Check Engine Light

I have a car that has this light on constantly,
yet runs like a dream.
I took it to Auto-zone and had the guy put it on
the analysis machine.
He said something about air flow......
Should I be concerned???

Maybe...

Could just be a dirty air filter, but I'd think he would've told you that. in fact, I'd hope he'd given you more info than "yep...air flow". Not too helpful.

Here's a link with some info-
www.samarins.com...

In a car with fuel injection, the air flow sensor regulates the air - fuel mixture. I'd think a problem with the sensor would cause symptoms other than the engine light being on. Rough idling, stalling, something. But I could be wrong.

Good luck!

what year/make/model is it? My Toyota Corrola set off the CEL for the Air Flow Meter (AFM) for having an impedance out of the acceptable range. No drivability issues, cleared the code, never came back.

Make sure your gas cap is on properly. Usually that will throw a check engine light if it's loose. Also the light comes on automatically when your car reaches certain mileages like 100k. It's just telling you that should should be doing a routine check up sometimes. Its almost always nothing to worry about.

In the case of both my vehicle, and that of my wife's, it was the case of the O-2 sensor on mine, and the catalytic converter on both.

While they aren't necessarily harmful on the vehicle (in the case of my wife's, however, mileage dropped dramatically on her vehicle), I got them taken care of in the event that these causes "disquised" some more serious problem.

I fixed mine with just a piece of black electrical tape.

Yup, I stuck it on the dash over the little light and now I don't see it any more.
Car runs great, great gas mileage,,,, fixed.

Originally posted by ViolatoR
Make sure your gas cap is on properly. Usually that will throw a check engine light if it's loose. Also the light comes on automatically when your car reaches certain mileages like 100k. It's just telling you that should should be doing a routine check up sometimes. Its almost always nothing to worry about.

I know Im a bit late here but I just wanted to say that this statement is absolutely false. The check engine light comes on only when there is a malfunction of some sort, usually emission related. Some cars do have a light that comes on when it determines its time for a scheduled maintenance like an oil change or whatever. It usually says "Maint Req'd" or something similar.

Leaving your gas cap loose will trip a code on newer vehicles but it would be an EVAP system related code, which has nothing to do with air flow. Im guessing your auto zone guy was talking about a mass airflow sensor, which is usually easy to replace, if that is the problem. But a malfunctioning MAF usually causes drivability problems...

[edit on 2/24/2007 by PlausibleDeniability]