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Is it safe to drive your Honda Odyssey with the check engine light on?

This question is not incredibly familiar because it all depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be dependable to drive. This is typically indicated by a ordinary glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the vehicle, it could be an indication of a more relentless problem. If the check engine light is shining, this means that there is a relentless issue and it is recommended to service your Honda Odyssey now. Call the experts at Coggin Deland Honda by dialing 3862100089 so you can describe the issues. Or reduce your speed and bring your Honda to our certified mechanics as soon as achievable.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a Honda Odyssey?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as simple as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a relentless problem that could cause relentless damage to your engine and come with a considerable repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A persistent glow typically means something less relentless but a flashing check engine light indicates that your vehicle’s engine is in relentless trouble and service is mandatory now. If your check engine light is flashing in your Honda Odyssey, we notably recommend not to drive the vehicle and schedule Honda service today. Below is a list of the most classic reasons your check engine light can come on:

  • Your catalytic converter is detrimental or going detrimental. The catalytic converter is a part of your Honda Odyssey’s exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is usually caused by neglected maintenance, which is why Coggin Deland Honda offers a complimentary multi-point inspection with every Honda service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your Honda Odyssey will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your car may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause added problems from overheating.
  • One of the most present and innumerable cause is that your Honda Odyssey gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your Honda Odyssey serves multiple purposes. It prevents gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What happens if you have a detrimental fuel cap? If your gas cap is aged or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump. Luckily, to replace a gas cap isn't costly. If your check engine light turns on hastily after you put gas in your Honda Odyssey, authentic thing you should check is to make sure the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.
  • Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be replaced. The mass airflow sensor in your Honda Odyssey is what determines how much fuel is mandatory to run your engine efficiently by measuring the amount of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to existing changes, like altitude. If your Honda Odyssey is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a sudden change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a detrimental mass airflow sensor.
  • The battery is low or dead. The battery in your Honda Odyssey is every important. Without a car battery, your car won’t start, light up the road ahead, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s car batteries last much longer than they did a few decades ago, and they don't really require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Honda you drive, but check our current service coupons and specials.
  • New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are mandatory for your Honda Odyssey. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel assortment in the combustion chamber of your automobile. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run. The spark plug wires bring the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are detrimental or aged, you will experience poor performance and reduced power. In some extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause clogged catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, leading to more costly repairs.
  • Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or added item can wreak havoc on your Honda Odyssey if it’s not installed correctly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the automobile from starting. If these issues sound present, bring your Odyssey to Honda and have our team of certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed correctly and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, exceedingly aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts authentic place might cost a little bit more but could save you money from having to get poor function and damage caused by poor installation function corrected.
  • Your Honda Odyssey has a vacuum leak. Every Honda Odyssey has a vacuum system that performs a wide variety of functions. The vacuum system also helps lower harmful emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can arid out and crack, exceedingly if they’re exposed to important heat or extreme angry.
  • Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, present as the O2 sensor, measures the amount of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns faster and your automobile will be less practical when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I don’t replace your O2 sensor? A faulty sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause damage to your catalytic converter and your Honda Odyssey's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to indicate the right assortment of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A detrimental O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.

Honda Odyssey Check Engine Light

A flashing light indicates that the problem is bizarre and if not taken care of quickly may result in considerable damage to the vehicle. If the check engine light in your Honda Odyssey starts flashing, that means that the problem needs immediate attention and your Honda should be transported in quickly. This blinking light usually indicates a rigid engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be dumped into the exhaust system. There it can expeditiously increase the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where wear and tear is possible, requiring an expensive repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can exclusively be the cause. A bad, old or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If your check engine light is flashing, please contact our team of automotive experts at Coggin Deland Honda hastily by calling 3862100089. If the problem is ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a very expensive repair.

Check Engine Light Service Honda Odyssey

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Honda Odyssey and suddenly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Honda owners, your heart sinks a tiny because you have tiny idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the cost of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t mean you have to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your Honda Odyssey checked as soon as conceivable. Ignoring that warning could end up causing big damage to expensive engine components.

When your Honda Odyssey's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it can’t polite, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is consistently labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that identifies as the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic scan tool that is used by our Honda auto repair mechanics at Coggin Deland Honda. There are also a number of relatively low-priced code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you choose that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced skilled to mean the issue and repair it.

Honda Odyssey Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that miniature light on your vehicle’s dashboard suddenly illuminates, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear right away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just another name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, also acknowledged as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Odyssey. There are hundreds of different codes that your check engine light can represent. While that sounds daunting, with a miniature patience, tackling main diagnostics will give you cooperative knowledge about your automobile and will also allow that Check Engine Light to do what it is really supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, easy and satisfactory automobile symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of cooperative OBD codes, there are also hundreds of cooperative reasons for the light, including:

  • Bad Spark Plugs
  • Old Battery
  • Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
  • O2 Sensor
  • Fuel and air metering systems problems
  • Emissions controls issues
  • Ignition system faults
  • Computer output circuit issues
  • Transmission issues

This is why it is harsh for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out instantly by a certified Honda mechanic. If the engine light comes on due to a rigorous concern, you risk damaging your car further by not repairing the issue right away. Call Coggin Deland Honda at 3862100089 today or schedule your check engine light service online today!

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your Honda Odyssey will often shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is fixed. For example, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will turn itself off. Likewise, if your catalytic converter is going functional, and you did a lot of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your Honda Odyssey light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to transport it in to Coggin Deland Honda so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most mostly misunderstood lights or indicators in your Honda Odyssey is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in a few disparate ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your vehicle. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored vehicle performance since the 80s and do a variety of things for your Honda Odyssey. Some of these include controlling engine speed, ignition timing, shifting automatic transmissions and implementing stability control, just to name a few. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of divergent things. It can be as plain as your gas cap being loose or as relentless as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your Honda Odyssey, contact Coggin Deland Honda. Our Honda service department can aid you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or inspect why your check engine light is twinkling. Contact Coggin Deland Honda today!

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

Since any check engine code has its own level of severity, it is troublesome to predict how many miles you can drive with the warning light on. It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced. If you check engine light is flashing, we recommend that you pull over and contact Coggin Deland Honda to help indicate if your vehicle is safe to drive in or if we recommend a tow truck. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly.

How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not accurately tightened to a more unsafe failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it satisfying to get the vital code reading and diagnosis. The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is normally between $88 and $111. The satisfying news, Coggin Deland Honda offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help represent the cause of your check engine light.

Honda Odyssey Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are countless likely causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are bountiful daily causes including something as plain as a loose gas cap. Further daily reasons for a Check Engine Light are faulty emissions control part, dirty mass airflow sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, damaged oxygen sensor, faulty head gasket, or defective spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Honda Certified Technicians and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and repair it as necessary to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Honda issue was fixed.

Every Honda Odyssey was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the vehicle on its massive systems. The sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending data to the electronic control team. If the electronic control team detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light illuminates telling you that there is a problem. However, that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what explicitly is wrong nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Coggin Deland Honda provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Greatly Qualified Service skilled.