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On saturday night, I was out with my boys and the plan was that my friend was gonna be the DD so I could drink, but he dind't have his car, so I let him drive mine (very rare occasion), so anyways, when we go out of the club, he started it up and the check engine light came on. He dorve us all home and got back to my house and it was still on when we got home. Checked the gas cap, wasn't it, so I made a note and went to bed. Sunday morning, I didn't use my car, I just started it up to move it further into my driveway for someone else to park behind me. The light was still on. This morning when I went to school, the check engine light was obviously still on. When I got out of class though and drove home, it was off. I drove to practice and it was still off and then drove home and still off. So should I check into this still or just assume that whatever it was is fine now? The only thing that changed on my car recently was the rims. They're a little bit smaller overall than the stock wheels b\c the tires are 225\40\18. Do you think the rims did something, but now the computer recalibrated or something?

As long as the light is not on now it's good. If it comes back then get it scanned.

Bad gas can do that sometimes (our contour was very sensitive). I think ur car was gassed up with some bad gasoline!

The CEL will stay on through 3 cycles, and then if the problem hasn't persisted, it will go off. The code for the problem is retained in the ECU, so if you're concerned about what it was, you can still have it scanned.

i've had a few occasions of the CEL turning on, and then turning itself off again.

car's don't fix themselves. there may be a problem boiling, however its on the borderline of working/not working.

TRDMole177 wrote:car's don't fix themselves. there may be a problem boiling, however its on the borderline of working/not working.

Toyota should be the first to come up with a car-that-can-fix-itself!

Nope, I have pretty much no time between school, work, lacrosse and fire department stuff so the light is off and I'm just gonna believe that it's all good. If something does go catastrophically wrong (I completely butchered that spelling), then I'm still under warranty and I'll plead ignorance and forget that the light turned on...lol But I do think it was some crappy gas though. Usually, I fill up with Exxon, but I was driving by a no name gas station and I wa really low and the price wasn't bad so I just went for it. Sometimes these stations put like water in the gas or something and that makes your light go on. If they put enough, you gotta throw dry-gas into your tank to get the light off.

MG,

Let me preface my comment with, "I am no expert or car mechanic, nor do I play one on TV."

But I had a similar situation happen to me with my wife's Honda Pilot. Engine light went on, stayed on for awhile, then went out. Then I noticed the odometer had just turned 10,000 miles. I wonder if these lights aren't programed to go on at a certain mileage to ensure the vehicle is brought in for maintanance, but then the light(s) go out after so many miles are traveled.

Just a thought.

The CE light comes on when the computer detects an engine or emissions problem. I think GM had/has a "maintenance reminder" light, or something like that, but it's not the Check Engine light.

The CE light will go back off if the problem is no longer detected AND after a certain number of start cycles. The problem will still be stored in the computer.

Most common problem is that the gas cap was not put on tight. The proper way is to fill the tank up until the pump clicks off and do NOT add any more or try top off the tank to the next round dollar amount! Put the gas cap on and tighten until it clicks.

Stock Solara SEV6 wrote:The proper way is to fill the tank up until the pump clicks off and do NOT add any more or try top off the tank to the next round dollar amount! Put the gas cap on and tighten until it clicks.

I apologize for getting this post a little off track, but StockSolaraSEV6 brings up an interesting point. I have always wondered if putting more gas in after the pump shuts off is a good, bad, or indifferent thing to do. I can typically get another half gallon of gas in the car after the pump shuts off. What is wrong with filling up after the pump shuts off?

Thanks!

Continuing on the off the track path....

Continuing to fill after the gas pump shuts off can get raw fuel into the evaporative emissions system and cause damage.

I think that almost every gas pump has a sticker that reads "Do not top off your tank"

Mine came on for a while so i got it scanned and they told me my rear o2 sensor was out so i bought a new one knowing that it did very little to affect the cars gas milage/ power/ fuel flow. I unhooked the battery a few days later and it turned off the light and sure enough it hasnt come back on and i have a spare o2 sensor now