I went out this morning to start my 1991 Targa C2 and may have stepped on the gas before or while the starter was running. The car started ok but the check engine light came on. I turned the car off and tried again and it still was on.

I looked over some old posts and was a little confused. Did I cause the light to come on by giving the car some throttle before it stated? Did the car get a funny code form something or or is it a real problem?

I thought I should just try to re-set the computer and was also a little confused. Can I re-set the computer by the pressing the throttle or must I disconnect the battery? If I disconnect the battery do I need to drive the car very hard and right away to re-program the computer.? How long do I realy need to leave the battery disconnected and will this hurt any thing else?

Any help would be great as I just got the car and can't stand not to be driving it.

Thanks,

Targa Mike

 

I Just thought of something else that may have triggered the check engine light. The night before I was showing the car to some guests and tried to start it. It did not start right away so I turned the key off and right back on. It did start this time and I did not notice the light. It may have gone on at that time. Did the start/stop/restart have anything to do with the light?

Thanks again,

Targa Mike

 

Mike:

Assuming you have a '91 or later (or a '90 with the California emissions option) the check engine light will be able to spit out the codes. If not, it's just a light that comes on indicating that it detected a fault. See my web page on the link underneath my signature which has the check engine light procedures.

It's unlikely that you "induced" the check engine light. When in diagnostic mode, it simply flashes out codes, and when you turn the car off it returns to normal. If the light is on, the DME thinks it's detected a fault. I'd recommend resetting the DME before doing anything else because these things can pick up any erratic signal and mis-diagnose it as a fault when it isn't one. If the fault reappears after a reset then it's probably a real problem of some sort.

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Thanks Bill,

I tried the re-set and went for a very "hard" drive...

No more light. Life is good.

I did check your web page and printed that out for future ref.

Thanks for the help.

Mike