My check engine light came on!
Don’t Panic. A check engine light is a message from your car telling you that it’s not feeling right and it needs to be checked out to find out what’s wrong. It is important to find out why that light came on and assess the severity of the issue. Check engine light diagnosis can lead to extensive repair or a minor quick fix. The first step to getting rid of that pesky check engine light and making your car feel better is retrieving codes from the computer. This is achieved by hooking up a code reader. You can use a basic reader, but there is a lot more information accessible when you use an actual scan tool.
The best way to explain check engine diagnosis is comparing it to looking at a road map. You are here on beautiful Bainbridge Island and you are going to visit aunt Betty in Chicago. You look at a map and find that highway I-90 East goes all the way to Chicago. This would be like pulling the code. You know what route to take but what exit do you take, what street do you turn on and which house on that street is your aunt Bettys? There are many different components that can trigger that code. To find the end point, you need to use the proper training and equipment to test and analyze to find what triggered that pesky check engine light.
To be able to properly diagnose why your check engine light is on begins with having the correct tools. The parts store can pull codes with their “tool” and it tells you that you need spark plugs, and well they could be right. I have seen so many cars come into the shop with all kinds of shiny new parts but none of them ever turned the check engine light off. The parts store sales were up and you just helped the sales person win the top sales award that month. Proper diagnostic tools are expensive, we invest well over $20,000 each year in tools and training so we are armed with the ability to fix your vehicle correctly. The training involved in using the tools, and properly analyzing the data produced from those tools, is an ongoing process. Automotive technology is constantly progressing at an amazing rate, to keep up with the technology requires a dedication of both the shop and the technician. It should only take one shiny new part to turn off that little light on the dash.
Your vehicle is typically the second biggest investment you will make. With the technology and the advanced safety features that are designed to protect you and your investment, it is important to make sure that it is properly taken care of by a shop that has the proper tooling and training to maintain the integrity and performance of your vehicle. We have the proper tools and training to turn off that light or to repair your vehicle after an accident, and are confident that our repairs are performed to the high standards set by the car's designers.