What Does It Mean If Check Engine Light Is On

In almost all cases car fault is not a serious problem. And you will probably be able to get to where you were going before the check engine light came on. The first thing you need to do is to check all the other gauges, like the oil pressure gauge, temperature gauge, and amp meter if your vehicle is equipped with them.

If any of them are out of specs, as soon as it is safe to pull over and stop, do so. And turn off the engine and call for help or wait for a police officer to come and help you. If all of the other gauges look to be within specs and the vehicle isn't malfunctioning in any other way, then you can continue on to your destination.

So what is the check engine light coming on for, if I can keep driving, you ask? What the check engine light signifies is that the computer systems in the vehicle have found one or more of the readings coming back from the sensors they are monitoring is out of specs. When the readings are out of specs the computer can not control the emissions properly and it puts itself into a fail-safe mode.

A fail-safe or limp-in mode is designed to allow you to get back to where you were going and the light comes on to let you know that you have become a gross polluter because your emission control system is not functioning properly.

So even though everything may seem to be working okay, even with the check engine light on, it is not. You are creating excessive pollution and costing yourself money, by wasting extra fuel driving in the limp-in or fail-safe mode.

Your vehicle has developed an emissions-related problem. There is something amiss in one of the systems or subsystems that affect your car's fuel emissions. 

Auto manufacturers are required to build their vehicles with controlled emissions standards, and to put warning lights in them to notify the driver when emissions exceed those standards. They have installed a catalytic converter and various sensors in your vehicle's emissions systems.

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