> My 2001 S60 has had that message in the window for the last few months.
> Every once in a while it goes out for a little, but I have not noticed
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>
> Charlie
My 2001 2.4T has 125k miles on it, so its not under warranty anymore.
I live in PA. The funny thing is that my emissions inspection was due last
month. I couldn't take it in because of the light, so I just kept driving.
One day while coming home from a business trip, the light went out. I
quickly got it into the shop for inspection and it passed.
While driving home from the inspection, the light came back on again.
I guess it was just luck...
Charlie
>> My 2001 S60 has had that message in the window for the last few months.
>> Every once in a while it goes out for a little, but I have not noticed
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>
> Mike
Jim Carriere - 19 Dec 2004 19:38 GMT
> My 2001 2.4T has 125k miles on it, so its not under warranty anymore.
>
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>
> I guess it was just luck...
If the computer stops getting a signal for the particular fault for a
certain time (usually a couple medium trips, but it's slightly more
complicated than just that), then the light will go out. This is to
deal with spurious fault codes that are not actual malfunctions.
The computer in your car may or may not know why it turned the light
on. Here is why-
The computer takes a "snapshot" of what the engine was doing when the
fault occurred. If the fault ceases, the snapshot is supposed to
remain in the memory for ten driving cycles (the light will have long
gone out on it's own). The electronic equipment to read the snapshot
is more expensive than the popular hand-held code readers, and most
mechanics charge a nominal fee to plug the machine into their car
(hey, they have to make up the cost of the thing somehow).
Also, some faults need to happen twice to make the light go on. The
code for the fault will be stored as a "pending code," and it can be
read by an inexpensive code reader or expensive diagnostic equipment,
but the light will not be on in your car.
For more than you might want to know, try a web search on "OBD2."
One last thing, right now you really have no way of knowing if it is
a serious problem, more than one problem, or a relatively unimportant
problem.