"Check Engine" light = scam; Gob-smacked on BBC...

I decided to bring the car to our usual repair shop (C&R Tire near Tatum Blvd and Bell Road) because looking at that warning light was driving me absolutely crazy. The mechanic said there was a 95% chance that it was nothing at all, and it would cost 90 bucks to hook it up to a computer to diagnose the problem. So I basically spent 100 bucks for him to tell me that the error was either a loose gas tank cap or a bad air filter (both of which looked fine to him). But at least he got the light to turn off, so I'm happy. Plus he noticed one of my brake lights was out and fixed it for 7 bucks (yes I did ask him if that could have set off the "check engine" light and he said there was no connection between the two).

We've been watching How Clean Is Your House? on BBC America. These two ladies go to folk's houses and help them clean up their act. Without a doubt, all of their clients have some sort of psychiatric disorder (totally guessing here, but I see signs of clinical depression, social anxiety, and a couple of cases of early Alzheimer's). Their reactions when they first enter the homes are hilarious. And it gets me to do 10-15 minutes of cleaning after every episode. Oh and they say "gob-smacked" a lot (does that mean you've been smacked in your gob? or smacked by some other gob? and what's a gob in the first place?) We also just love the frilly latex gloves.

Comments

[V]

Ok - I read Karen's response 3 times before I figured out what CEL stands for.... I had the same problem when Adam didn't close the gas tank tight enough. It took 2-3 days before the light went off.

[Karen]

oy sorry about going to the mechanic for a CEL.. one thing to note, may want to keep a pulse on any service bulletins that are out for your car, because sometimes CEL's are for waranty work items that you don't have to pay for..

Like on my honda apparently the EGR valve was defective and that would throw the CEL.. ended up needing a replacement part and it was 100% free.

Sometimes also if you start the car without having the gas cap on securely that can throw the CEL unnecessarily.. lots of cars are designed that way these days..