but any time it misfired it blinked (blunk?) I just needed new plugs.

Dave guessed it.

[sarujo]

Amen.

Seriously thou, everyone should have CAA+ if outside of factory roadside coverage. A single tow costs more than an entire year's membership which brings so many benefits


get the car towed to the dealer or shop and have them figure out what it is
a blinking "CEL" means it's a catalyst damaging misfire... the cost for tow is far less than a new cat!

[Cab0oze]

Amen.

Seriously thou, everyone should have CAA+ if outside of factory roadside coverage. A single tow costs more than an entire year's membership which brings so many benefits
In my 13 years of driving cars out of warranty, I have never needed a tow. If you don't maintain your car though, yeah it is a good idea.

[aris]

In my 13 years of driving cars out of warranty, I have never needed a tow. If you don't maintain your car though, yeah it is a good idea.

Doesnt matter how well you maintain your car.. Things break and as you car gets older you never know.

[sarujo]

What nonsense. Any car (maintained or not) can break down. Cars have so many potential points of failure. A single person having "luck" is hardly criteria for it never happening to anyone else.




In my 13 years of driving cars out of warranty, I have never needed a tow. If you don't maintain your car though, yeah it is a good idea.

[Flagrum_3]

What nonsense. Any car (maintained or not) can break down. Cars have so many potential points of failure. A single person having "luck" is hardly criteria for it never happening to anyone else.

Big+1 ...Or you never know when your going to hit something just sitting on the road (tire/truck part) or someone/something is going to hit you...plus with a CAA membership you get discounts to all kinds of things and places, like the zoo, museum etc....well worth the 80 odd dollars a year imho.


_3

[stock3]

What nonsense. Any car (maintained or not) can break down. Cars have so many potential points of failure. A single person having "luck" is hardly criteria for it never happening to anyone else.


In my 13 years of driving cars out of warranty, I have never needed a tow. If you don't maintain your car though, yeah it is a good idea.


It's not nonsense at all. Cars do break down, but not at a rate that people think. CAA annual fee is about $120. In my 15 years of driving in Canada I needed a tow once and it cost me about $300 for that tow. The tow truck showed up quickly and with no fuss. Why would I waste $1800 for something I very rarely need? I'd rather pocket the $1500 in savings.

CAA membership is like insurance. They bank on people paying the fees, but not using the service. Most do just that because they were sold on the warm and fuzzy feeling of not needing to pay for a tow in the very rare event they need it. But if someone can't afford few hundred bucks for a tow, why are they driving? They should be on a bus.

[Flagrum_3]

It's not nonsense at all. Cars do break down, but not at a rate that people think. CAA annual fee is about $120. In my 15 years of driving in Canada I needed a tow once and it cost me about $300 for that tow. The tow truck showed up quickly and with no fuss. Why would I waste $1800 for something I very rarely need? I'd rather pocket the $1500 in savings.

CAA membership is like insurance. They bank on people paying the fees, but not using the service. Most do just that because they were sold on the warm and fuzzy feeling of not needing to pay for a tow in the very rare event they need it. But if someone can't afford few hundred bucks for a tow, why are they driving? They should be on a bus.

Basic membership is $70, with 4 tows up to 10km, $120 is for the Plus.

Yes it is like insurance, sooooo? People get house insurance and never end up using it either. Point is, it's there if you need it and can get you out of some pretty bad jams. I've had it for years and have never needed it myself but have used it to help friends and family quite a few times. Plus like I mentioned before, take the famdamily to the zoo once, and it practically pays for itself... It's a measly $8 a month for shites' sake, I spend a shitload more then that on coffees. :chuckle


_3

[sarujo]

Plus is $114 but can be cheaper and really it's the best one - 200km towing (4 tows), unlocking service, brings gas if needed, change flat tires, free battery checking, discounts on batteries from their mobile battery service etc etc. And yeah, most people pay more per WEEK on Tim's coffee. Seriously, I don't get what the belly aching is from these, "oh, I only used a tow once in my life", or "I have never needed it".

Yes it's like insurance, but it's cheap and can really provide value when it's needed. Why risk my life changing a flat on the 401 when CAA will come quickly and do it safely for me? (yes, I have had to use it before and do 70km+ per day on these highways). Even a basic tow or if in accident. Would you trust the vultures waiting to scam you? It's $160 min charge for a tow in Toronto.

I'm willing to bet stock3 spends more than $1800/year on coffee and televisions :P:chuckle

[stock3]

...It's $160 min charge for a tow in Toronto...

I'm willing to bet stock3 spends more than $1800/year on coffee and televisions :P:chuckle

So you can't afford a very rare $160 for a tow? Is that what you are scared of? Or are your cars in such a state of disrepair? And what does my coffee budget have to do with CAA? At least I get to drink the coffee every time it pay for it. With CAA you either don't use it or are limited to the number of "free" tows.

Everyone spends their money how they wish, that was not the point of my post. You mentioned earlier that not having CAA coverage is nonsense. I simply disagree.
I understand that most drivers today have a hard time finding the hood release latch and having some sort of road side assistance will make sense to them.
I know the mechanical state of my cars and can change a flat on 401 in less than 10 minutes. You are more likely to get hit on the side of the highway while you wait for the tow truck to show up. In other words, you sold yourself on a false sense of security. Which is fine by me, but my way of doing things is not nonsense, it's simply the old fashion way of relying on myself and not counting on others to bail me out of the sticky situations.

[bukjoe]

same exact thing happened to my car last night.... hopefully it's as simple as a Spark Plug... engine started shaking violently.. check engine light flashing... and when I accelerate it makes a "putt putt" sound... seems like the gas isn't flowing properly for whatever reasons...