happycamper

Im kinda at a loss of what to do. My light comes off and on whenever it pleases with no ryme or rythem. It has done this for years with the same codes coming up saying my catalitic converter is bad. However my emissions have always been fine and the car has been really dependable. California changed some of the tests and now my car wont pass smog because of the stupid light. The light stays on about 1/2 the time and then suddenly it will go out. But when it goes out, it wont even come on when the assessory is on. Is there an issue with the connectors or the computer? The car isnt worth much and is a beater, but if I can cheaply fix this I would be more then willing.

Bert

There's a pink/light green wire that gets grounded by the PCM to turn the light on. Maybe it's worn through the insulation and grounding out somewhere if you're not getting any codes. That wouldn't be the cause of it not turning on though. Have you checked for codes?

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Bert

97cv

My wifes 97 CV had the check engine light come on. It had over the years developed considerable spark knock when under a heavier load(like climbing a hill) and just generally seemed less spunky. I was thinking of buying a OBDII reader, but discovered that Schucks/O'Reilly's Auto would let you borrow theirs. The trouble codes came up saying that the right and left banks were running lean and there was a miss in cylinder 5. I change that spark plug and it fixed that, then bought a set and changed the rest. Next, after checking around on the net at this and several other sites about the lean problem, I focused on the MAF sensor as a possible culprit. Per several other posters I bought a can of CRC MAF cleaner, cleaned it, disconnected the neg battery terminal for 15-20 minutes to reset the computer and the difference was amazing. The car had it's zip back, the spark knock was completely gone and on a 3000 mile trip I avereaged just shy of 20MPG overall with as high as 25MPG Hwy. Cost: about $25 for double platinum plugs, $7 for a can of CRC and a few hours in the garage. (All purchased from Shucks/O'Reilly, of course, because they let me borrow their trouble code reader...fair enough!)

Bert

Cleaning the MAF makes a big difference in the running.

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Bert

happycamper

Okay, but what is a MAF? Thank you!

Bert

It's mounted in the upper air cleaner box.

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Bert