Roadguy is not Carguy — he’s a whiz with jumper cables and can stick-shift his way out of a snowbank, but after that, the knowledge base drops off considerably. Fortunately, cars are their own mobile classrooms, or at least that’s the attitude I tried to take when my “check engine” light went on for the first time — 2,000 miles from home.

I was driving from Pasadena to San Diego when I spotted the ominous glow. I exited the freeway, pulled into a gas station, and, well, checked the engine. This consisted of opening the hood to confirm that it was indeed still there; I was also able to discern that it was not ablaze, and that I seemed to have plenty of wiper fluid. Reassuring as those things were, I asked for directions to a dealership.

Figuring that my very-out-of-state plates might as well have read “SUCKER,” I approached the dealership with trepidation, but the service guy said that the problem was probably just the oxygen sensor and that I could wait to have it checked out back in Pasadena. There, at the dealership across the street from where I was staying, the mechanics kindly reset things and said I probably hadn’t screwed the gas cap on tightly enough, allowing the vapors to veer into imperfection and trip the sensor. I vowed from then on to turn the gas cap until it clicked at least twice.

Not long after, though, the light went on again, and that’s when a light bulb went on over my head. Early in that road trip — in Iowa, I believe — I’d dropped the gas cap onto some pavement, and it had separated into at least three pieces. I’d put it back together, but apparently not well enough for it to seal properly. It was time to buy a new gas cap — one that, as you can see here in the lower photo, had a more thorough explanation of the consequences of the whole “clicking” thing than my original gas cap, shown above it. Then, in a trick everyone should know about, I briefly (and carefully) disconnected the car’s battery, which made the check engine light go off for good.

Until last week.

I suppose there was a chance that the oxygen sensor had actually died this time, but earlier that day I’d been in a distracted hurry when I’d pumped gas. (Two clicks? Probably not.) Sure enough, the cap came off more easily than usual. So I tightened it real good, disconnected the battery for a minute, reset the car’s clock (the clock doesn’t like to lose power), and so far, the engine light appears once again to be off for good.

Clearly, Roadguy poses no threat to either Paul Brand or Click and Clack, but if sharing this bit of knowledge can help a motorist or two, then Roadguy’s a happy guy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 4th, 2006 at 6:35 am and is filed under Good to know, Scenes and stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.