This article will show you some less common reasons for a check engine light problem.
The reasons stated below are a rare cause of problems but they do happen.
In one of our previous articles we’ve shown the more common reasons, click here if you want to see them.
Besides this website, you can also take a look at our YouTube channel where you can find lots of videos about car maintenance, driving, cars in general, and else.
The first step to solving a check engine problem is to make a quality diagnosis of the problem.
The standard and perhaps best way to do this is to connect to an OBD tool and read the error codes.
Read our article or watch the video where we show you how to do this with the Xtool D5S diagnostic tool.
It is a good, well-built, and user-friendly tool that will definitely help you solve the check engine problem.
For more information visit the XTool website:
If you decide to buy the D5S here’s the Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/XTOOL/page/9286C0B2-EAC3-4C4B-BFAE-01348B9EA693?ref_=ast_bln
LESS COMMON REASONS FOR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT
1. BAD FUEL QUALITY
If you have fuel quality issues in your country, this will cause a check engine light for sure.
Bad fuel causes anything from rough idling to engine misfire.
If you suspect this, try changing the gas station where you get fuel, also in this case, changing the fuel filter more frequently would be good.
2. BAD FUEL INJECTORS
If you have issues with bad fuel quality, know that this also affects the fuel injectors.
Also, high-mileage cars may have these problems since the injectors give in to material fatigue.
If the injectors are damaged, they don’t disperse fuel properly within the engine cylinder and this disturbs the air-fuel mixture which then triggers the check engine light.
3. VACUUM LEAKS
Another one of the less common reasons for a check engine light is vacuum leaks.
This happens more with high-mileage cars where material fatigue starts kicking in.
The majority of problems come from cracked hoses, loose connections, and loose clamps but it can be more serious things too.
Most times, it’s a bigger challenge to find the vacuum leaks and then fix them.
4. IGNITION COILS AND CONNECTIONS TO THEM
Besides spark plugs and spark plug cables, ignition coils can cause problems.
Problems mostly come from material fatigue since the coil packs are constantly exposed to a combination of engine heat and high voltage.
Also, the connection to the ignition coils is always worth checking, these can get dirty and loose over time, and the wires may break due to heat exposure, maybe engine oil exposure, engine vibrations, and else.
5. DIRTY OR BAD THROTTLE BODY
One of the less common reasons for a check engine light is a dirty or faulty throttle body.
Over time especially if the engine consumes oil or the fuel quality is low, the throttle body valve gets dirty and tends to get stuck while the engine is running.
Also, the throttle body may start completely failing (the electronic parts mainly) due to material fatigue.
In any case, the check engine light will surely come up but also the car may go into limp mode.
We’ve made a separate article and video about limp mode and how to solve this problem, click here to see it.
6. SENSOR PROBLEMS
In our first video on the check engine problem, we mentioned the O2 sensor as a common reason for the check engine light.
But other sensors can also cause problems two are mainly worth mentioning: the coolant temperature sensor and the crankshaft position sensor.
Luckily both of them on most cars are not that problematic but when they are faulty they will not only trigger the check engine light but can also cause rough idling, a crank-no-start situation, and other more serious problems.
CONCLUSION
When the check engine light appears, it’s best to inspect the problem as soon as possible.
If you want to continue driving, you have our article and video on that topic which can perhaps help you decide if you should continue driving or immediately inspect the problem.
In the end, we always mention this: when this problem appears you should make a good and thorough inspection if possible, and use an OBD tool since the check engine light problem can be tricky to diagnose, find, and repair.
This is mainly to avoid unneeded and expensive repairs that are common with a check engine problem.
Written by: Sibin Spasojevic
Former car technician, life-long car and DIY enthusiast, author for Despairrepair.com
Leave a Reply