flashing check engine soon light

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Oct 29, 2018 | 04:43 PM

rmcc

Thread Starter

Drifting

Joined: Nov 2012

Posts: 34

Likes: 0

From: Iowa

flashing check engine soon light

Hi all,

Was going down the road the other day and went to pass a car and noticed as soon as I stepped into it, the "check engine soon" light started flashing. I have never seen that one before. Anyone ever had this happen? The manual does not state a reason for it.

Thanks,
Rich

Oct 29, 2018 | 04:52 PM

Friday Night Disco

Pro Wrench

Joined: Dec 2016

Posts: 1,603

Likes: 229

From: Fall City, WA

You need a code reader to narrow down the issues

Oct 29, 2018 | 06:58 PM

Llamasayswhat

Rock Crawling

Joined: Nov 2017

Posts: 450

Likes: 81

From: Kailua Kona, HI

Flashing CEL/service engine light is generally a hard misfire. Technical term is "catalyst damaging misfire" scan it and see which cylinders are missing and go from there

Oct 29, 2018 | 07:05 PM

mollusc

Camel Trophy

Joined: Nov 2015

Posts: 3,560

Likes: 834

From: Staten Island, NY

Flashing CEL also means "stop the engine as soon as possible." Continuing to drive with a flashing light is probably going to result in needing some expensive parts.

Oct 30, 2018 | 06:39 AM

rmcc

Thread Starter

Drifting

Joined: Nov 2012

Posts: 34

Likes: 0

From: Iowa

The problem is the light does not stay on long enough to put the code reader on it. Shows no code when checked??

Oct 30, 2018 | 06:46 AM

mollusc

Camel Trophy

Joined: Nov 2015

Posts: 3,560

Likes: 834

From: Staten Island, NY

Yes, the code will be stored. The light doesn't have to be on to use a code reader.

Oct 30, 2018 | 11:09 AM

LR03NJ

TReK

Joined: Feb 2009

Posts: 2,186

Likes: 200

From: Linden, NJ

Yes its a bad misfire. Usually
stops blinking in few seconds and keeps the CEL steady on until it goes back to normal then the light turns off. Could be anything from loose plugs, ht wires or coil packs need replacement. It might not turn on for a while until the same driving conditions happened.