Eclipse: "Service Engine Soon" story

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Kurt Straub - 17 Feb 2004 00:10 GMT

Naturally, this all happened as soon as the car (2001 4 cyl. Eclipse) went
out of warranty.

First the right headlamp goes out. I take it to Pep Boys, expecting a
simple bulb replacement, but they say no, it's electrical, better take it to
the dealer. So I do, and on Friday they fix whatever was wrong; both
headlamps work fine. There are no problems driving the car Saturday and
Sunday.

Monday morning I go to start the car: nothing. It is very cold out.
Thinking the battery might need a charge, I use my jumper cables, but to no
avail. Now I think I must have a dead battery. I call AAA to bring out a
new battery. They come out, but they are able to jump-start the car! Still
suspicious, and noting the "Service Engine Soon" light now illuminated and
staying on, I take the car to a local service station to check the starter,
alternator and battery. They all check out OK. The car runs fine, but the
"Service Engine Soon" light is still staring at me. The radio/CD player is
also on the fritz, and turning it on simply gives the display "CODE" on the
monitor read-out. Is there something going on here, I do I just need to run
the car up to the dealer for a re-set?

Thanks in advance to any wiser minds than mine who know the answer and post
a reply.

---- Kurt Straub

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Robert Honea - 17 Feb 2004 03:52 GMT

The "code" is the factory anti-theft device. You left the battery dead for
more than 20 minutes and need to re-enter the code. As for the CEL, go to
AutoZone or Advance auto. One of those place reads the code for free.

Signature

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Benjamin Franklin

> Monday morning I go to start the car: nothing. It is very cold out.
> Thinking the battery might need a charge, I use my jumper cables, but to no
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> monitor read-out. Is there something going on here, I do I just need to run
> the car up to the dealer for a re-set?

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Kurt Straub - 19 Feb 2004 00:23 GMT

> The "code" is the factory anti-theft device. You left the battery dead for
> more than 20 minutes and need to re-enter the code.

I finally did reach the service desk at the dealer; he said the same thing
you did here.

> As for the CEL, go to
> AutoZone or Advance auto. One of those place reads the code for free.

The dealer offered to run a diagnostic on the Service Engine Soon light, but
for over a hundred bucks! On the other hand, he also said it might just go
away in a couple of days. Apparently it will not go away just because I
have re-set the anti-theft code using the radio pre-set buttons. Well, I
get the car out of the body shop tomorrow, we will see what happens. Thanks
for the reply.

---- Kurt

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Robert Honea - 19 Feb 2004 03:55 GMT

No, those codes do not go away after a couple of days. Some codes will
clear, but not ones that last for more than a few minutes. If you have one
on for days, you have some emission related issue. You could pull battery
power to the car for about 10 seconds (capacitors in ECU) and clear it, but
it may come right back. In addition, the ECU would be reset to factory
defaults. Also, your car may run like crap for a hour of so until it
"re-learns" the condition of your car.

The fact is you have a 3G. You can't do a lot of mods to that car. If you
had a 1 or 2G turbo'd car, another story and a lot more variables. Since
it's a 3G, you could maybe have done an exhaust and intake (and gained 2
HP-wow!). That isn't going to cause a problem. Find out what the code is,
and deal with it. My bet is that you have either a fuel trim (bad O2 sensor,
EGR valve, or random misfire). You probably just need to change out the plug
wires....

Signature

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Benjamin Franklin

Thank you for the Patriot Act you cowards.

> > The "code" is the factory anti-theft device. You left the battery dead for
> > more than 20 minutes and need to re-enter the code.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> ---- Kurt

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Kurt Straub - 22 Feb 2004 00:35 GMT

Adding to the mystery of all this, the "Service Engine Soon" light blazed
away from about thirty minutes of driving after I entered the anti-theft
codes, and then went black----- and has not been seen since!

Go figure.

--- Kurt Straub

> No, those codes do not go away after a couple of days. Some codes will
> clear, but not ones that last for more than a few minutes. If you have one
> on for days, you have some emission related issue.

> My bet is that you have either a fuel trim (bad O2 sensor,
> EGR valve, or random misfire). You probably just need to change out the plug
> wires....

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Sunny_Sharma - 09 May 2004 20:13 GMT

Hi
Just read your message "service engine soon story". I recently bought a
second hand Mitsubishi Eclipse. It shows the same warning of "service
engine soon".

Please let me know what was wrong in your case and how did you fix it.

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