For some reason my check engine light just came on today. So what i did was i just unplugged the battery and plugged it back. When I did this the check engine light went away. Should I have done this?

 

yea thats ok to do

 

what else you can do is to turn your car off, hold onto the SET/RESET trip button on your dash, and then turn your key at the same time to ON. keep it there for 10 seconds and it'll reset itself. i've been teaching this to ppl that bring their car into my work (learned it from this board. hehe)

 

i work at a car repair shop and i deal with this all the time. that wont hurt your car to do, BUT...the check engine light is set by the manufacturer to come on at certain mileage's when certain services are due, such as radiator flush, tranny drain and fill, oil change etc...so if i were you i would take it to a shop and have them give it a once over to make sure nothings wrong.

 

The light that comes on due to maintenance reasons like radiator/coolant flush at 45 K and 70K or oil changes every whatever miles, or 60K service such as spark plugs, thats the MAINTENANCE light that comes on, not the check engine light. the car manual for our 6th generation accord specifically points that out. if ur check engine light comes on, that has to do with other stuff, NOT manufacturer service reminders. see fu, go check ur manual, your computer brain is saying something is either wrong with stuff that deals with emissions, or something directly effecting the engine. if u reset ur ecu, and the check engine light went off, and NEVER comes back on... ur LUCKY. and nothing is probably wrong. but if ur anal, go to a place which does free diagnostic tests on your car, some places like honda charge up to and around $70-90. the check engine light can be due to not changing spark plugs or maybe radiator flush, but its not cuz of tranny fluid flush or something that has NOTHING to do with ur engine or emissions problems. TRUST ME, i just went through 30,000 miles of HELL. some mechanic said im fine, my cat is just bad, i'll only fail emissions, so dont worry. WHAT AN IDIOT mechanic, if a cat goes bad, it can lead to engine problems that are serious(learned all this recently), meaning mad repairs, and possible car not starting cuz of backpressure, imagine a banana stuck in your exhaust piping. thats a wost case scenario. i just bought my $1000 OEM cat(yes, it is around $950-1000 for 6th generation accords) and O2 sensor on the cat for OBDII accords(retails $250 for our car). luckily i have found a supplier of GENUINE honda parts between years 1988-2002. i almost bought a Random technology high direct fit high flow cat, but i heard some bad stories how they dont last, so i bought an OEM cat and O2 sensor shipped for only $100. i looked over 100 places and websites, and after 2 months, now i found a place which can hook me up with oem stuff like leather =) man, im good, lucky as crap.. but i deserve it, i went thru hell, my car felt like it was fallin apart for the longest time. anyway, see fu, if the light doesnt come back on, ur fine. if it does, get it CHECKED ASAP. i have a 1998 honda accord 2 dr, even in white like urs.

 

If it comes on again, you might want to check your o2 sensor. Thats what was wrong with mine a few months back.

 

The Check Engine light is NOT the same as the Maintenance Reminder Indicator light.

Seefu sometimes a simple thing like a gas cap that is not on tight enough(you need to hear it click a few times to know it is on ood enough) will set a check engine light off. You can reset it like you did, check stuff like the gas cap and spark plug wires to make sure they are nice and tight, and then see if the light comes back on. If it does, something is wrong, and you need to get the ECU read by a shop for the trouble codes, and then you can get the problem fixed.

 

damn why is that so hard to understand....if your CEL is on check for what code your getting...go to www.jdmfan.com and it even has the codes to tell you want is wrong

 

ok i got this code
P0420
"Cat effic below threshold"

shop said o2 sensor took a dump on me. gonna have honda replace those suckers!