My son has a 96 cavalier. 2.2. he was driving it around today and said the check eng. light came on for a bout 5 miles and then went off. The car still runs good, not a problem with the power. The PO said the fan cooling switch was bad and we replaced this. We disconnected the battery to clear the codes and at first the light never came on.
What could this be from? I called Autozone and Advance and they said if the check engine light was not on they could not check the computer. My question is if I purchased a code scanner from the above parts houses could I scan the computer? The reason is here we have to have an emissions test and they won;t pass it if there is a code on the computer. Not wanting any problems with the emission test.
Any and all help is appreciated.
Thanks in advance

If the light's not on, you don't have a major code stored and should have no problem passing emmissions. Buying a scanner is a great investment though and mine has been useful to me and others. Also if the code comes back on you can just clear it before you do the test.


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<<<<<2003 Sunfire Sedan>>>>>

Thanks for the rapid reply. This is what I was worried about. The emissions test person told my son to drive it around this weekend because of resetting the computer. This will give a good emissions test. The computer was at the default and would not read the test. I told my son I thought it was ok, but wanted to check with the forum to be sure. It seems that everyone has had a code come up at one time or another. Talking about scanners, is the one that sells for about $30.00 a good one or one that is better. Does the cheaper one give you codes or tells you what is going on?
Thanks in advance

hmm i'm not sure. my reader is a blue one if that helps?? by the way i think i have the same code as you if it's "cooling system circuit 1 malfunction"... my reader cost me a little over $100 but at the time Can. Tire wanted to charge me $80 just to scan it so i figured might as well get one instead. It's made by Innova. Anyone that lets you clear codes will be sufficient, unless you want to keep unplugging the battery which works too.

One word of advice with cooling codes: drive your son's car until the engine is heated up (90C in canadian cars, what ever that is in fahrenheit for american ones) and then let it idle. The fan's only come on when the car is up to temp and idles (or when A/C is on, but you want to test the computer's inherent ability to turn on the fan, not force it on yourself). If the fan comes on and goes for a good 10 mins with the code not reappearing you should be good to go!

For me I cleared the code then gave them the car to test and it must have stayed off for the duration of the test

And the relearning process only takes about 20 mins not a weekend but he was right it will allow the computer to properly relearn the and adjust fueling accordingly.


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<<<<<2003 Sunfire Sedan>>>>>

Thanks for the reply. I bought a code scanner. It showed no codes, however the emissions tester said it was a
misfire in number 3 cylinder. I had already changed the plugs.but not clear the codes. My question is does it take longer than 30 miles to reset a computer? the emissions guy told me 60 to 100 miles on some vehicles. Any one have any experience with this? The 4 incompletes are what is making me not pass the emissions test. The vehicle runs fine, good acceleration thru the gears no hesitation and no codes.

Another question
When I scan the codes with the ignition, does it clear the computer? the guy at the emissions test said every time I plug it in it may reset the computer even though you are just reading the computer for codes? This sounds strange?
Thanks in advance for the replies
Rick

Most scanners require you to press a delete key and then confirm after you read codes to delete them. The code self-clearing depends on the code. For instance, my cooling fan blows a fuse, the computer tries to turn it on, can't, shows code. I replace fuse but don't reset codes. Drive around, code still on, computer goes to turn on fan, now it can actually do it, code turns off. Some codes will clear themselves after certain checks, some won't. But if you don't have any codes on your scanner and you took it to him since, i don't see what is wrong. If you don't want to spend money on tests though, i know atleast around where i live there are places that advertise you don't pay if you don't pass Hope that helps.


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<<<<<2003 Sunfire Sedan>>>>>