It’s true. Vehicle diagnostics help us to find hidden problems with your automobile. Sometimes, your car, truck, or utility vehicle may have a problem that is completely unnoticed. In other words, the vehicle will behave normally and you won’t smell or hear any strange odors or noises, respectively. You may end up with the dashboard warning such as the check engine light, however. Let’s talk more about this below.
The Computer Chip and System Sensors
Your vehicle is equipped with sensors in every system that report data to the main computer chip. The main computer chip is called the engine control module. This chip not only receives the information sent to it by the system sensors but also helps your automobile run.
In fact, your engine will shut down and refuse to restart if the engine control module goes bad. Your automobile cannot run without this chip. Fortunately, a faulty engine control module is a rare thing, so you may never experience this problem.
Getting back to what it does, the engine control module performs various functions to help your engine run efficiently. For example, the module makes certain that you have plenty of air and fuel in the combustion chamber. It also fires the spark plugs.
When you first ignite your engine, you may have noticed that all of the dashboard warning lights turn on. The module keeps them on until the system sensors report that everything is okay. Once the module gets this report, it will turn off the dashboard warning light.
If the module receives an error from a system sensor, it will turn on the associated warning light. For example, it will turn on the check engine light for general problems or turn on the oil light if your oil level is too low and needs to be replenished.
The Diagnostic Test
Enter the diagnostic test. The diagnostic test is designed to download the error codes that the engine control module receives from the system sensors. This includes minor codes for minor problems that may not cause the engine control module to turn on a dashboard warning light.
We understand what these codes mean, as they point to specific problems. This gives us the opportunity to understand what is wrong with your automobile quickly and easily. Naturally, the last time we spent diagnosing the problem the sooner we can get to the automotive repairs.
Give us a call today if you have a dashboard warning light that has turned on and refuses to turn off, or if you would like us to run a diagnostic test to search for hidden problems.
