I have almost 17,000 miles on my car and today my check engine light came on. I have a aftermarket radio that I installed a few months ago and am worried that the dealer might say the problem is from that. Do you think my problem could be from my radio, should I remove the radio before I go to the dealer?

 

dont worry about the radio. just take the car to the dealer and have them read the code

i have a dvd player, amp, and subs and have taken my car to the dealer plenty of times with no problems

 

what do you think could be causing a CEL at only 17,000 miles..

 

will they have problems reading codes on the computer since the factory radio is not hooked up?

 

Go to an autozone -- they will read the code for free.

It could be something trivial. If your car is still running, the fluids are good, and it's not making noise just get it to the dealer as soon as you can.

 

does autozone tell me what the code means?

 

they wont have a problem reading the codes

you are worrying too much. take it to the dealer or an autozone tomorrow and get the code read. if autozone doesnt tell you what the code means, there is a list somewhere on this site.

 

it's also really foggy in my area right now and i'm thinking maybe the moisture set the CEL on?

 

your check engine light only comes on when theres something wrong with your powertrain/emissions system. just go to the dealer and have them read the code. if theres something wrong, theyll fix it for free since its under warranty. an aftermarket stereo doesnt void your warranty.

 

well i just drove my car to get some food and the check engine light came off the second time i started up my car. Should i still bring it to the dealer?

 

The CEL illuminates when a prescribed parameter is met. It indicates that something has been detected -- that's all. It will go out if it doesn't detect it again or if it is not serious enough to stop driving the car. Could be as simple as not having the gas cap on tight enough. Just get the code read to find out what it may be -- there is no way that anyone can tell you what it is for without reading the code. Watch what is done to read the code so that you could do it if you buy a scanner. Your dealer is the best choice -- if something is not working, or up-to-speed, then they will fix it under warranty. Since you are driving it -- it's not going to break. Just get it checked.

 

can the code be read since the cel is off now?

 

bump

 

Yes, the computer stores the code or codes.

 

I think you need to wait untill the cel comes back on. I don't think autozone can detect the code if the cel isnt' on.

 

I think i'm just going ot wait and see if it comes back on or not. It was really foggy and my area last and i'm thinking maybe some moisture got on the maf sensor.